Too good

Come on, you know you want the US to be a Third World shitehole deep in your heart?  Otherwise, why the fuck are you working so hard to make it into one?

Yeah, you don't want the US to be like all those other developed nations when you can be like a Third World Shitehole.

The case I mentioned in The Absurdity of "Get Away with Murder" Laws

Here is the original The Absurdity of "Get Away with Murder" Laws post.

The actual case:

What happened: Nine-year-old Sherdavia Jenkins was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between two men that was possibly over drugs. The shooters were about 50 yards away from Jenkins, who was playing with a doll near the porch of her house. Darling said he feared Larose would pull a gun on him so he pulled his gun first but was acting in self-defense.

Source: The Tampa Bay Times study on Florida's Stand Your Ground Laws

The Tampa Bay Times used media reports, court records and interviews with prosecutors and attorneys to identify more than 200 “stand your ground” cases across Florida. The list, though incomplete, is the most comprehensive in the state and likely includes most fatal cases.

The Times asked questions about each conflict: Who was armed? Who started the fight? It also recorded the race, age and sex of those involved and the case outcome. Hispanics often are listed as white or black because many police agencies record only race, not ethnicity.

Critics say "stand your ground" turned Florida into the Wild West. Supporters say it has helped keep innocents out of jail. The truth of how the law has been used over the past six years was unknown until now.

Here are the results:  www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/fatal-cases

What follows is the most comprehensive list of "stand your ground" cases ever created. Browse by victim or defendant, by fatal or nonfatal cases. Hover over a photo to explore the basics of each case or click it for a more detailed case file. Use the buttons at right to filter by race, sex and location.

 More on Sherdavia Jenkins

Don't forget Jordan Davis!

I mean it's not hard to forget another young black man was shot in cold blood by someone who was emboldened by Florida's "get away with murder" law.

Michael David Dunn, 45, told police he shot and killed Davis at a gas station last year because he feared for his life.

And what was this life threatening situation which led to the death of Jordan Davis?

LOUD MUSIC!

Yep, a drunken Michael Dunn had told Davis and his friends to turn down their loud music.

Dunn claims that the situation escalated and the teens began threatening him. Dunn started shooting because he thought they had a shotgun.

“It was either a barrel or a stick but, sir, they’re like we’re going to kill you and then they said, ‘you’re dead [expletive removed].’ What I should have done was put the car in reverse, but that shotgun come up or whatever it was – fight or flight – and I don’t think there was time for flight at that moment because I was going to get shot.”

Dunn fled the scene, but was arrested the next day.


So much for "standing his ground"--maybe the fact that he was drunk form being at a wedding reception might partially account for not staying on the scene?

Dunn, who faces a first-degree murder charge and three attempted murder charges, plans to invoke Florida’s controversial “Stand your ground” law in his defense.

Come on! We know that gun owners aren't victims--they are the ones doing the killing of unarmed people!

Another Victim of the Florida Stand Your Ground Laws

A good argument can be made here that WITHOUT the Shoot First laws in Florida, there would be no dead man here, and there would have been no threat to Law Enforcement either.

This guy screwed up by answering the door with a gun - something he was entitled to do in Florida under their stupid Shoot First laws.  The cops made a serious mistake in not identifying themselves; it is not clear if the officers in question were obviously law enforcement (in uniform, etc.).

If we didn't have a failure of civilization with the stupid and deadly U.S. gun culture, we wouldn't have this kind of occurrence. Period.

We wouldn't have some dimbulb gun zombie answering the door with a firearm.  If he was uncertain as to his safety relating to the people on the other side of his front door, a better solution would be to simply keep the door closed and ASK for them to show some ID, and for their purpose in being there.

THAT would have prompted the cops to identify themselves; and further, if he was still skeptical the dead gun nut could have confirmed who they were with the PD instead of getting himself killed.  What he did was stupid gun nut swaggering macho.  He died as much by stupidity as by bullets.

Law enforcement of course doesn't get a pass here either.  There are many reasons they could and should have avoided killing this guy on their way to arresting the right people.

I don't agree with this article that the police shouldn't have killed the man who pointed a gun at them; when you shoot, you shoot to kill, not wound.  But there is some merit to the question raised, who protects us from incompetent or over-eager law enforcement that is gun happy.

from Opposing Views

Lake County Police Shoot and Kill Wrong Man, Andrew Lee Scott

By Melissa Darcey, Mon, July 16, 2012

Police in Lake County, Florida accidentally shot and killed a man they assumed was an attempted murder suspect.
Early Monday morning, several deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office knocked on Andrew Lee Scott’s apartment door in the Blueberry Hills Apartment complex. They did not identify themselves as police and the 26-year-old answered the door with a gun in hand.
According to the Lt. John Herrell, Scott’s gun was aimed at one of the deputies, and that's why he was ultimately shot and killed.
The deputies have not been identified because of safety reasons, since incidents like this could result in retaliation from local citizens. The biggest question most have is: Even if you must shoot at the man because of a threat, did you have to kill him? Then again, conversely, one might ask: Who answers the door pointing a weapon at anyone, let alone police?
Call it a conspiracy or call it just being in the wrong place at the wrong time; either way, it’s a nasty mix-up.
Deputies were actually looking for Jonathan Brown, a man accused of attempted murder. Brown had been seen at the Blueberry Hills complex and his motorcycle was parked across from Scott’s front door. Apparently, those signs were enough to assume Brown was in that apartment.
Quoted by www.wesh.com, Herrell is standing by his deputies, explaining, “The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or plice officer, you’re going to get shot.”
But killed? Shooting and killing a man are two very different things. Friends of Scott and other citizens believe the police reacted too quickly and too intensely, especially when they had no proof that they were confronting Brown. They made a risky decision and it was the wrong one.
Brown was arrested soon after in a nearby location and, along with another suspect, Anthony Rodriguez, was booked into Lake County Jail.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. The deputy who shot Scott and the other two deputies who were with him are all on administrative leave.
Unfortunately, this incident will only give citizens more reasons to fear and avoid law enforcement. The police may be protecting us from criminals, but who’s protecting us from the police?

We Just Don't Have Enough Guns in Florida

Or is it we have too many?  Less ease of access to firearms would reduce the frequency of these tragedies.
From MSNBC and the AP

Florida teen dies in game of Russian Roulette

By msnbc.com staff and news services The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Florida teenager who was shot in the head during a game of Russian Roulette has died.
Thorin R. Montgomery, 17, was pronounced deceased early Sunday at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to detectives, Montgomery and three of his friends were involved in an apparent game of Russian Roulette at Montgomery’s home on Friday night. Montgomery was the first to have a turn at the game when the .38-caliber revolver discharged and a bullet struck him in the head, the sheriff’s office said.

Montgomery was transported by air to Bayfront Medical Center in critical condition.

An autopsy is pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Another Florida Gun Nut Violently Goes Off the Rails

One more person who should never have had a gun.

We have too many guns, and too many people committing gun violence out of emotional impulses that would be better managed without ease of access to deadly weapons.

I'm sure that right before his gun ruined his life and traumatized the people around him, this guy was sure he was a good person, doing good and important things with his freedom and his firearm.

Of course, he wasn't.  And of course now he is as far from free as he can possibly be, but there is that tantalizing ILLUSION that comes with guns.  This man who had a promising professional career ahead of him has proven once again that there is no correlation between guns and freedom, and far, far to frequent a correlation to guns and violence and ruination, and this is never more true than in states where the gun fantasy and fetish is strongest -- like Florida. We're lucky this didn't end up yet ANOTHER mass shooting, or murder / suicide, or that the shots fired didn't hit someone entirely unintentional.

From the Miami Herald and the AP:

Fla law student being held on $1M bond in shooting

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/16/2591854/law-student-being-held-on-1m-bond.html#storylink=cpyThe Associated Press

The Associated PressNAPLES, Fla. -- An Ave Maria law school student is being held on $1 million bond after authorities say he shot at his roommate and threatened his ex-girlfriend.
Jail records show 25-year-old Robert Christopher Ringley was charged Friday with attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His next court date is Feb. 6. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.
The Naples Daily News reports ( http://bit.ly/wMey84) that the Collier County Sheriff's Office says Ringley forced his ex-girlfriend and his roommate to their knees on the street, pointing the gun at them.
The woman fled to an apartment to call authorities. That's when police say Ringley ordered his roommate to his feet and fired several shots in the air before pointing the gun at him.
No one was injured.

Florida has a gun culture problem - ANOTHER example.

Florida has a gun culture which is a part of their gun violence problem.  Florida is one of those states with incidents most often appearing on this blog.

Last month was, among other things, domestic violence awareness month.  I wrote about the unique problems with gun violence and domestic abuse committed by law enforcement.  For those of you who did not read it here then, the romantic partners and families of law enforcement are 40% more likely to be victims of domestic violence abuse by the law enforcement members of their family than the civilian population.  Firearms, and threats involving firearms, either privately owned or their service weapon, frequently are part of such threats. Further, their fellow law enforcement officers do NOT investigate or pursue such domestic abuse crimes the way they would members of the general public.

While details are still uncertain in this specific case, the fact that this law enforcement officer was shooting at a female law enforcement officer, in view of these statistics, certainly suggests that this might have been some kind of romance gone bad.  That the officer shot AND MISSED is an additional concern; if law enforcement, where proficiency is a requirement, miss their targets - and they often DO miss - then how much LESS should we be comfortable with the skills and proficiency of the private citizen who is NOT obligated to train or demonstrate their proficiency regularly as a condition of their use? 

And what does it tell us about the psychological state of this officer that after trying to kill someone.......he blithely ordered pizza?  It speaks much more favorably of the woman officer he targeted that she turned this over to a SWAT team to subdue the offending officer, rather than engaging in some kind of defensive shootout with him.  That is the kind of shooting that most of our gun loons here would advocate should happen.  They wet themselves thinking about it.

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

 

updated 11/14/2011 10:44:12 AM ET

LAUDERHILL, Florida — A Florida police officer who allegedly shot at a fellow cop before driving off and ordering pizza on Saturday night has been identified. Officer Kristopher John Bieger, 30, is charged with attempted first degree murder and discharging a firearm from a vehicle, according to Lauderhill Police Department.
The bullet missed the intended victim — a female colleague whose name is not being released.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the shooting took place by Inverry Boulevard and NW 56 Ave. in Lauderhill at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
A report in the Miami Herald said Bieger then drove to a Publix shopping center near the corner of Griffin and Volunteer roads, where he entered Donato’s Ristorante and ordered two slices of pizza.
Donato DeLio, 60, owner of the restaurant, told the newspaper: "He was just a regular customer...The guy was not threatening nobody."
The report said Bieger walked outside to the parking lot, appearing agitated, while waiting for his order.

At that point, DeLio said, police telephoned the restaurant and told him to lock the front door, stay away from the front windows, and move all his customers and employees to the rear of the premises.

“We were in the back for two hours,” DeLio told the newspaper. “Then the SWAT team came in through our back door.”
Police said in an email that Bieger was arrested and booked in the Broward County Main Jail around 11 a.m. Sunday.
Bieger has been with the City of Lauderhill since 2006. He has been suspended without pay.
Lauderhill police wouldn't comment on the nature of the incident, or why it happened, or the nature of the relationship between Bieger and his intended victim.