Brickbat: Keep It Quiet

The Phoenix, Arizona, police department initially said they were responding to an emergency domestic call when they fatally shot a man in the doorway of his apartment. In fact, they were responding to a noise complaint. When Ryan Whitaker answered the knock on his door at 10 p.m., he grabbed a gun to answer it. Bodycam video shows that when he opened the door and saw the officers, he raised one hand, began to kneel and placed the gun behind him. That's when Officer Jeff Cooke shot him in the back at least twice.

Comments

[Jimbo BTR]

"...when he opened the door..."

Fatal mistake. Never open the door when someone knocks, especially if they say they're the police. If they've got a warrant, they're coming in without knocking anyway. No warrant, you don't have to open the door.

Just don't be a cop about it and shoot through the door.*

[*Reference to Collegial Misconduct Brickbat]

[BillyG]

Also of note, the police officers explicitly made sure they couldn't be seen through the peep hole. Now why would they do that? It'd make anyone suspicious especially late at night.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

If you're afraid of being shot through the door, you stand to one side.

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[MatthewSlyfield]

There was no rational basis for such a fear when they first knocked on the door.

[perlchpr]

Just don’t be a cop about it and shoot through the door.

But Jimbo, that's what Gropey Uncle Joe told us to do! Y'know, with our double barrel shotgun!

[Jerryskids]

Was that cop holding his gun sideways?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The caller complained about people screaming at each other and said he couldn't go to sleep because of the noise. In a second call to 911, he alleges that the screaming had escalated into a physical fight.

"It could be physical," the caller told a 911 dispatcher. "I could say yeah if that makes anybody hurry on up. Get anybody here faster."

To be fair to the neighbor, the cop probably would have wet his pants and shot the guy even if the asshole hadn't lied to 911 to get the cops to show up.

[Minadin]

The neighbor should be charged with filing a false report.

The cops showed up at 10pm - is that even late enough for a noise complaint? He had to call back later after the first complaint, so it makes you wonder.

Turns out the couple were playing video games loudly. No arguing, no domestic violence. Some people should not live in apartments. You are going to hear your neighbors from time to time.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Someone died because he called a false report into to 911, he should be charged with manslaughter.

[perlchpr]

The cops showed up at 10pm – is that even late enough for a noise complaint?

Sadly, yes. Some places don't even have "hours" for noise complaints. As I know from having the police show up at like, 3 in the afternoon when someone in my friend's ritzy housing development called to whine about us working on a truck too loudly on a Saturday afternoon.

[Jerryskids]

That cop is just damn lucky he shot a white guy. But still, the idea that anybody with a gun is a lethal threat to a cop is pure bullshit - why didn't the cop shoot his partner? Like it or not, officer safety is not Job #1, if you feel that way you have no business being a cop. If you have to take the risk of being shot to make sure you're not shooting an innocent man, that's your fucking job you cowardly piece of shit.

[sarcasmic]

They are trained to have zero tolerance for anything that could compromise officer safety, as in start shooting the moment they feel spooked, and to have zero tolerance for noncompliance, as in obey or die.

So sadly the cop was just following his training, and nothing else will happen.

[Lord of Strazele]

It's not training. Killing and devaluing the lives of others comes naturally to authoritarians.

[Union of Concerned Socks]

Are Officer Cooke's union dues paid up? OK, well, all good then.

[Rich]

he was confronted by two Phoenix police officers standing on either side of the door. They appeared surprised by the sight of the firearm

"Surprised"? In *Arizona*?

[Brandybuck]

I'm reminded of the movie "Richard Jewell", where his lawyer asks him if he owns any firearms. He responds, paraphrased, "Duh! I live in Georgia!" (Whereupon he proceeds to lay out more than a dozen firearms...)

[Brandybuck]

Shot him in the back. Twice. Who's still defending this behavior?

Back when I was younger and on my own for the first time, and in a rundown neighborhood, I would occasionally call the cops for noise problems. I will no longer do that. The cops are not the same today as I grew up with. Calling the cops because the neighbors won't turn down their stereo could mean their death. The noise isn't worth killing someone over.

Never call the cops unless it is a criminal emergency. And even then perhaps you should count to ten first.

[sarcasmic]

from the linked article:

According to the police report, Cooke later that night told detectives that he shot Whitaker because he feared for his life. Ferragamo later tells another officer at the scene that he would have done the same, but didn't because Cooke did, according to the video footage and the police report.

The cops are lining up to defend each other.

[Juice]

Systematic racism in action.

[Lord of Strazele]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. And by that I mean support Republican governance and get shot in the back by a cop for exercising your 2nd Amendment. If you arm yourself with a gun then you should expect to get shot by a damn near mirror image of yourself.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

he raised one hand, began to kneel and placed the gun behind him

You really are one stupid mother fucker.

[Don't look at me!]

2nd that.

[ChicagoTom]

"You really are one stupid mother fucker."
WHy? because he attacked the precious GOP ??
If he's stupid explain why or STFU.

He is exactly right.

Its the GOP that wants everyone armed...and its the GOP that wants to excuse cops shooting first and asking questions later.

Those 2 things are in direct conflict. If owning a gun is a right, then opening your door with a gun in hand CANNOT be justification for shooting you. The mere existence of a gun should not justify fearing for your life.

You cant have it both ways...but the GOP is trying to do so. If bed-wetter cops piss themselves at the sight of someone exercising their 2nd amendment rights and shoot...they should be tried for murder and be held personally financially responsible as well.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

If he’s stupid explain why or STFU.

Fuck you. You're in no place to give me orders.

I didn't say anything about qualified immunity, and to imply that all registered republicans support it is just a prima facie example of stupid.

[ChicagoTom]

"I didn’t say anything about qualified immunity, and to imply that all registered republicans support it is just a prima facie example of stupid."

The "GOP" is not "all registered republicans" either shithead. That you took that to mean "every registered republican" is a stupid and disingenuous reading.

Also I am not "implying" anything....I am outright stating it. The Republican party wants people armed -- but they also want the cops to be allowed kill armed people because the sight of the gun makes them fear for their life.

EVERY 2nd amendment supporter should be DEMANDING police reform...not just repealing QI (which is for civil proceedings, not criminal) but also prosecuting more cops in cases like this.

Every legal gun owner is at risk today of being killed because legally its A-OK for a cop to shoot your because your legal gun made them scared.

[Rockstevo]

I’m a Republican and I don’t want to excuse cops shooting first. I believe this was in no way a clean shooting and the cop should face manslaughter charges.

[ChicagoTom]

"I’m a Republican and I don’t want to excuse cops shooting first. I believe this was in no way a clean shooting and the cop should face manslaughter charges."

That's great, but you aren't "the party"...you are a voter, but you dont have a say in the party's plank and their official positions. The overwhelming majority of the GOP caucus does not see think this is a criminal offense like you and I do.

They're too busy trying to "Back the Blue"

[Minadin]

So, you're going to tell a member of the party you're against what they think and believe?

Bold move, Cotton.

[Agammamon]

Yes - because cops in Democratic strongholds don't do worse.

[Art Kumquat]

The usual shit posts from the usual trolls here. What a joke. Reason can't get rid of obvious trolling or ads.

[Dillinger]

Louie: It's him all right. Should I shoot him gangland style or execution style?

Fat Tony: Listen to your heart.

[creech]

Why aren't 10,000 white folks marching in Phoenix for "White Lives Matter?"

[cgr2727]

Because they have jobs to go to or work from home, and kids to be schooled and taken care of.

[Ron]

So he opened the door. did he have his back to the door when he opened it. at what point did he turn his back to the cops and if he had his back to the cops then he was no longer a danger but he had his back to the cops since he was shot in the back.? this makes no sense. Clearly the cop just murdered him for brownie points.

[Roberta]

As I envision it, he was facing the floor and shot in the back from above. His head was pointed toward the doorway. It's not clear whether the gun was still in his hand behind his back, i.e. on top of him, or he'd put it on the floor behind him.

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