I watched the entire hour and a half video of the officer shooting

[boston bean]

I know the guy blew a 1.08 but to my eye he passed all the field sobriety tests prior to that.

If they had just let him walk home after passing the initial tests or call his girlfriend, which is what he was essentially requesting, all of this could have been avoided.

They requested a breathalyzer and if he had refused that he still would have been arrested for refusing and lost his license and gone through a long costly court procedure.

I see a guy trying to avoid going to jail And/or having his license revoked. He was cornered once they asked him to take that breathylizer. If refused, he was gonna be arrested and lose his license. So he took his chances on taking it even though he had passed the prior tests.

Then he barely failed breathylizer and he decided to resist and run.

He seemed like a good guy. Cop was assholish and had plenty of lee way to let that guy walk or call someone to pick him up.

[cayugafalls]

1. I watched it too. There were lots of opportunities to be the good guys and show compassion.

I've been let go before and I've been driven home, so I know it happens.

I've made lots of mistakes. I am no saint.

Training and compassion would have saved his life.

[stopdiggin]

7. I too grew up in an era when "a little slack"

was not an unusual thing. (But then, of course .. the cops got accused of favoritism and selective enforcement.)

Unfortunately -- this all took place in a parking lot full of people (i.e., witnesses). And .. the guy fell asleep in a drive through lane ... Triggering calls to the police to come get the fool.

I'm wondering (just speculation) if the circumstances and very public venue didn't work against the LE people giving any sort of pass on this situation. And, of course, in retrospect we all wish that that is what had happened here.

And too we've had MADD and half a dozen other civic entities advocating for years that LE crack down on all instances of DUI .. So, the days of cutting someone some slack may now be in a distant past as far as policing goes.

[cayugafalls]

10. I agree with you things changed in the last 20-30 years.

Unless of course you are a Chief of Police for Moss Point...

Dude was "jacked up" driving 109 mph when pulled over.

They drove him home.

https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/jackson-county/article98850282.html

In my opinion, slack has to do with who you are and who you know. Probably with how much money you have as well and what neighborhood you live in.

I will lay money on affluent communities equals more people getting driven home or friends/parents/spouses called.

[Hoyt]

2. Think the shooting was unjustified. But, I saw a guy totally out of it. Took awhile to wake him up,

he fell back asleep while police were there talking to him, etc. I thought the officers were fair, even when they went to handcuff him. At that point it turned to chit.

Not sure how I would react to having my hands cuffed behind my back. I do know when I think about that, that I start having difficulty breathing. Couple that with the fear of what was about to happen, and I can't say I wouldn't freak out and do something stupid.

But, at that point, I don't think the shooting was necessary. I agree with firing, but I think the DA might decline to prosecute for murder, manslaughter because I believe some jurors would have enough doubt that is what occured. Maybe there is some lessor crime.

Nothing indicated to me that these officers were like Chauvin, but it was poor judgement to shoot, at a minimum. Not sure the other officer really did anything wrong.


BTW: Personally I think a lot of struggles could be avoided if hand were not cuffed behind the back in cases like this. Once someone is put in the back of most police cars -- with the cage -- there is not much they can do to hurt police or flee. But, that's just me.

BTW 2: There was a time when someone at only .108 would have been taken home. But, that changed 20 years or so ago to the point that you get caught DUI and your are going to get arrested, put in the back seat, fingerprinted, thrown in a holding cell, etc., and you might just lose your job. That's a tough situation.

[sop]

3. I agree with your conclusion, but none of the details leading up to the shooting really matter.

Whatever Brooks was guilty of ~ DUI, failing a breathilizer test, resisting arrest, wrestling a taser away from a police officer, throwing a punch while trying to break free, or even pointing and firing the police taser at one of the officers as he ran away ~ the fact remains the police shot an unarmed man multiple times while he was about 20-25 feet from the nearest officer and running away from them and presenting no threat to anyone. No matter how people try to frame this tragic event, that's the only fact that matters.

[Shanti Mama]

5. Absolutely nt

[treestar]

4. I thought that too

but he was drunk and he'd been driving. It was probably standard procedure. He'd be fine now if he had not resisted and taken the taser. That escalates things and then it is harder to judge what they did as they are under extreme pressure. It would not have been so bad to go to the station and be booked and then fight in court if he had any issues.

It's much harder to defend when they resist arrest. Harsher to judge the cops when someone is doing that. We're not going to find big support for just letting him go. He could get into some other car, kill somebody and guess who is at fault?

[SlogginThroughIt]

19. Not hard to judge.

Cop is fired. He has been judged. Now he might get reinstated at some point.... But even the cops say he was wrong.

[BannonsLiver]

6. In my view if you have blown a 1.08 you have failed the test and should not be driving

[malaise]

8. He was not driving

He was sleeping in his car.

[BannonsLiver]

9. APC

Actual Physical Control. It’s essentially the same thing. He fell asleep in a drive thru. Have you followed the story?

[stopdiggin]

11. You're friggin' joking right?

asleep in the drive through lane? engine running, lights on. you're calling that not driving?

[USALiberal]

12. I 100% agree! Nt

[uponit7771]

15. White people fail sobriety test and don't get shot in the back

[LeftInTX]

13. He appeared drunk to me

I think he seems so easy going and appears to get along with the officers was due to alcohol.

Unfortunately, his reaction to being cuffed was probably also due to alcohol.

I think the police did not expect him to resist arrest the way that he did.

Many people are "angry drunks" and a cop at their car window could set them off. Mr Brooks did not appear upset until the police tried to cuff him. He gave police the impression that he was cooperative.

There is a lot that officers can learn from watching the body cams.

[KentuckyWoman]

14. Cop had leeway.....

Unfortunately there is no leeway extended to black men. The entire system is designed on "disgression" and "leeway".

Police make judgement calls constantly. Personal biases, poor training, testosterone junkies, even the normal adrenaline overload of a fight or a chase can really screw up decision making.

The culture of fraternity only serves to perpetuate all the things that lead to poor judgement instead of demanding better. This is for the so called good cops.

We need a system for public safety we can rely on but especially in larger cities, I don't know how you save a system so broken.

[uponit7771]

16. THANK YOU !!! Leeway is a whites only privilege

[JI7]

17. Cop came off as an ass the whole time

[Polybius]

18. The whole time?

Come on. He said he was sorry twice when he had said he was here to visit he mother's grave. Cop seemed fine until the end.

With that being said, don't think I'm in any way defending the shooting. I'm only defending the way he acted before the scuffle.