DFL-endrosed gubernatorial candidate Erin Murphy commented on the Thurman Blevins shooting on Facebook.
Other-peoples-money quote:
He ran, yes. He was armed, yes. He reportedly was drunk and had fired shots, yes. All of those things might have led to his death, but none of them had to. I don’t understand why calmly starting a conversation wasn’t an option or wouldn’t have been a better course.
There is something about the whole “Shots Fired” thing that tends to make cops a little edgy. Also everyone else – provided they’re in the real world, and not on Facebook, opining for a tame, partisan crowd.
(And am I the only one thinking “so why isn’t ‘starting a calm conversation with gun owners, rather than advocating confiscations and wholesale crushing of civil liberties, not an option for you, Miss
Just a few days ago in South St. Paul a mentally ill man was reported to be threatening people at a group home. Officers arrived and engaged with the man. He too had a gun, he actually fired it at and shot the officers, injuring two of them. They subdued him not with a hail of bullets but with other tools, their words, their determination to find a better solution. Those officers— Todd Waters, Derek Kruse, Dennis Brom and Julie Bishop, are heroes who found humanity in what must have been the worst and scariest situation in their lives.
The message? Cops should be willing to get shot first, then ask questions.
Is there a conversation to be had about use of police force? About the limits or shape of qualified immunity? Absolutely.
Is Erin Murphy the one to be lecturing the cops about it?
I don’t know much about Thurman Blevins. Had the officers approached the situation differently he might be in jail right now for firing his weapon into the sky and ground, or could be sitting on that curb with his family enjoying a morning off. I don’t know.
I’m no cop fanboy – but this may be the dumbest bunch of monday-morning quarterbacking I’ve ever seen.
Erin Murphy is what you have when you bring a riding lawnmower to a drag race!
I don’t understand why calmly starting a conversation wasn’t an option or wouldn’t have been a better course.
Having a loaded gun pointed at you by a hostile person who repeatedly ignorned/disobeyed officer commands will tend to do that…Seriously, what else were the cops supposed to do given the circumstances and video evidence that doesnt seem to indicate any wrongdoings by the cops. Telling people to always ignore officer commands is a good way to end up 6 feet under.
Erin isn’t thinking clearly. Plainly the problem is armed police. If cops didn’t have guns, they couldn’t shoot people. Take guns off the streets. Disarm cops and you completely eliminate officer-involved shootings. Simple.
If the cops on the scene think they need an armed response to a particular situation, they can call a supervisory officer to convene a council of community stakeholders who will analyze the facts, weigh the public relations implications, and make a decision whether to send SWAT. There will probably be a drum circle, too, and possibly giant paper-Mache heads. Only then, after calmly considering situation from all possible perspectives, can a fair and equitable resolution be achieved.
Until then, the cops on the scene can take a break at Dunkin’ Donuts where they won’t do any more harm to the fragile police-perp relationship.
Note tht Murphy can only imagine the cops having an obligation or even an option to act in a non-violent manner.
Liberal policians do this all of the time. Minorities have no expectation of acting morally or with common sense. It dehumanizes them.
If you guys in MN get Murphy, you’ll get what you deserve, good and hard.
But at least you’ll get single payer to pay for all the shootings! Imagine the savings!
911: What is your emergency?
Citizen: There is a man in the alley, ranting about Satan and firing a gun.
911: Do you have a pencil?
Citizen: Why in heaven’s name would you ask that?
911: Because I am going to give you Erin Murphy’s cell phone number. We are letting her handle these situations. She is so much better at it than we are.
Mpls police union press conference: “I think I’d address the mayor. If someone shot at one or my employees I’d be a lot more strong and come out. Unfortunately, in this city you’ve got to pander to the ultra-left to get elected. It’s just a sad fact, state of affairs here.”
Coming soon the entire state of MN under Murphy!
“I don’t want the media and the world to think that we are angry. We’re not angry. We’re more so disgusted,” Brown said of the decision not to charge the officers. “We’re disgusted by the leaders of the world, we’re disgusted by the leaders of Minneapolis and Minnesota, and at the end of the day, we want the cops arrested.”
Minneapolis is so progressive that even its lynch mobs are organized by Black people.
Oh and this guy was no saint either… funny how this hasnt been mentioned much lately
Blevins was on probation for a 2015 incident in which he spat in a police officer’s face and kicked the officer in the legs and groin. He wasn’t allowed to have a gun. Blevins also had multiple convictions for drug possession, drunken driving and illegally possessing a firearm.
https://www.twincities.com/2018/06/25/autopsy-blevins-black-man-shot-multiple-times-by-minneapolis-police/
After Minnesota elected a mentally ill trust-baby as governor, I couldn’t believe that things would get worse.
“He ran, yes. He was armed, yes. He reportedly was drunk and had fired shots, yes. All of those things might have led to his death, but none of them had to. I don’t understand why calmly starting a conversation wasn’t an option or wouldn’t have been a better course.”
If Murphy becomes Gov. (God Forbid) will she want her Trooper protection assignment to calmly have a conversation with parties if she were to be confronted in a like manner?
Oh, by the way, when are we going to hear, “he was turning his life around”?
“or [he] could be sitting on that curb with his family enjoying a morning off.”
1. Getting an illegally armed Negro and all his baby mammas sitting on the same curb sharing a vodka bottle is probably a bad idea.
2. Enjoying a morning off from what?
Actually, MP, looking at it from the viewpoint of a Concealed Carry Permit holder, there is a certain appeal to Brown’s analysis.
When we shoot people, we expect to be arrested and we must convince a judge to let us explain to the jury why the shooting was justified. When cops shoot people, shouldn’t they get arrested and have the same burden? The cops’ cases will be easier to prove because they have no duty to retreat and the union will provide a free lawyer. But why shouldn’t they be required to prove the rest of the defense in court, same as us?
I’m starting to warm up to the idea. Joel Rosenberg drilled into my head that a Permit to Carry is not a License to Kill, that’s for James Bond, not for me. A Peace Officer’s License isn’t a license to kill, either. At least, it shouldn’t be.
Very interesting thoughts Joe.
South St. Paul is my ‘hood, so let me man-splain something to Erin. The shooter had a shotgun, yes. He fired at the cops, hitting two. The cops didn’t hold their fire and try to talk the guy down; they returned fire – except all their shots missed. The sound of their gunfire, though, must have sounded very calm and reasonable to him, though, because he put the shotgun down on the ground. Whereupon he was taken into custody.
Oh, and when the police first arrived on the scene, they did talk calmly to the guy who’s behavior (past and current) had prompted the call. He talked to them calmly, and then said he was going to his car for cigarettes. One of the officers went along. Except when they got to the car, the guy grabbed a shotgun instead of the ciggies.
I say we give BLM what they want. Turn the 4th precinct into a no-go zone for 6 months. Let them figure it out on their own.
Bill C – the best part of that idea would be observing what the people that have moved there to help turn things around do. Get cameras and the shot spotters wired up, and make it like Escape from NY or Running Man.
In the last few weeks I have become kinda shocked at how leftists lie. I know this is as common as the sun rising in the east and so it’s easy to roll one’s eyes and say “yeah, yeah, of course they do”, but think about it. I’m reading Paul Johnson’s book, “Intellectuals”, and in the chapter about Marx, Johnson describes how both Marx and Engels lied brazenly and when the lies were pointed out, they either ignored the information or gaslighted (gaslit?) in response. They felt no remorse and no need to correct the lie. Clearly, based on NW’s comment about what *really* happened at that shooting is (yet another) case in point. Two data points that show a behavior going back some 150 years (and inevitably far longer), I don’t know what to do or think about what might need to be done.
I fear that the People’s Republic world envisioned by K Schlichter is a real possibility.
PS Joe’s comment that the police should have to obey the same laws as us was very interesting. Thanks.
Maybe ask Murphy for comment on the prison release of Isaac Brown the killer of MPD Officer Richard Miller back in ’81 (may a pox befall Tony Bouza for his one cop to a squad, and many other things he did/done/said). Ask Dick’s widow and son about a calm touchy feely approach to an armed suspect. This happened in the 4th Ward near 40yrs ago when there could have been some hope going forward for the Northside, but over the years it’s been on a continual flush down the toilet.
Shorter Murphy quote: “The police made him do it.”
I understand where Joe is coming from with his “arrest all cops who shoot people” comment. I do have a strong libertarian streak. Despite the B v W way the issue is often framed in the media, the people who would have the most to lose by having police less likely to shoot someone are poor communities. I’m not poor. Most people aren’t poor. Blacks, being more likely than whites to be poor, would suffer proportionally.
In the old days there weren’t police, at least in Britain. There were city guards who were there to keep the peace, and privately hired security. If a guard didn’t see something happening, he wasn’t going to do anything about it.
If you would like to know more about what crime & punishment were like in the Bad Old Days, check out the Newgate Calendar: http://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ngintro.htm
The anxious Mother with a Parents Care,
Presents our Labours to her future Heir
“The Wise, the Brave, the temperate and the Just,
Who love their neighbour, and in God who trust
Safe through the Dang’rous paths of Life may Steer,
Nor dread those Evils we exhibit Here”
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There’s something about cops being arrested for shooting suspects that strikes people as wrong. They’re cops, they’re the good guys, we shouldn’t be arresting them.
Okay, but cops can make mistakes, too. See, as Exhibit 1, the Empire State Building shooting in 2012, in which 11 people were wounded when cops fired 15 shots at a suspect and most of their bullets missed. Or Officer Noor shooting Justine Diamond in the alley in Southwest Minneapolis (insert mandatory disclaimer about presumption of innocence here, but in my opinion, it was not a righteous shoot and neither the Thin Blue Line nor the DFL County Attorney did the city any favors by shielding him so long).
Maybe we don’t arrest cops. Maybe we make them personally liable for the injuries they cause, same as anybody else: no official immunity, no employer reimbursement for mistakes. That would make cops less belligerent, right?
Ah, but the force would cover for bad cops, the union would negotiate for the city to subsidize them, and the arbitrators would put them back on the job. See, Exhibit 2 – Mike Sauro in Minneapolis. Or Landen Beard in Coon Rapids.
Unions were necessary in the 1930’s when workers had no rights and management was brutal. Nowadays, workers have Fair Labor Standards and OSHA and Discrimination laws. And public employees have medical insurance and pensions besides. Do public employees need unions? Do public employee unions do more harm than good? Maybe we should ban public employee unions?
Maybe the solution has been known for years, we just haven’t adopted it. You get one bullet in case of emergencies, but you must carry it in your shirt pocket. The time it takes you to load the gun will give you a cooling off period to consider how badly you need to shoot it. And the fact you only have one shot will force you to concentrate on where you send it, reducing the risk to bystanders. Brilliant.
Public employee unions should be banned. The public employer has no motive to “screw” the employees. The public employer has no desire to make a profit.
The public discussion of this is willfully obtuse as to why Blevins ran, or at least one side of it is.
Its not obvious Blevins had done meaningful time to this point for his various convictions. Pretty clear he knew he might do a couple years for being a felon caught in possession of a firearm, this explaining the whole interaction there on the street and in the alley.