A California officer has been accused of shooting and killing Hans Kevin Arellano, 22, (left) after a confrontation where the unarmed man called the officer a “bitch.” The shooting was captured on a cell phone video and the witness says that the shooting was unprovoked and unjustified.
The witness was in the parking lot of the Harbor Place Shopping Center in Santa Ana around 3 p.m. when the confrontation occurred in front of a juice shop. He said that he saw the officer exit from her patrol car with her gun drawn — a key point since officers are not supposed to draw their weapons absent a clear potential threat. The witness says that she told Arellano, who is described as homeless, to get on the ground and that he responded “What are you gonna do, bitch?” The witness says that the officer shot Arellano just a second or so after the comment.
Police confirm that the 13-year veteran was responding as back up to officers responding to a criminal activity call. While she was carrying a taser, she drew her gun instead.
Police say that they were unaware of the video and would study it.
Even without the video, there would seem to be ample reason for investigation when an unarmed man is shot and killed within minutes of the arrival of an officer. There are only a couple of possible defenses. One is that the man attacked the officer in contradiction to the account of the witness (who was standing at some distance way). Another is that the man appeared to reach for a weapon, though it would have to be shown how the encounter escalated so quickly. Finally, and this has happened, the officer could say that she confused the gun for her taser.
It is hard to believe that the officer went off simply because she was called a name. Officers face such crude remarks regularly. There appear to be no shortage of witnesses in the video, including two men close to the scene. We will be following the story to see if the officer’s account is published.
Source: Daily Mail
The mere fact the cop was female shouldn’t excuse what she did. Female cops have killed unarmed men in the past and the courts ruled in the cops favor based on their size. The man was bigger than me defense. I felt my life was in jeopardy, so I shot him. I question why we need female cops on the streets in the first place.
How in the heck they can claim they are UNaware of the video is BS; it’s been floating around out there – shortly – right thereafter.
World 3. – The Era Of Reconstruction. Re-Almost Everything
and forgotten. World 3. – The Era Of Reconstruction. Re-Almost Everything
Your immediately supporting the shooting by the police officer is shocking; not to mention scary.
Poor training, take a look at the instructors
The taser is a deadly weapon. It is not an alternative to shooting someone with a bullet. Victims die all the time and are noted on this blog. Yet readers go along with the notion that it is just some playtoy to knock out the boy for a few minutes so he can be handcuffed. Tase the Chief’s wife in the checkout line at the IGA while she is buying his hotdogs. Tase the hotdogs bro while you are at it.
Elaine;
That is a sad, sad case.
Even if it is true, that the girl sad yes, sad she wanted it (which I doubt) – the fact of the matter is, the law considers minors to be of limited capacity.
It is not far from asking a bed ridden handicap person who can only utter ‘uh huh’ – if that person wanted sex.
Taking advantage of those of lessor capacity is intolerable bullying.
Off Topic:
Prison Attorneys Claim 14-Year-Old Inmate Wanted To Get Raped By Her 40-Year-Old Prison Guard
By Aviva Shen
August 7, 2013
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/07/2425511/louisiana-teenager-prison-rape/
Excerpt;
A Louisiana parish is trying to get out of paying a 14-year-old who was repeatedly raped by her prison guard, with lawyers arguing last week that the girl wanted the sex.
The guard, Angelo Vickers, is serving a 7-year sentence after pleading guilty to molestation of a juvenile. The woman, known anonymously as Mary Doe, is now an emotionally traumatized 20-year-old. Mary Doe sued the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government as well as her attacker, alleging the parish officials should have protected her from Vickers.
Rather than assume liability or try to shift the scrutiny solely on the guard, the parish’s defense strategy is simply to blame the victim. Court papers claim, “Vickers could not have engaged in sexual relations within the walls of the detention center with [the victim] without cooperation from her. Vickers did not use force, violence or intimidation when engaging in sexual relations.”
“These girls in the detention center are not Little Miss Muffin,” one official told the Tri-Parish Times.
Apparently WordPress is gender biased.
Can we use the word Dickhead on this blog?
Nay, its ok for Turley to employ the itchBay word but we can not do so. My last post is awaiting moderation. I have to put my Pig Latin name back on my comment too.
I concur Hassan;
However, we live in a Zim ‘Stand Your Ground’ world where homeless Kelly Thomas was beat to death just a few miles away from this same homicide, by Police who did use their tazers. Exhausted the batteries, then turned the tazer upside down and smashed Kelly Thomas’s face in.
Too many of these cases – already.
That being said, it is not justification for a rush to judgment in this case. The video is not telltale in any sense of the word.