Liberal Forum

jerrab » 02 Sep 2023, 3:30 pm » wrote: ↑

02 Sep 2023, 3:30 pm

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/ ... 739368007/

----------------------------------------Young protests, and the first officer repeats his demand. Then both officers yell at her to get out. At that point, Young can be heard asking them, “Are you going to shoot me?” seconds before she turns the steering wheel to the right and the car moves toward the officer standing in front of it. The officer fires his gun through the windshield and Young’s sedan drifts into the grocery store’s brick wall.Officers then break the driver's side window, which Belford said was to get Young out of the car and render medical aid, though footage of medical assistance was not provided.In his interview with the AP on Friday, Walton denied that Young had stolen anything from the grocery store. He said his firm found a witness who saw Young put down bottles of alcohol as she left the store.

*******************************************But Edward Obayashi, a national use-of-force expert and attorney who specializes in vehicle-related police shootings, said that while the officer who shot Young may have reasonably feared for his safety, it went against all his law enforcement training to be in front of her car in the first place.“The best practice in these matters nationwide is that you do not put yourself in a position of danger,” said Obayashi, especially given that it was a minor crime Young was being accused of. “The results are predictable. … Based on your training, why are you going to put yourself in front of a vehicle, in front of an individual that does not want to cooperate?” Obayashi said. “There was no urgent need for him to position himself the way he did.”