• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Deputies shoot unarmed black Florida man in his front yard, 17 shell casings found

Status
Not open for further replies.
Need a policy to attempt non lethal force at least first like tasers unless a weapon is verified. Could have been just a scared kid who starts to run and suddenly they open fire because "he lunged"
 

Dead Man

Member
Need a policy to attempt non lethal force at least first like tasers unless a weapon is verified. Could have been just a scared kid who starts to run and suddenly they open fire because "he lunged"

Could have just asked, 'Is this your car?' Could have just waited for him to get out of the car before announcing their presence. Could have done plenty of shit.
 
over paranoid society racked on fear plus profiling = stupid Florida

I have reached inside my car late at night to retrieve my cell phone that I left in there and stuff.
 

sinxtanx

Member
at this point there could be a thread called

Florida police go door to door shooting people

and I would not be surprised
 

IISANDERII

Member
I applaud the officers for not killing him and the witness to cover up what they have done.
I might decide to wake up and go through my own shed or start rummaging through my garage at 2am. By the same logic, it would be untypical behaviour, so I should not find anything wrong with the cops greeting me?

The length of time and the fact that he was moving around awkwardly would easily indicate someone looking for a specific item. Either this is the worlds dumbest car jacker or this is a person who is just getting some shit out of his car.
Did you see the video of the cop whose foot got run over by a Ferrari 458 Italy in NYC? Cops can't ascertain the most rudimentary of human behaviours. So if you decide to get something out of your car after 8pm, know that you are declaring yourself as an enemy of the state.
 

BigDug13

Member
I find it hard to believe when multiple cops have guns trained on a potential suspect that the suspect would suddenly be "lunging and spinning" when he sees a bunch of guns aimed at him.
 

inky

Member
I'm baffled, however, that the cops fired off 17 rounds and only managed to hit the guy once in the leg (fortunate, but bizarre).

They feared for their lives so much that they couldn't even shoot straight.

That guy was lucky, but these idiots will get away with this without so much as a slap on the wrist.
 

zma1013

Member
There really does need to be a harsher punishment for just wildly shooting your guns off every time a mouse squeaks.
 

Koomaster

Member
Not sure why everyone is beating up on Joni or the neighbor here. If the guy is not normally rummaging around or messing with his car around 3am most nights how is the neighbor to know who he is or what is going on?

Maybe the neighbor overreacted; but in the end I doubt they wanted anyone shot over this. They did what they thought was right and reported a possible burglary. I know people are wanting to bring up the race angle here with the neighbor, but it goes both ways. Just because a person is black doesn't mean they aren't also a criminal. We can't suddenly just go the opposite way and say; 'Oh that black person over there is obviously innocent because they are black, don't want to be a racist and accuse them of a crime.' Everyone of every race commit crimes. I doubt the neighbor made the call based on race.

This all comes down to panicking/overzealous/etc. cops who shot this guy when it wasn't necessary. Now did they shoot because the guy was black; perhaps you could argue that. Whatever the reason, their actions were way out of line for the situation. And whatever punishment they receive won't be enough for nearly killing a man on his own property. At least they were lousy shots.
 

BigDug13

Member
Not sure why everyone is beating up on Joni or the neighbor here. If the guy is not normally rummaging around or messing with his car around 3am most nights how is the neighbor to know who he is or what is going on?

Maybe the neighbor overreacted; but in the end I doubt they wanted anyone shot over this. They did what they thought was right and reported a possible burglary. I know people are wanting to bring up the race angle here with the neighbor, but it goes both ways. Just because a person is black doesn't mean they aren't also a criminal. We can't suddenly just go the opposite way and say; 'Oh that black person over there is obviously innocent because they are black, don't want to be a racist and accuse them of a crime.' Everyone of every race commit crimes. I doubt the neighbor made the call based on race.

This all comes down to panicking/overzealous/etc. cops who shot this guy when it wasn't necessary. Now did they shoot because the guy was black; perhaps you could argue that. Whatever the reason, their actions were way out of line for the situation. And whatever punishment they receive won't be enough for nearly killing a man on his own property. At least they were lousy shots.

This isn't the first time that a nosey neighbor caused someone to get shot. Remember the guy holding his hose on his porch that was basically assassinated in his front yard after a neighbor called the cops? How about if you see someone rummaging around in your neighbor's car, your immediate response is to call your neighbor and not call the jack-booted thugs in uniform?

Calling the cops because you see something in your neighbors yard without at least attempting to call your neighbor first seems wrong to me and something a busy-body who does nothing but look out their windows would do.
 
This may be a good time to jump in and say...get to know your neighbors people. My neighbor would have called/text me before sending the cops to my house, and I would sui the same. So strange that she knew his schedule well enough to think something's afoot, but couldn't give him a call first.

Edit: ^ beaten like a Floridian.
 
This cop problem is getting out of control.

Theyre taking OUR money, giving themselves outrageous salaries, and then going on rampages. Theres no checks and balances. They do what they want, when they want, and when someone complains, they get a paid vacation.
 

zma1013

Member
Remind me how "a surprising turning around" requires 17 shots fired?

Police thought process: EVERYONE HAS A GUN UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE.

It doesn't help that standard law enforcement training involves scaring recruits to death with horrifying police death videos. They are paranoid of everyone and everything. It's warranted, but I feel if you're going to be a police, you have to be able to actually assess a situation and not shoot at everything that moves.
 

rbanke

Member
A teenage girl who said she witnessed a portion of the incident said she never saw Middleton provoke the deputies.

“He wasn’t belligerent or anything,“ she said.

But if he had been, that would certainly been cause to open fire.

We are so trained.
 

Takuan

Member
Hope this guy gets the restitution he sorely deserves.

Enough has been said about the cops, but motherfuck the neighbor who reported him.
Fuckin' cops always get away.
 

rbanke

Member
I really doubt she meant it like that, she was simply trying to give cred to the guy who was doing absolutely nothing at all.

Perhaps, but it certainly seems to be an ever growing sentiment that we all need to be good little boys & girls and do what we're told.

Hope this guy gets the restitution he sorely deserves.

Enough has been said about the cops, but motherfuck the neighbor who reported him.

Unless I'm mistaken, that restitution will come from tax payers, and these officers won't bear much if any of that burden.

I don't fault the neighbor really for making a reasonable report with the intention of helping their neighbor, the police should have been able to assess the situation and calmly resolve it.
 
What's got me confused is why these officers were even responding with the threat of lethal force in the first place.

Why not but out a Taser?

If they believed that there could be a threat of a lethal response, why not have one officer draw a weapon and one officer draw a Taser and Tase him first?

Common fucking sense, man.
 

andthebeatgoeson

Junior Member
This should be easy to figure out, right? Dash cam should show the police with lights flashing. How does this happen where everybody in the neighborhood doesn't know when the police roll up? Just really odd.

He gon get paid.gif
 

PopeReal

Member
How could they have felt threatened? He was unarmed, and even in their version of events they never even thought he had a weapon.
 

andycapps

Member
I think a lot of people with heavy insecurities become cops to feel like a big man with a badge and a gun but once they see a black person they want to wet their pants instantly because deep in their racist, little coward hearts they still see Afro-Americans as freed brutes who could break their poor white chicken-necks with their bare hands. So they just pull the trigger. Their fellow pigs and teabaggers will help them anyway.

It really makes me angry.

Damn, that might be a bit much.

This is a horrible story. This guy deserves to get rich off of this incident, and all these cops should be fired. They won't be, but they should be.
 

The Cowboy

Member
I don't fault the neighbor really for making a reasonable report with the intention of helping their neighbor, the police should have been able to assess the situation and calmly resolve it.
Same here, this person simply reported what they thought was a crime - that's it and nothing more (it matters not that it turned out not to be the case - all they did was report it), it was the cops who shot at someone 17 times when it turned out not to be a crime.

The neighbour has no blame at all in this and I don't get how people can blame/flame the neighbour in any way. I mean are we really going to start blaming the reporters of potential crimes for the actions of the police who attend the scene?.
 

Takuan

Member
Unless I'm mistaken, that restitution will come from tax payers, and these officers won't bear much if any of that burden.
I imagine these issues are budgeted for. It's only right that funds go to those deserving.

I don't fault the neighbor really for making a reasonable report with the intention of helping their neighbor, the police should have been able to assess the situation and calmly resolve it.
I misread the time. At 2:42am, it was conceivably too dark out to tell who was rummaging around the car, assuming their driveway isn't lit. I rescind the earlier sentiments.

Edit: I looked up the address on Google Maps. It's at least 2 years old, but yeah, doesn't look like much goes on in the area:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Shado...=tUzYiU3NQSUYQDapYuKCBA&cbp=12,277.11,,0,7.83
 

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
I don't want to live anywhere near you. Sorry. I am a shift worker and often up and getting into or out of my car at those sorts of times.

Seriously. Back when I worked at Activision years ago, I was on the night shift, and got off work at 2 in the morning. I've been pulled over and questioned by police when driving home from work at 2 in the morning. I'm glad I don't do that shift anymore (or work at Activision, actually. It was a horrible place to work, but I digress).

Hell, I was questioned by police for being parked in a car with my then girlfriend having a chat after 9pm a few years back. I live in Los Angeles, so this isn't just a Florida thing.

Being a black male in America comes with a whole lot of caveats that many non-black males just don't have to consider (although Mexican and Middle Eastern males have other caveats to contend with). Not freaking out police is one of the first things my mother beat (not literally, duh) into my head growing up in Milwaukee. The first time I got pulled over by a police officer in LA I thought he was going to blow my brains out, and he didn't even have his weapon drawn. It was just that fear of doing something to "set the cop off," and then have him pull the old, "he lunged at me," card to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. I thought I was going to piss myself. I tried to do everything I could to make sure he saw my hands, I didn't reach for anything, etc.
 

dan2026

Member
'Aaaaaaaaaagh its a Negro male and he's moving, fire the Gatling gun!'.

'You fool that will never stop him, their skin is like steel and they shoot fire out of their arses!'
 

Marleyman

Banned
This is so fucked up. You have multiple guns pointed at the guy and don't even let him say what is going on? Charge them all with attempted murder; fuck administrative leave.

My one friend is black and I have seen the ridiculous profiling that is done because of his skin color; it sickens me.
 

see5harp

Member
Attempted murder should be the charge. Either that or fire them for being so terrible at their job. How the fuck you hit a target 1 out of 16?
 

J10

Banned
Attempted murder should be the charge. Either that or fire them for being so terrible at their job. How the fuck you hit a target 1 out of 16?

A wild NEGRO appears!

NEGRO used DEHUMANIZING STARE!

COPS' ACCURACY fell!

What should COPS do?

COPS used GUN! But, it failed!

NEGRO was caught!
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Being a black male in America comes with a whole lot of caveats that many non-black males just don't have to consider (although Mexican and Middle Eastern males have other caveats to contend with). Not freaking out police is one of the first things my mother beat (not literally, duh) into my head growing up in Milwaukee. The first time I got pulled over by a police officer in LA I thought he was going to blow my brains out, and he didn't even have his weapon drawn. It was just that fear of doing something to "set the cop off," and then have him pull the old, "he lunged at me," card to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. I thought I was going to piss myself. I tried to do everything I could to make sure he saw my hands, I didn't reach for anything, etc.
The problem is disproportionely larger for black males, but most people act like this. Whenever I have been pulled over I always roll both driver and passenger windows down, shut off the car and then put my hands on the steering wheel in full visibility and then don't do anything that the cop doesn't tell me to do first.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom