Sunday, August 21, 2011

Rural Georgia Cop Shoots Unarmed Man


In the recording, officer Jeffrey Deal jumps out of his patrol car and runs toward Melvin Williams, who has gotten out of his vehicle. The two begin fighting. Williams punches the officer in the head and takes a couple of steps toward Deal, who draws his gun and fires, killing the unarmed Williams.

The article explains that the officer had missed his last mandatory yearly training on the use of deadly force. In such a case he should have been placed on administrtive leave and deprived of his powers of arrest.

I don't know if that really enters into it, as one of his supporters said, he still has the right to self-defense.

My question is about the fact that he "jumps out of his patrol car and runs toward Melvin Williams." Is that normal behavior?  Up till that point, it seems like Williams was only guilty of violating the unwritten protocol about not exiting the vehicle. Everyone knows this one and that the punishment can me summary execution.

Perhaps Williams was the one protecting himself from a raging and out-of-control police officer. And, of course, the guy with the gun killed the unarmed guy.

What's your opinion? This is quite different than the other Georgia incident we posted today, don't you think?

Please leave a comment.


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