cops with guns

I usually read about dumb police officers over at B Rad's, but since his blog may be going away, I thought I'd... well... probably not pick up the torch, but at least point at it. I mean, those things are hot - I ain't touchin' one.

Anyhow, here's a story of cops being murderous dumbfucks...

The family of a young black Texas man who was shot in his own driveway by a white police officer believes that racial profiling was the cause and are asking for criminal charges to be filed against the officer.

According to family members, Robbie Tolan and his cousin were returning to Tolan's home in the mostly white Houston suburb of Bellaire in the early hours of December 31, when they were approached by officers who suspected the SUV they had just gotten out of was stolen.

Tolan's parents, who own the SUV, came out of the house to explain the situation. An altercation ensued and Tolan's mother was thrown against the garage door by an officer. According to Tolan's uncle, "Her son was on his back at the time, and he raised up and asked, 'What are you doing to my mom?' and the officer shot him -- while he was on the ground."

Obviously, I wasn't there, and have no way of knowing how threatened the officer might have felt. As anyone who's been in a fight-or-flight situation can tell you, remembering exactly how something played out (after the adrenalin hit you) is damn hard. Heck, one of my favorite books is Going After Cacciato, several hundred pages devoted to making just that point repeatedly. So, maybe I shouldn't be quick to judge. Once innocent people started being thrown against their own garage doors, ...well, the situation was unlikely to end well.

Just the same, how the hell does a scenario like that even begin? Seems to me like you've got to be a really wanker to get past step 1 in that lengthy flowchart of incompetence and calamity. (Step 1 being: Stop to question someone for parking their own SUV in their own driveway.)

Bellaire's assistant police chief told reporters, "As far as any allegations of racial profiling, I'd probably say that that's not really going to float." However, there has been no other explanation offered for why the officers might have thought the SUV was stolen.