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Michchamp
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- Aug 4, 2011
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Canton Ohio cops killed a man who was Cele rating NYE.
Now, I do sorta get that James Williams should not have been celebrating by firing his gun into the air. That in itself is something a responsible gun owner should never do. A gun should only be fired at an intended target.
That said, the police officer should be prosecuted. He did not identify the person firing the gun, he just fired through a fence with no idea what was happening on the other side other than a gun was being discharged.
Furthermore, based on what is being relayed, this is a common way for people there to celebrate NYE. While that is somewhat questionable as there did not appear to be others in the neighborhood discharging rifles... IF that is true the police should recognize that before blindly shooting at someone.
The camera on the vest was turned on and has been released. This cop was itchy from the jump it seems to me. I get that the sound of the gunfire had to be somewhat startling, but if properly trained he should have recognized the gun was pointed up in the air, not at him. He should have announced himself as police, ordered something like "Police! Cease fire and put your hands in the air with the gun above the fence." or something. This is, IMO, a wrongful death based on this video. Police really needed to work on more Reforms.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wk...hwest/95-120c483f-1955-470c-ac63-88b60154c462
I hope there won't be riots in Canton, but I won't be surprised. I do not support that, but I do support the position this officer was wrong. Williams was not using his gun properly, but the officer should have recognized the situation and handled it differently.
The police officer murdered a guy. Without identifying himself, or attempting any other resolution, he just fired blindly through a fence, at someone discharging a firearm, which is only a misdemeanor in Ohio.
Normally you're calling for murderers to be publicly executed by slow strangulation... but here because he was a cop, maybe he should get some additional training so he learns not to shoot first and ask questions later? Maybe a friendly talking to?