To say this is a problem with training is missing the point entirely
After 19-year-old Zachary Hammond was shot to death, at close range, for possessing marijuana and trying to drive away from a police officer, there were
all kinds of questions being asked. Where's the dashcam video? Did Hammond try to run the officer over? Why were the bullets shown to have entered Hammond's body from the side and back?
Did the officers re-position the body and plant evidence, after the fact? Would the prosecutor file charges? No.
No, she won't.
The revelations came Tuesday after Chrissy Adams, 10th Circuit Solicitor, announced that her office would not charge Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller in the death of Zachary Hammond. She said she met with Hammond’s family this morning.
Here are the findings, by Adams' estimation:
In her letter to SLED, Adams said that Tiller’s actions were justified. Describing the case as “difficult,” she wrote: “What may seem ‘reasonable’ to any of us who are not in the heat of the moment or at risk of losing our life is a far cry from an officer actually being in a tense situation where he or she is force to make a split second decision while facing a criminal assailant.”
Of the video, she added: “When the full speed dash cam is viewed as a single piece of evidence standing alone, it does raise questions,” she wrote. ... Our focus and our energy now need to be redirected toward training law enforcement officers in our State and ensuring training for situations such as this is offered on a recurring basis.”
The Hammond family had already
called for a new prosecutor to look at the case since, as with most of these law enforcement issues, the people tasked to review their work also depend heavily on maintaining a good relationship with the police. After looking at the video, I believe the Hammond family is 100 percent right.
In the video, which you can watch below the fold, Tiller exits his vehicle and, with his gun drawn and pointed in a combat stance, approaches Hammond's parked car, telling him to put his hands up. Hammond backs the car up slightly and tries to drive around Tiller, who like some kind of stupid person decides to shuffle himself in front of the car. Maybe Tiller believes he can scare the kid to stop? Maybe the only way he gets to shoot a kid is if the car hits him? Either way, Tiller never loses balance and then proceeds to fire, at point blank range into the open driver's side window as the car passes him.
That's murder. They discovered 10 grams of marijuana on the woman in the car and claim to have discovered $60 worth of cocaine—which is not a lot of cocaine. To put this all into perspective: if the police had discovered 100 pounds of weed and cocaine in the car it would not justify the use of deadly force.
The "All Lives Matter" people on your social media feed seem to have no opinion on this case. This is most likely because they are racist hypocrites.