Cops stand down as bystanders step in to protect young man from threatening police response

[Nevilledog]

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The neighborhood came together to save an unarmed man from a bunch of maniacs with assault rifles and badges.
They say they "got a call" so they had to draw down on a black man with a cell phone..


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8:13 AM · Feb 6, 2023

https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2023/02/video-shows-east-precinct-officers-back-down-after-bystanders-step-in-over-heavy-response-to-capitol-hill-shots-fired-911-calls/

Reports of gunfire and yelling in the street Wednesday night near 12th and Mercer led to a tense situation with East Precinct officers taking aim on an unarmed person in crisis before deciding to retreat from the scene when a crowd of bystanders gathered.

The quickly formed and instantly tense standoff is an example of how fast a police response to a 911 report involving a gun can escalate and also shows how perceptions of police in a standoff situation have shifted after repeated incidents like the killing of Tyre Nichols.

Video of Wednesday’s incident sent to CHS after it was recorded around 7 PM at 11th and Mercer shows four minutes of the short standoff as police took their position up the dark street and one officer aimed his rifle, commanding the upset subject to drop any weapon and get on the ground. The confusing scene continued with police yelling commands as concerned bystanders told the officers to back off.

“We’re much more scared of the fucking police in this situation than this guy,” one person yells. “Can you guys fucking calm down? Calm the fuck down.”

*snip*

[The Magistrate]

1. "Calm The Fuck Down!"

Whoever that person is, he or she ought to be put in charge of the department's training....

[Evolve Dammit]

28. and get a Presidential Medal of Freedom....

[3Hotdogs]

33. What. It was Seattle's SCORPION force with the assault weapon.

Seattle Cops On Rat Patrol In Offensive Neighborhoods.

[elleng]

49. Yes, but way too many 'f' words being used these days.

[No Vested Interest]

53. Correct.

[Marthe48]

58. It's all been normalized

Certain words used to be avoided. Now, cussing is acceptabl. Not judging-I swear all the time. Plenty of other things are being normalized, too, like ragged clothes and 5 o'clock shadows, police violence against dark-skinned people, traitors running the House of Representaives, normal citizens carrying weapons of mass murder. I've accepted cussing, but not a bit of the rest of it.

I'm beginning to understand why old people are cranky. Not just aging, but getting used to new norms in unfamilar territory.

[Woodwizard]

76. Ragged clothes and 5 o'clock shadow.

I resemble that.

[Marthe48]

82. No offense meant

I'm 70. We dressed up when we went out, to school, to play with the neighbor kids, visit relatives. I have old clothes I wear at home, but if I go out, I wear newer clothes. Lifelong. Used to be because my parents insisted, now, for me.

[Woodwizard]

84. No offense taken.

My wife is always trying to throw out my work clothes like the barn coat she got me 25 years ago it been patched multiple times I just love the way it feels I have other nice jackets but why ruin them.

[GenThePerservering]

61. This one gets a pass

this was a very tense, almost frightening situation.

ETA: But this heroic situation and all somebody can do is complain that somebody used the F word.

[soldierant]

64. I do think that one probably came from the speaker

"reading the room."

[montanacowboy]

2. Good for you Capitol Hill folks

this needs to be happening everywhere -

That East Pct. was notorious during BLM days

[malaise]

3. Nice neighbors

Rec

[MagickMuffin]

4. Perhaps this is what's needed, concerned citizens protecting the community from the enforcers

Maybe this would stop the murdering of hundreds of citizens each year. Make the enforcers pay for their racist ways of “protecting” the community.

[CaptainTruth]

8. I've literally been wondering about rapid response citizens teams.

Monitor police radios, show up to calls that sound like they could turn violent.

I doubt it would work, but seriously, who do you call to protect you from the police?

[wnylib]

37. Same idea has crossed my mind several times.

Groups can PEACEFULLY respond together to protect those in danger of police violence. Hold up phones to record and live stream what is going on so that cops can see that 20+ witnesses are sending the event out to the world in real time. They can form a circle around threatened individuals to protect them if necessary.

Yes, police will accuse them of interfering with an investigation if they protect someone by blocking police access and that should be done only if absolutely necessary. But recording or live streaming an incident is legal and is not interfering. When done by several people at once, with cops aware that several people are doing it, that could prevent some tragedies. Call them The Phone Brigade.

[Martin68]

73. Yes! We've got to take the streets back.

[wryter2000]

12. It didn't shop Derek Chauvin

From suffocating George Floyd. But maybe his conviction for murder is making them think.

[Evolve Dammit]

29. That to me showed his depravity. He enjoyed the power. Sadistic.

[vanlassie]

66. He's paying a very high price however.

[DoBotherMe]

71. He murdered George

Of course he's paying a high price. Are you trying to diminish his violence?

[vanlassie]

81. Good lord no.

I was responding to this “ But maybe his conviction for murder is making them think.”

…Which I also hope will be having a chilling effect on at least a few of these assholes.

[wnylib]

38. In the future, maybe people can plan for such situations

and take diversionary tactics. Set off an attention getting action nearby, like a loudspeaker announcing how many witnesses are present and willing to testify. Talk to the accomplice cops about their duty to intervene, etc.

[wryter2000]

45. Possibly

There was a Youtube here once by a black man talking about getting stopped by the police. He noticed a white woman in her car, recording the whole thing on her phone. She looked really scared. She continued for 15 minutes while the officer sat in the car looking at the man's driver's license. Eventually, the cop told him he was fine and could go, but she didn't leave until the black driver started his car and went off. Probably that stop was nothing. The cop never got confrontational. But you never know.

I would hazard a guess that, in this video, when the other man went and stood by the object of the cop's wrath, the situation was such that the cop didn't dare shoot because he might hit the other man. He put himself in real jeopardy, and as someone said in this thread, he may have saved the man's life. That's bravery.

[wnylib]

48. Yes, that was the brave kind of action that can save lives.

People can literally stand next to unarmed people being threatened by police. In this case it was one man, but it could be a group of people, too.

In the case of Chauvin and George Floyd, I don't see how it would have worked once Chauvin had Floyd on the ground. But, before it got to that point, it might have helped. I am NOT in any way criticizing the witnesses who were there. The people did not know in advance that Chauvin would murder Floyd in cold blood in front of all those witnesses without the other cops stopping him.

But now that we've seen that people can successfully act to protect unarmed citizens from being murdered by cops, I hope it happens more often.

[Mr.Bill]

50. I was inspired by his courage,

but horrified that is what it takes to keep the police from murdering someone. What the fuck is wrong with our law enforcement community?

[Torchlight]

5. Though law enforcement did seem pretty incompetent in this instance,

it's also kinda heartwarming to watch the community de-escalate a situation law enforcement had stoked.

[fightforfreedom]

6. Do cops watch the news? They are being really stupid.

This is how innocent people are being killed.

[uponit7771]

7. K&R,

[seta1950]

9. Wow

Every neighborhood should do this

[NH Ethylene]

10. "No one has a gun except for you!"

Incredible.

Kutos to the man who walked over to stand with him. He probably saved his life.

[wryter2000]

13. That guy was super brave

[AllaN01Bear]

11. all because of a black guy had a cell phone . i hope he sues . this was good

[OverBurn]

14. I have NO confidence in police at all. Most seem to be morons.

Everyday I see a new video on facebook of cops being out of control.

[NullTuples]

15. A white bystander stood with the Black man and cops backed down. This should be a lesson to all.

This is what privilege looks like. Every white person has it in situations like this. It may be a way to bring about change. Not to police bigotry and brutality, only to the number of Black men killed by cops. But that's a start. And it matters.

[wryter2000]

47. Yup

I've been told to do exactly that in situations when someone is on the receiving end of hatred. Just go and be with the person being attacked. Just show your support. In this situation, he might have been risking his life. Good for him.

[MontanaMama]

16. The unarmed man

must have seen his life flash before his eyes. This could have ended so differently. So glad it did not.

[wnylib]

39. You could hear it in his voice. That man was terrified.

He knew how such situations usually end.

[friend of a friend]

17. Was it like this in the late 40s and early 50s? I guess it would depend on the area.

I grew up in Roxbury, a part of Boston. It was pretty even back then 50% Black and 50% White and Jewish and it didn't matter, we all played together. We very rarely saw a cop. Every once in a while a foot cop would stop and talk to us usually asking how we were doing and telling us to be careful playing in the street. A Black teenager could walk down the street after dark and a patrol car wouldn't even slow down.

[LiberalArkie]

27. Not even in the south. I think it has to do with "everyone" having guns these days.

When I grew up in South Arkansas the only hand guns I ever saw was the 38 that a policeman had. People had hunting rifles but that was about it.

[multigraincracker]

18. Put down your weapons cops.

You are surrounded with hundreds of cell phone cameras.

[wnylib]

40. +1000.

[ShazzieB]

19. God bless those neighbors!

And fuck the jackhole made that call, because they're the one who started the whole thing.

It's disturbing to me that so many people seem to assume that any object in the hand of a black male must be a gun. Personally, I doubt that anyone, anywhere, is manufacturing firearms in the form of small, flat rectangles, and I have a hard time understanding how anyone could mistake a cell phone for anything hut a cell phone, but here we are.

In this case, it was dark, so I can buy that it might have been hard to see what was in this guy's hand, unless he was standing directly under a streetlight. That leads me to believe that the caller saw a black man with something in his hand, couldn't make out what it was, and immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a gun.

And the cops show up, belligerent as hell, acting like anyone calling to report a black man with a gun MUST be stating the literal, unquestioned truth. (Haven't they heard about any of those studies demonstrating how unreliable eye witnesses can be? Imo, that stuff should be included in their training, but "should" can be a pretty meaningless word.) Like the caller, they seem to assume that any time a black man is holding something, it MUST be a gun, no ifs, ands, buts, or maybes, and they proceed accordingly.

This is where I would say WTAF is wrong with people, but in this case, I'm pretty sure I know. Peering through the cracked and warped lenses of racism is what makes any small object in a black man's hand look like a gun. Furthermore, to anyone peering through those lenses, that black man automatically looks like a criminal, whether there's anything in his hand or not. This especially applies to cops.

This country has a serious racism problem that we need to face up to and address. To quote Dr. Phil, "You can't change what you don't acknowledge." In other words, you have to acknowledge a problem exists before you can fix it. I really wish this country could do that, but it's the last thing Republicans want, and they're already fighting it tooth and nail with their attacks on so-called "critical race theory."

[tishaLA]

20. They should have gotten names and badge numbers

but good on them for helping to avert yet another tragedy

[live love laugh]

21. It's just a video. Let's see what the facts say. He probably did something.

[Celerity]

22. Murdercoppers probably had the sadz cuz they didn't get to kill the black man.

The US is fucked up.

[yardwork]

25. They sure acted that way. IMO.

[Ohioboy]

23. Is it the metal in their badges?

Are badges made out of some kind of metal that eats certain cop's brains? WTF



Who ever is was that hollered out "right now we're more afraid of the police than this guy" had it right.

[yardwork]

24. If the cops thought there was a lethal threat, why didn't they control the scene?

Cars allowed to drive right past them, people walking around - the cops look like morons, at best. At worst, they look like they were trying to murder a black man for no reason, and couldn't get away with it because of bystanders.

Policing needs s complete overhaul.

[Sky Jewels]

26. I say this as a middle-aged, middle class woman who grew up in white privilege: Fuck the police.

[Better Days Ahoy]

62. Word, sister. Me, too. Middle aged and raised with some serious white privilege.

Pretty disgusted.
They all should Calm the Fuck Down.

[progressoid]

30. slightly off topic but that's pretty good quality video from a cell phone.

[mjvpi]

35. Perfect ad campaign for a new smart phone. Super Bowl material.

[The Jungle 1]

31. That dingle berry has an AR out.....

yet the location has not been secured. There are still cars driving by.
WTF

[yardwork]

56. That's what I'm saying?!

[The Jungle 1]

59. Oh yea we are on the same page.

[IronLionZion]

32. Police are scared that someone "may have a gun"

when there are RW gun nuts who definitely have lots of guns and boast of it openly.

[ck4829]

79. Right? Like what do they do when they go grocery shopping and see a guy armed like a GTA character?

Oh white, I mean wait, I can think of a reason why they don't freak out then.

[uppityperson]

34. Thank you citizens.

[DJ Porkchop]

36. Q: Who do you call when the cops are the bad guys?

A: Your neighbors with their cell phones, then the media, then the mayor.

[wnylib]

41. Call The Cell Phone Brigade.

Every community should have one.

[IronLionZion]

87. And then lawmakers to regulate this better.

Many old laws need to be updated. Police regulations, procedures, etc. need to be updated for modern times.

[packman]

42. Cops - damned if they do, damned if they don't

I'm tired of this constant, unrelenting shit thrown at the police on this site.

[BlueTsunami2018]

52. Far too often the police are the bad guys.

That’s why they get so much shit here. Do you think they acted reasonably in this situation? Safely?

[electric_blue68]

54. The problem is there are still too many racists cops that assume in particular that too many young..

and youngish (ever older , sometimes) Black men (sometimes women) = current trouble, or about to be trouble.

Haven't you heard or read enough stories on this?

I believe there are good cops but too many racists ones, and the system usually seems to often go their way.

I'm a born & bred (now) older white woman in NYC. If I in general perceived black men, and darker Hispanic men (I've lived in 3 majority Hispanic neighborhoods more recently) the way racists, and racist cops perceived them I'd have been a paranoid quivering mess decades back.

[NickB79]

57. Then they need to police themselves

You know what they call 99 good cops and 1 racist cop protected by those 99 cops?

100 bad cops.

[DFW]

68. No one here damned them for backing off

They DID get loudly criticized for once again showing up heavily armed with weapons drawn at an unsuspecting (and why would he?) innocent man, showing little to no hesitance to kill him without cause.

They dodged a major bullet themselves by backing off. Whichever cooler head took that decision deserves some credit for not only preventing one more police murder, but preserving the chance for cop/civilian relations to back away from riot conditions. But some serious retraining is in order. If there is none, the best that can be said about this incident is that Death took a rain check,

[ForgoTheConsequence]

70. I'm tired of unarmed young black men getting killed.

One group signed up for this, the other didn't. Get over it.

[Stargazer99]

74. There would not be any shit thrown at police if they used power

in a mentally healthy way instead of really needing pshc treatment. Personally I am scared of police, even if I needed help I'd be afraid of asking for it from the police. Maybe too many individuals that can't handle power are attracted to the occupation and something should be done about it for the sake of the community My response to #42

[MrsCoffee]

75. Sigh.

These cops were not engaged in protecting any property or anyone. They were engaged in being the weapons of an obsolete, fatally flawed system of deadly prejudice.

Kudos to the man who recognized his privilege and felt empowered by his ability to engage in social change. He took the actions needed to address injustice. Doing so ultimately results in an impact on racial biases.

[ck4829]

80. "constant, unrelenting shit"

Thrown at women (didn't sign up for it):
Another Colorado hospital stops letting women get their tubes tied
Missouri woman files federal complaint against hospitals she says denied emergency abortion
Va. Republicans Double Down on Bill to Outlaw Abortion At Conception
Florida May Force High School Athletes To Disclose Their Menstrual History

Thrown at Ukraine (didn't sign up for it):
Ukraine will fight for Bakhmut 'as long as we can': Zelenskyy - Al Jazeera
06 Feb: Ukrainians Prevent a Catastrophic Penetration Inside Bakhmut - Reporting from Ukraine
Russia 'likely to launch new offensive in Ukraine imminently'
Ukraine warns Russia massing 500,000 troops on border for offensive

Thrown at black people (didn't sign up for it):
Karen verbally assaults black girl for watering neighbor's lawn. Black father stands up for child
Black man stopped by police because of his tattoos
Black Americans Much More Likely to Face Tax Audits
Yale honors Black girl, nine, wrongly reported to police over insect project

So should we start treating the poor, downtrodden police like these three privileged groups instead?

[IronLionZion]

83. OP is about neighbors saving a human being from being shot dead

because people are tired of being shot dead.

[DET]

43. Gutwrenching

Hearing that young man scream in terror assuming that he’s going to be killed.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

44. Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe. FTP.

[rubbersole]

46. Make wrongful death settlements get paid out of the officers pension fund.

[Joinfortmill]

51. We don't "have a problem, Houston", - we have a crisis. Thank God for these folks.

[electric_blue68]

55. I saw this video waaaay late night, so didn't comment. That was amazing of the neighbors and the...

white guy who stood by the targeted Black man.

Apparently at times "it takes a village".


Racist cops really should be expunged from the force.
.(see my reply #54 to packman)


In fact since I was So tired... I'll watch it again.

[Schmice3]

60. Like an occupying army.

[hydrolastic]

63. yes exactly

[John1956PA]

65. Today near Pittsburgh, a 32-year-old officer was shot to death.

Another officer is in critical condition from firearm wounds. The shooter was in the throes of a mental health crisis. The shooter was apprehended by other police officers. I could not handle the job of a police officer.

[Tickle]

67. Sad situation for everyone and

sadly if at some point someone needs help or someone is being assaulted I hope the cops are professional enough to go back there.
Not good times in the City

[ForgoTheConsequence]

69. you couldn't handle being a minority either.

Shoe polish is bad for the brain.

[ck4829]

85. +1. I know I wouldn't.

[Martin68]

72. Excellent! We have to take the streets back from these thugs.

I'd like to see an organized response to monitor police actions.

[ecstatic]

77. Omg. If those people didn't step in I'm sure he would have been killed

I actually teared up watching it. He was smart to sit in place. Why the hell would he walk towards armed thugs who are accusing him of having a gun after he repeatedly showed his hands and showed that he did not have a gun?

[leftstreet]

86. DURec