Video of Police Shooting of Daniel Shaver: He didn't play "Simon Says" right and was killed for it. [View all]

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

The cop could have had the guy lay perfectly still once he was prone, and gone up to him and cuffed him or had his partner do it. Instead he gives him complicated instructions, all the while telling the bawling man terrified for his life that any error will result in his death.

This policeman was just acquitted and NOW the judge releases the video.

Does anyone know whether the video was shown to the jury? I assume so but I don't see that mentioned specifically in the news articles I've read.

No attempt was made to deescalate the situation, if anything the issuing of extra instructions including telling the guy to rise from a prone position and crawl towards the officers simply increased the risk of this killing many fold because of the possibility the guy might screw up some element of the many instructions under pressure.

People talk about how risky the cops' jobs are, but these incidents show them putting all the risk on the citizen. If the cop doesn't like something about the way you twitch you are dead, they don't have to value your life at all and endure any of the risk themselves to make you, the citizen, safer.