Quote of the Day: Littlejohn

This is just an awesome quote in the comments at Uncle’s:

911 calls full of BS info are the rule, not the exception. It was either a justified shoot or it wasn’t. Even if the 911 caller had reported that the guy had slaughtered a bunch of people, it still isn’t a justified shoot if the guy isn’t a threat when the officer meets him, so the notion that many are floating that the lying panicky dude is “responsible” for the death is just incorrect. Stay focused on what matters, the shoot was either justified or it wasn’t, regardless of what police knew or thought they knew prior to arrival. stop worrying about the DB who reported it, he is going to get his just by having his time and money wasted defending himself in a civil suit. the caller is only news because the dead guy’s family lawyer wants it to be.

This is all about this case which seems like a pure case of SWATing. No idea of the motives, but he lied to 911 to get police action for a non-event. Still unless this guy works for a local anti-gun Bloomberg/Joyce/Brady chapter where such SWATing have been suggested and encouraged, or he has posts on his facebook page talking about how much he hates blacks or gun owners, it will be REALLY hard to prove that he’s not just a total idiot and a simple liar. From the evidence I’ve seen it really only seems like a “filing a false report” charge of some sort is the only easy conviction.

That being said the police shot a guy with a toy in a store that sells said toys. There should be camera footage of this guy handling the toy before the police were called, and his final moments of life. That information will tell a LOT of the story we don’t know right now.

That being said Littlejohn makes an amazing point. James Holmes and Jared Loughner are both still alive. They are both murderers (not convicted, but there is ZERO question they killed a bunch of people intentionally, the only REAL question in their cases is how batshit insane they are) and they were both arrested by police. The police didn’t shoot them as soon as they encountered them. They encountered dangerous murderers, but it was AFTER they were a threat so that is a “no shoot” situation.

This dude was NOT a danger to anybody. It is possible he might have appeared to be a threat when police arrived, but given that Wal-Mart only sells PC gun toys with bright colored plastic (at least on the muzzle which is the only part the Police should be concerned about) I have VERY strong doubts about this.

Really EVERY call police get sent to, they must understand that until they see for themselves, it could be total bullshit. A call of a dude shoplifting a squirt gun could be a lunatic with a gun robbing the place or staging a mass murder. Also any call of a mass shooter could just be a guy buying a toy for his kids.

The asshole Marine Corps wash-out who made the call is really nothing more than an asshole. The police are the ones who shot an unarmed man with a toy in a toy store.

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8 Responses to Quote of the Day: Littlejohn

  1. The_Jack says:

    Indeed.

    Really there are two seperate incidents here.

    First there is the 911 call itself. And as you said, the asshole’s lawyer better be hopping that this guy doesn’t have a membership to one of those anti groups, or a facebook post advocating swatting or the like. Unless intent to give false information to cause such a situation is found then… well there’s the whole reasonable doubt thing isn’t there?

    Secondly there’s the police. And if the shooting on their part is justified. And as mentioned, 911 reports are often wrong. Heck police get sent to the wrong address.

    It’s technically two issues here.

    • Publius says:

      Unless intent to give false information to cause such a situation is found then… well there’s the whole reasonable doubt thing isn’t there?

      Not in a civil case. That goes by the “preponderance of evidence” standard. Burden of proof still rests on the plaintiff, but reasonable doubt is no longer sufficient. The facts are not in dispute (for the most part, although there are always the details) so the defendant basically has to demonstrate that it is more likely then not that it was an innocent mistake. Meanwhile the prosecution will try to demonstrate that, more likely than not, this was done with malicious intent.

      Disclaimer: IANAL but I watch a lot of TV and read Internet comments. Take with salt.

  2. Jack/OH says:

    Jeez! This sure looks like a botched sho0t/no-shoot decision by the cop. Experienced, trained cops discount/adjust for the panicky/overwrought/incomplete info coming from a 911 caller. Both the cop and the 911 caller’s actions need a close look by the prosecutor. Weer’d’s right, cops peacefully arrest without incident alleged murderers all the time.

  3. wizardpc says:

    The_Jack is completely right. It’s two separate things and fault here isn’t mutually exclusive between Ritchie and the cop.

    I don’t know what the law is in Ohio, but I know there is a legal concept of “depraved indifference to human life” which basically says that if you knew, or reasonably should have known, that your actions would result in the death of another person, congratulations you’re guilty of second-degree murder. I don’t think there’s a person over 12 that doesn’t think calling the cops and saying someone is aiming a gun at people will result in that someone getting ventilated.

    There are rumors that this officer is the same one who was involved in a shooting a little while back, and that these two shootings are the only officer-involved-shootings this town has ever had. I’d love to see the video before I cast judgement, but that little nugget is troubling. Either he’s the unluckiest guy in the world, or he’s a big fan of Raylan Givens.

  4. Chris says:

    He was carrying this:

    http://www.crosman.com/airguns/rifles/pump/30117

    Hardly a “toy” and if I saw someone carrying that around in their hands inside a wal-mart, you can bet your ass I would take defensive measures.

    My guess, the caller saw him with it in hand, not in a box and freaked out a bit… And his statements about “Waving it around, pointing it at people” were the product of panic not malice.

    • Geodkyt says:

      He said he saw the guy loading it with “bullets”.

      That’s not a “panicked mistatement”, that’s a lie. Even someone whose military career was 7 weeks in USMC boot camp (before getting thrown out for a fraudulent enlistment) wouldn’t mistake anything that guy could be doing with “loading it with bullets”.

      I’m still calling it a textbook SWATting — whether the prosecution can prove that is a different matter.

      • Weerd Beard says:

        Yep the toy in question only had a dummy “Magazine” that is permanently molded to the receiver. Again it’ll be tough for prosecution to prove unless he had boasted about it online before or after, or is a member of the anti-gun groups who are pushing this tactic.

  5. rd says:

    Two people died that night. Angela Williams died of heart failure in the parking lot fleeing the store as the shooting occurred. She was shopping with two of her kids for school supplies. Thanks to an irresponsible 911 call, and possible police overreaction, her children have no Mother.

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