It was a hula hoe - basically a stick. It was not the kind of hoe with a blade. They killed a kid that they knew was in a mental health crisis for running at them with a stick.
They could have tackled him. They could have tased him. They could have pepper sprayed him. They could have tried entering the home more gently and used de-escalation practices like most medical professionals use. If a patient in crisis picks up an IV pole and threatens hospital workers with it, their response is not to shoot the patient three times.
This is an American cop problem, period.
blackbirdbiryani@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yet almost every other police force in the world would’ve handled this without shooting him…
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Agreed. It’s a serious problem, but the discussion gets so muddied by websites with low integrity running headlines that are intentionally dishonest, just for clicks. They know they’ll get more outrage and $$ by wording it this way, and it’s gross behavior.
How many people across the web do you think saw this headline and assumed, like I did before looking into it, that this was another case of police mistaking some harmless object for a gun? Probably lots.
brbposting@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Glad to see TPM’s got reasonable takes :)
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Thanks. It’s rare that I even comment on stuff that I know is going to be a divisive topic, because people get so worked up and it’s hard to have a human conversation.