Unarmed Man Killed By Son of Arizona Internal Affairs Officer Acquitted! #PhotographyIsNotACrime
My heat hurts this morning, the first thing I saw on social media was body-cam footage (OG post linked below) of an Mesa county, Arizona officer named Phillip Brailsford who, at a La Quinta Inn hotel, shot multiple times, and subsequently killed Daniel Shaver, while he was on his knees crawling, begging for his life "please dont shoot me".
The Officers were called to the scene by another quest claiming someone was carrying a gun, which later turned out to be a pellet gun used in Daniels occupation in Pest control to kill birds. He was reportedly showing off his new purchase to a few friends he had invited to his room, until the police arrived on scene and ordered him out of his room, unarmed, onto the ground, multiple times threatening to shoot him down at the slightest misplaced movement.
It saddens me to know this young man had two children, and a family that he's left behind in the wake of this wrongful shooting. The worst part of this story is that, though he was originally fired, the officer was acquitted of all charges, and "could" potentially be rehired, it must be nice to have a father working within internal affairs. #ImJustSaying
I have a friend that looks just like this guy!
Which brings me to my next point. It could have been anyone of us, facing down the barrel of an Assault Rifle, scared shitless, for any number of reasons these days, LITERALLY ANY number of reasons. The militarization of the Police State has happened almost without contest, with reasoning being for better protection of the public, but who is it that we actually need protecting from? Daniel Shaver? or Phillip Brailsford? Imagine, being killed, by a "Peace Officer", Kind of Ironic to say the least!
Someone will always give the defense that being a cop is tough, they go through crazy shit, which is true, even more reason to train them, and hold them to higher standards. You cant give regular police military gear, without the military skills required to handle it. Soldiers are trained to determine threat levels BEFORE shooting, and to work with minimum casualties, whereas the Boys In Blue get off with minimum training, and maximum officer discretion. As a peace officer, the most accessible weapon needs to be deescalation skills, with a cool, practiced trigger finger, that only pulls when real danger is imminent. The top quality I expect of an public official, is honor, and merit.. It hurts that the man can sleep at night afterwords, without blowing his own brains out in regret.
The courts continue to set examples for those who follow the excessive use of force, and seek power through authority, with blatant disregard for the public outcry, by letting officers who swore to uphold the peace, and constitution, continue to murder people across the country, people of ALL colors, before attempting ANY other resolution, and willfully colluding together to twist stories, and hide evidence against them. Officers have lately been caught planting drugs, with body-cams active, attempting to turn off footage while crossing legal boundaries aka physically, and sexually assaulting suspects and arrestees.
The dawn of the Authoritarian Police State is at our doorstep, one only need to look at the news, around the WORLD! to see events playing out, where atrocities are blatantly committed in the name of financial gain, self preservation (Catalonia independence referendum, and the exile of Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont), and the Warmongering by the US towards ANYONE WHO WANTS IT, are just a few signs that our system is not what we believe it is. Please research the number of times the US Government has committed or attempted to commit conspiracies against the American public, I can count at least 6 documented occasions off the time of my head,
HINT HINT Cuban missile crisis, federal reserve, the war on drugs, 9/11, The NSA, and The IRS's "voluntary tax system"
The only question that remains is will we sit idly by, and watch without intervention? or will we defend our freedoms? our right to live? for our children to live?
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I'm not the best writer, but I write from the heart.
Itsfitts
OG story: https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2017/12/arizona-cop-acquitted-in-shooting-death-of-daniel-shaver/
FB Post: https://www.facebook.com/PhotographyisNotaCrime/videos/1672548472768231/?hc_ref=ARS3lt3JnBHrbMrD9EMAZ3D8_t6SkwIuGdQOQf6dbxZa9Y0mEveCIjnt_ARvuOrK31A