
57 Buffalo Police Resign from Riot Unit in Protest of Officers' Suspension - mehrdadn
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/05/57-buffalo-police-resign-from-riot-unit-in-protest-of-officers-suspension/#576a5d31473e
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badRNG
>the top message on the Buffalo's police union webpage read: "These guys did
nothing but do what they were ordered to do. This is disgusting !!!”

The "just following orders" defense isn't one that's held up well
historically. The crux of the argument is whether he was pushed or tripped,
not whether or not they were following orders. Check the video below and
formulate your own opinion:

CW: violence, gore

[https://youtu.be/QFeewU0HhNE?t=20](https://youtu.be/QFeewU0HhNE?t=20)

Also take note of his ears after he falls

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chillacy
These recent events have really highlighted to me the fact that police lack
accountability. It all folds into a bigger picture of policing (civil
forfeiture, no knock warrent-less raids, etc) and a contentious history of
policing minorities.

Just in the past few weeks I've seen so many instances of inappropriate
escalation in force, all from police officers loaded up in armor, against
unarmed people [1][2].

I know policing is hard, but I expect much more from people we give the power
of state-sanctioned violence to.

[1] Man prone on the ground being pepper sprayed for the fun of it
[https://www.reddit.com/r/2020PoliceBrutality/comments/gvtnhz...](https://www.reddit.com/r/2020PoliceBrutality/comments/gvtnhz/press_being_pepper_sprayed_while_prone_on_the/)

[2] Officer grabs a pink umbrella, tear gas and flashbangs ensue
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/gv0ru3/this_is_the...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/gv0ru3/this_is_the_moment_it_all_happened/)

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karlh
To me, the appalling part was not the shove, it was likely unnecessary but I
do not think the officer intended to put him in the hospital. The appalling
part is the deliberate lack of any help once he was down and obviously
seriously injured. An officer who started to help was dragged away by his
colleague. These officers did not live up to their oath and duty, not because
he was shoved but because he was abandoned instead of receiving first aid. The
fact that "EMTs are coming" does not relieve one of a responsibility to help
an injured person. That is pathetic.

And certainly badRNG is correct that "I vas chust followink orders" is a very
bad look. In addition, I doubt the orders were to leave seriously injured
fellow-citizens bleeding on the ground.

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garlicGum
The officer should be arrested. If a normal citizen was caught on video doing
the same thing they would be in jail that night.

It is sickening police can get away with whatever they want.

I think it is time to bring in the coast guard!

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mindslight
Contrary to the popular narrative, apparently it is very easy to remove
corrupt cops. Give out a few slaps on the wrist, and 57 more simply get rid of
themselves!

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garlicGum
They are still on the force. The union said they aren’t going to pay their
legal fees for the protests so 57 officers quit the emergency response team.
They are still being paid to terrorize people.

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tootahe45
Seems like the loss of balance and fall was out of their control, and it's
almost like raising your hands toward their weapons was a bad idea. Given the
nature of the injury, it was the right thing to wait for a medical
professional to attend to the man rather than providing aid.

I don't get the outrage over this incident, personally. Reporting has been
getting extremely sensational and I think cops should just do themselves a
favor and stop turning up to work for 2 weeks to let the narrative reverse
itself.

~~~
justin66
Please stop parroting stupid stuff you've heard on the radio or on Fox News.
Anyone can watch the incident, someone shared the link on youtube in another
comment.

> Seems like the loss of balance and fall was out of their control

They pushed him and caused him to fall over backwards.

> raising your hands toward their weapons

He's got stuff in both his hands and he's very clearly not trying to take
their weapons away. His hands are roughly at the same height as their
"weapons," yes.

Yours is a rhetorically sneaky way of suggesting it was reasonable for them to
believe he was reaching for their batons. It's similar to the way LA cops used
to murder unarmed people and suggest that they were "reaching for their
waistband." Literally anyone whose arms are of normal length is at any given
time "reaching for their waistband" if their hands aren't on their heads.
Don't be this dishonest, it's pathetic.

~~~
sfj
> He's got stuff in both his hands and he's very clearly not trying to take
> their weapons away. His hands are roughly at the same height as their
> "weapons," yes.

They've got a fraction of a second to decide whether someone is a threat or
not. That's why there is procedure when someone runs up on them, regardless if
there is “stuff” in his hands or not.

~~~
justin66
> They've got a fraction of a second to decide whether someone is a threat or
> not.

A fraction of a second? They weren't piloting an F-14 in Top Gun or something,
there was a visibly unarmed elderly guy shuffling towards them alone on the
sidewalk. It was literally the opposite of a situation that demanded split-
second decision making.

As with the grandparent comment, I question whether you even watched the video
of the incident or if you are just repeating some stupid stuff you heard about
the incident.

~~~
sfj
> They weren't piloting an F-14 in Top Gun or something, there was a visibly
> unarmed elderly guy shuffling towards them alone on the sidewalk. It was
> literally the opposite of a situation that demanded split-second decision
> making.

Yea, life isn't a movie, don't you know? Regardless of how old he was, or how
harmless he was trying to look, he could still be a threat.

> As with the grandparent comment, I question whether you even watched the
> video of the incident or if you are just repeating some stupid stuff you
> heard about the incident.

Yea, I did, several times. It looked weird to me. The push wasn't enough to
knock him over.

I also just found out there is some evidence this was a staged event, complete
with fake blood.

[https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/06/did_an_aged_act...](https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/06/did_an_aged_activist_set_up_the_buffalo_police.html)

