Teenager Alerts Police That They Left Their Brights on -- 5 Minutes Later They Shoot Him Dead

[WillowTree]

142. I don't understand any of this.

Why did he pull the kid over? "Geez!!......Now another one flashes their brights at me. I'm going to have to have these headlamps checked after this shift." That would be the logical reaction to my mind.

But he pulls him over.

Initially, the cop doesn't sound in any way angry or confrontational at all. He asks for the kid's IDs and volunteers that he stopped him because he flashed his lights. ("Really? They sure looked like they were your brights to me. Sorry about that."..........That's the way to not escalate the situation) Instead the little punk decides to argue about it. What did he think he would possibly gain by this tactic? We'll never know now.

And then he refuses to show his IDs which, as I understand it, isn't an option in Michigan. (And, parenthetically, first he says he doesn't have his license on him, then he says he does. Now the cop knows the kid isn't adverse to lying......"What's he trying to hide??&quot What's the deal with that? Why not just show his license and registration? Is this the (sorry guys.....predominantly male) "Stand up to power" bullshit? Because bullshit is exactly what it is. Especially when you consider that that acknowledges that it's the other guy who has the power.

Kid asks to see the officer's badge. I wouldn't have gone there at this point, but it's not an entirely unreasonable request.......just as the cop asking for his IDs wasn't unreasonable. But, because there's plenty of stupidity to go around, now it's Officer Friendly who refuses. The guy who's supposed to be the grown-up not only allows his buttons to be pushed, but allows this fact to show. "I'll show this kid that I can be just as juvenile and argumentative as he can. Hell, I'm older and had more practice." Effing brilliant.

Mr. Policeman, at this point, attempts for just a moment to step back into rational adult mode by calling for back-up.......and then, instead of just hanging tight until another car shows up, he reverts directly back into idiocy and proceeds to escalate the situation by getting physical. I get that by now the cop may well have been wondering if the kid has a weapon or a trunk full of cocaine or.......something, but he's got someone coming to assist. WAIT FOR IT!

So the kid gets madder and continues to fight back.......which makes the cop madder, and possibly thinks that now he might actually be in some sort of danger, so he gets more aggressive.

All of this because apparently neither one of them was able to be reasonable. The boy doesn't deserve to be dead because of it for sure, but he did play his part. In the end, the cop should have been able to find a way to keep his cool, and he didn't.

What a monumentally stupid, sad course of events.