Man Gunned Down By Police While Checking Facebook And Smoking A Cigarette

[MrScorpio]

Last week, a California man was fatally shot by police outside of his cousin’s home. According to the family, 22-year-old Tommy McClain’s death was completely unjustified.

According to police, four Eureka officers were in the area searching for two people on felony warrants. They found two men involved in a dispute outside – one of which they claim was McClain. Officers at the scene claimed that McClain was armed.

McClain was shot at 12:30 a.m. after he “grabbed for” his gun. He was then taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

However, McClain’s family tells a different story. McClain had been at the house of Josh Mottern, McClain’s cousin, who had gone to sleep around midnight after celebrating his birthday. Also at home were his wife, Nichole Mottern, her mother, and the couple’s two children.

Nichole Mottern said McClain, who had been out earlier with the cousin to celebrate, went outside to smoke a cigarette while she checked on her husband. When she glanced out the second-story window, she saw an officer “looking around” the property and another officer running toward the front of the house. When she went outside to see why, she said officers told her to put her hands up. She complied and then watched the horrifying scene unfold. Mottern said:

“Tommy was already out there. He sits out there and smokes cigarettes. He came out from beside the porch … He started to put his hands up. He walked out into the grass … They were telling him to come.”

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/23/man-gunned-down-by-police-while-checking-facebook-and-smoking-a-cigarette/

[msongs]

1. maybe obama should launch some drone strikes on america's out of control terrorist police nt

[Go Vols]

3. +1

[Louisiana1976]

5. Good idea.

[unblock]

2. there you have it. facebook kills. post at your peril.

[djean111]

4. Oh, hey - LOTS of people were probably in contact with police yesterday and DID NOT get killed. By

police. Perspective, folks. But I think that the policeman who said we should just follow the law and we would not get raped might have to admit that we might get killed, even if we are following the law.

At some point it will be safer to fly in an airplane over the Golan Heights or the Ukraine than to be approached by the police.

[BB1]

6. According to the relatives of

my fellow countrymen, it's no fun flying over Ukraine these days.

[djean111]

8. That's my point. It is dangerous. And it seems to me it is getting dangerous being

approached by police in the United States.

[Mnemosyne]

7. ...nt

[KamaAina]

9. Tobacco cigarettes? In Eureka?!

That actually may be a crime up there! Eureka is the seat of Humboldt County, you know.

[Glassunion]

10. This was justified.

I have a crystal ball and in it is the future and I see the police chief giving a statement that it is all good. As the officer acted within department guidelines and was justified in shooting the perceived threat. I also see the family getting a bit of a payout from the town's insurance company.

[aggiesal]

14. It's going to get to the point where no insurance company ...

will underwrite any more police departments, unless they go
gun-less, or can prove that they've been properly trained.

Again, hands up (according to family members), get shot.

Why couldn't they just tazzer(?) people instead of shooting them dead?

[Glassunion]

16. Fear

It drives every decision in the US.

[TransitJohn]

11. Officer safety, yadda yadda, kill kill

another one's gone

[xocet]

12. This is so wrong. n/t

[Cha]

13. This is not funny.. RIP Tommy McClain :(

fucking trigger happy po-lice.. one incident is too damn much.

[damnedifIknow]

15. Listening to the grief of his family in the video is extremely disturbing

It's like a nightmare.

[Man from Pickens]

17. Smoking kills

Thank God no policemen were harmed. Officer safety is our highest priority!

[Rex]

18. YAY COPS!

THEY ARE THE GREATEST!

[cwydro]

19. This looks like a white man.

Wondering if that's why no one here seems to care (other than those who already responded)

[MrScorpio]

20. I don't see what that has to do here

Although people of color are more than likely going to be victims of police misconduct, that's not going to mean that white men are also immune.