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Officers from several police departments had responded to reports of a shooting early Sunday morning at Manny’s Luxury Lounge in Robbins, Ill., said Sophia Ansari, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Witnesses told the police that a fight had broken out and someone had started shooting. After the authorities responded, a police officer shot the guard, Jemel Roberson, 26, who had a gun, Ms. Ansari said. Mr. Roberson died at the hospital.
Witnesses said that people in the crowd had yelled to arriving police officers that Mr. Roberson, who was wearing gear that read “Security,” was a guard. Ms. Ansari confirmed that Mr. Roberson worked for the bar. “Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’,” one witness, Adam Harris, told WGN-TV. “He was a security guard. And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”
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Family friends of Mr. Roberson’s said he had worked as an organist at several local churches and had once dreamed of becoming a police officer himself, according to local news reports. Mr. Roberson had a state firearm owner’s identification card, Ms. Ansari said, which authorized his possession of firearms. Mr. Roberson had planned to play later that day at New Spiritual Light Baptist Church, the pastor, Walter Turner, told the local ABC affiliate.
“How in the world does the security guard get shot by the police?” Pastor Turner said. “A young man that was literally just doing his job, and now he’s gone.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/police-officer-shoots-security-guard-chicago.html
So while it is true there was a dangerous situation - five people shot in a bar - by all accounts the cops had no reason whatsoever to think the security guard who was pinning someone down was the bad guy. Again, whomever the "bad guy" was, it was a person who was shooting at other people. The "bad guy' was not reported to have gone about pinning people to the ground. And it would seem that not only did the security guard have SECURITY on his gear, but bystanders were shouting at the police not to shoot him.
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Let's get a few of the usual deflections out of the way.
1. "Wait for all the facts" aka "stop talking about this story until it goes away and I don't have to address what the cops did";
---- nah, if you were about to say that you have expressed many opinions without knowing all of the facts, and you also know perfectly well that a demand for "all" the facts to come out ensures no discussion at all if it is honored because there can be no way of objectively declaring that "all" facts are known.
2. "The officer was doing his job".
-----Yeah, so was the security guard. So were the bystanders. Why couldn't the cops do their job and exercise some self-restraint until they have a clue of what is going on? Why does doing their job mean blasting away without a thought? Yeah, I think we can tell people to pre-emptively stuff that deflection/excuse.
3. "The race card".
---- It's true that this was near Chicago and the security guard was a black man, who was pinning someone (the bad guy) on the ground. It's also true that there's a long history of poorer treatment of black people by police. You can't make that disappear by screaming "race card" at it, no matter how much you try....
4. "You hate cops!"
---- "hate" is a pretty strong word there buddy, but you know what? I do despise those officers with so little self-control, so little emotional regulation, that their first instinct when frightened is to start blasting away at people. The police are supposed to be the best of us, not the weakest and worst. They're suppose to have more restraint with firearms, not less....
...what, do you like cops whose first instinct is to shoot someone? The security guard didn't shoot the bad guy. No. But the police did shoot him, even though he had the situation under control. Seems like the guard should have been a cop, and the cop should have been janitor for a kindergarten.
Enough of this!
Witnesses said that people in the crowd had yelled to arriving police officers that Mr. Roberson, who was wearing gear that read “Security,” was a guard. Ms. Ansari confirmed that Mr. Roberson worked for the bar. “Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’,” one witness, Adam Harris, told WGN-TV. “He was a security guard. And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”
.
.
.
Family friends of Mr. Roberson’s said he had worked as an organist at several local churches and had once dreamed of becoming a police officer himself, according to local news reports. Mr. Roberson had a state firearm owner’s identification card, Ms. Ansari said, which authorized his possession of firearms. Mr. Roberson had planned to play later that day at New Spiritual Light Baptist Church, the pastor, Walter Turner, told the local ABC affiliate.
“How in the world does the security guard get shot by the police?” Pastor Turner said. “A young man that was literally just doing his job, and now he’s gone.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/police-officer-shoots-security-guard-chicago.html
So while it is true there was a dangerous situation - five people shot in a bar - by all accounts the cops had no reason whatsoever to think the security guard who was pinning someone down was the bad guy. Again, whomever the "bad guy" was, it was a person who was shooting at other people. The "bad guy' was not reported to have gone about pinning people to the ground. And it would seem that not only did the security guard have SECURITY on his gear, but bystanders were shouting at the police not to shoot him.
___________________________________________________________________________
Let's get a few of the usual deflections out of the way.
1. "Wait for all the facts" aka "stop talking about this story until it goes away and I don't have to address what the cops did";
---- nah, if you were about to say that you have expressed many opinions without knowing all of the facts, and you also know perfectly well that a demand for "all" the facts to come out ensures no discussion at all if it is honored because there can be no way of objectively declaring that "all" facts are known.
2. "The officer was doing his job".
-----Yeah, so was the security guard. So were the bystanders. Why couldn't the cops do their job and exercise some self-restraint until they have a clue of what is going on? Why does doing their job mean blasting away without a thought? Yeah, I think we can tell people to pre-emptively stuff that deflection/excuse.
3. "The race card".
---- It's true that this was near Chicago and the security guard was a black man, who was pinning someone (the bad guy) on the ground. It's also true that there's a long history of poorer treatment of black people by police. You can't make that disappear by screaming "race card" at it, no matter how much you try....
4. "You hate cops!"
---- "hate" is a pretty strong word there buddy, but you know what? I do despise those officers with so little self-control, so little emotional regulation, that their first instinct when frightened is to start blasting away at people. The police are supposed to be the best of us, not the weakest and worst. They're suppose to have more restraint with firearms, not less....
...what, do you like cops whose first instinct is to shoot someone? The security guard didn't shoot the bad guy. No. But the police did shoot him, even though he had the situation under control. Seems like the guard should have been a cop, and the cop should have been janitor for a kindergarten.
Enough of this!
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