"(Trooper's Association Gary James said) Those troopers weren’t taunting them. They were on a state roadway. They have state jurisdiction there.”
Isnt this the same union lawyer who insisted that Trooper Martin's dashcam video clearly showed the ambulance paramedics attacking the trooper? That the video completely exonerated Trooper Martin, and its too bad we cant show you that video?
(Spoiler: It didnt).
40 seconds of one of the 30-minute videos falls short of transparency. We should also see the 2nd video of the trooper whose microphone wasnt underwater. How much "preparation" does that require?
So, minister good guy who loves cops drinks and drives (1st offense) to what was first said to be to hunt and fish (2nd offense drinking while handling a firearm) which may or may not have resulted in him driving into high water which put him, his brother, and anyone who attempted to rescue them in danger.
They get stuck so someone calls for help. OHP shows up and wants them out of the water as 6 inches can sweep someone away and water was rising and falling quickly due to all of the rains we've had.
They walk up to the officer, who ID'ed himself as a state trooper with his patrol car lights flashing, and attacks him by shoving him (3rd offense) and taking him to the ground.
So, The cops are the bad guys for killing the guy who had committed between one and three felonies in last 30 minutes, one of which included assaulting an officer who was clearly identified by the flashing lights and verbal communication.
Yes, all of the video should be released from every camera on site.
Yes, the troopers should be held accountable if there was wrongdoing.
But, the brothers need to be held fully accountable for their actions that led up to the encounter as well as their actions during the encounter.
They simply don't drive into high water and they're not in danger and no rescue personnel has to show up and none of this happens. Not to mention several other choices they could have made to prevent this encounter from going bad.
If said troopers were such a rouge, undisciplined, bad cops they would've shot the guy as soon as he was within 15 feet of them being a jerk. Instead, they waited until they were attacked.
I get there are bad cops. I've been on the wrong of that before. But if we all want to be victims then we will get our wish and all become victims... just not of the 'good' guys as more and more people figure if they push the cops far enough via disrespect, they'll get out of any trouble they got themselves into leading up to the encounter with the police.
They'll break into your house, beat the crap out of you, do other horrendous things, then ignore the cops orders to stop as they leave your house, get shot, killed, then the police will be on trial and the guy who did all of these bad things to you all of a sudden is the innocent victim in a police plot to shoot all potential bad guys on sight. Next week, his buddies might hit your parents house and get tased by the cops for ignoring them but get off because the PCP he was on caused the taser to give them a heart attack and almost die.