This unbearably tragic story comes from Iowa, and adds to the pattern of law enforcement officials in this country behaving as though they are Stormtroopers soldiers.
I can hardly bear to share:
A father's attempt to teach his son a lesson for taking his truck without permission ended in tragedy Monday after a local police officer shot the teenager dead.
James Comstock told the Des Moines Register he called the police on his son Tyler after the latter took the former's truck in retaliation for refusing to buy him cigarettes.
Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson reportedly spotted the lawn care company vehicle and pursued it onto the Iowa State University campus, where a brief standoff ensued after Tyler allegedly refused orders to turn off the engine.
McPherson eventually fired six shots into the truck, two of which struck Tyler who was later pronounced dead.
The official report claims the action was necessary in order "to stop the ongoing threat to the public and the officers."
Scenes like the one above continue to be replicated across the country – both by police and citizens who,
under the cover of Stand Your Ground, have been given license to behave as do rogue (and sometimes militarized) law enforcement.
And they are scenes which will continue. Because they are scenes which have always existed. Scenes which exist because we have granted police too much latitude with regard to their 'protect' mandate, and demanded too little from them with regard to their mandate to 'serve.'
The officer who shot Tyler is currently on paid administrative leave. Apparently, his actions are not egregious enough to warrant a suspension of pay.
I have no doubt the NRA and gun manufacturers agree.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.
Author's Note:
This from KCRG, to give a fuller description of the incident – an incident an Ames police officer twice suggested officers disengage from:
Witnesses told police that people were jumping out of the way of the truck, which then jumped the curb onto a grassy area north of the university’s Campanile. McPherson unsuccessfully tried to ram the vehicle to get it to stop, police reported.
Comstock is accused of continuing to drive around the grassy area, prompting pedestrians to jump out of the way, according to Ames police. He eventually stopped in a wooded area but continued to rev the engine and go back and forth, police reported.
Officers gave verbal commands to turn off the vehicle, but Comstock didn’t comply, and McPherson is accused of firing six rounds at the truck “to stop the ongoing threat to the public and the officers,” according to police.