Do you think the US police would have killed this child if he had been white?

It's frightening that the officer made the decision to shoot even before his partner had time to get out of the car. Why on earth wasn't a pepper spray or a tazer used?
The gun culture in America seems to be so entrenched that no matter how many shootings there are there is little incentive or will for change.

No

No

no

Probably, I have had an experience of the American police pointing a gun at me, and I'm sure had I not complied with their instructions they would have fired, they did not give any indication of messing about. My crime ?, stepping over a red line in Atlanta airport.
I honestly believe that the gun culture in America means that any excuse to pull that trigger is taken.
I can still remember the shock at seeing police openly carrying weapons at Heathrow many years ago. Thank goodness Britain has never developed that gun culture.

That child was 6'5" and 20 stone in weight.

I agree pompa.

I'm sorry. I've got the wrong shooting!

Yes, I believe it was a young man, not a child.Not that it makes it right, whatever the age.

I would point out that they could not have considered me armed, I was carrying a case and briefcase, also they pulled the gun before they told me to stop.

A teenager, I think.

He was 12.

How does his weight/height make any difference here?

Oh I see Bookdreamer! I couldn't quite understand that.

I think there were actually two similar shootings this week. One was just a child.

That's ok. Didn't read your link. My fault

He was actually 12yrs old, they are trigger happy in the USA and don't seem to weigh up a situation before they shoot... aren't they even trained to shoot to incapacitate rather than shoot to kill? I do think they may of been more careful if the child was white as others have said.

Can you imagine the carnage if our police were armed back the other year in the Croydon [and other] riots?

Yes. The shooting of the older boy caused a lot of riots. The shooting of the twelve year old seemed to go almost unreported for a while.

When I first heard about it I imagined a playground with loads of children and mums running around. But in the video it looks practically empty, apart from the child playing with toy gun which the American gun culture, stupidly, let him have.

He was reported as being 12 with a replica gun. My first thoughts were, as Grannyactivist has posted , why on earth didn't they use a tazer or a stun gun? Two shots to the stomach???? What the hell were they thinking.... or were they thinking at all? It's the old,old story with the US..... shoot first, ask questions later.

What were you thinking Pompa? Stepping over the line.... in America . I hope you behaved yourself after that and only crossed the road when they said 'Cross'. And they call it the Land of the Free!

My problem is being a 12 years old does not mean you will not shoot a gun in America and the police know that only too well. We have no experience of the fear a gun being pointed at you has and I'm sure we don't want to.

What our perception of a 12 year old in this country is, is very different in a country where there is a 'gun culture'. It happens here but thank goodness it is rare but sadly we have little idea of just how easily a gun is available and how many kids do have them.

Do I think by looking at the video the policie officer acted hastily, acted without initiative, acted irresponsibility, then the answer is yes.

Was it because he was black, no, not necessarily

There is always this thought it's because he/she was black. Because he/she was Hispanic. Yes because that is the nature of the population in that area. Because he/she was white is never is said, not because white people are never shot by the police but because it is accepted it happened in a white populated area and the odds on it would be a white person shot. That's just being realistic.

It happened here during the last riots. I heard a fool trying to say he was arrested for looting, not because he stole goods but it was because he was black.. Those arrested in Manchester didn't say I was arrested because I was white.

I will probably be castigated for saying this but sometimes colour is used and it has no relevance to the occurrence but it becomes the focus and the facts get side lined.

In this particular case I think the police officer does look gung ho but had it been a white kid pointing a gun, at him I don't think would have made him act differently. Just because a gun is classed as a replica means nothing they are so realistic and you are dead within seconds, you have to make a call, it's you or him.

The way he operated as a police officer does need investigating because he was prepared to be trigger happy and the shooting of the boy does fall squarely on his shoulders because of his actions.

I honestly think no, they wouldn't have killed him if he were white.

How many white 12-year olds have been killed by the police?

If they really thought that he was armed with a real gun why did they pull-up right in front of him?

The answer to that question is "Look at the evidence" and the answer is a resounding No

I'm sorry to say I very much doubt they would have acted so recklessly if this young boy had been white.

POGS The issue of race cannot be ignored. There are too many examples in America of black people being treated differently under the law. I realise we shouldn't automatically assume the police are in the wrong but anyone who has seen the footage must have some doubts as to whether they acted properly. I do hope that in this case there will be a full trial where all the evidence can be properly examined.

When I was in my teens I read a book called "Black Like Me" written by a white American who took some drugs to make his skin go dark. He wanted to experience what it was like being a black American. He was, of course, fully aware that there was prejudice and that it would be difficult. But he was totally unprepared for the level of hatred and discrimination he experienced and for the devastating effect it had on him as a person. The world was no longer a good, safe place but a place where white people were to be feared and treated with suspicion.

Things are better in the US than they used to be but there are still many injustices. If some black people do over-react to certain situations (and again I think it is very difficult for a white person to make judgments as to whether it is an over-reaction), that does not mean that all their complaints can be passed off as imagined, unjustified or opportunistic.

We may not have a routinely armed police force but that hasn't stopped unlawful killings by our own "forces of law and order. Not saying anybody is better or worse just despair sometimes.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodientes?