Fear Is No Excuse for Discharging a Gun
Why are some cops still trigger-happy?
In 1999, 22-year old Amadou Diallo was gunned down by 41 shots inside the vestibule of his building. He was unarmed. There is an episode dedicated to his story and the investigations following his death in the series “Trial by Media”.
How does one justify shooting someone 41 times? Emotion. More specifically, fear. The officers thought that Amadou Diallo was reaching for a gun when he was shot. One officer can be seen crying on the stand as he is giving his testimony in this Netflix episode, stating that he held Amadou’s hand and basically begged him not to die. The officers were found not guilty on all counts.
The jury consisted of six Caucasian men, two Caucasian women and four African-American women. Had the trial not been moved then the verdict may likely have been different. Some would even blame the prosecution for the way they handled the case. However, that is not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on the argument used to acquit these officers. Fear.
To quote civil rights activist Reverand Al Sharpton (who was featured in the Netflix episode) “[Amadou Diallo] became a mistaken particle of police fear, rather than a human being that lost his life and future”.
Fear is a universal emotion. Anyone brought into this world will likely experience it at many stages of their lives. It stops you from driving down the wrong side of the street at full speed or even something small like letting go of your child’s hand at a pedestrian crossing. Most of us also fear death, just like the officers did. However, many of us don’t walk around armed. Many of us also aren’t supposedly trained for the police force and should know how to respond to stressful situations appropriately.
I have no doubt in my mind that at least some of the police officers were remorseful for what they did, but their fear should not have excused them from their crime no matter where the trial was held, no matter whether the prosecution could have appealed more to emotions, no matter how much remorse the police officers expressed.
About twenty-two years later, an officer mistakenly shot Daunte Wright, ending his life. Body-cam footage shows the officer holding a gun and shouting “taser, taser, taser” before firing a single round towards Wright’s chest. She can later be heard sounding distressed about what had just occurred. Daunte Wright died at the scene. Again, I do not doubt that the officer was remorseful.
If the officer did not work well under pressure why is she on the force? More importantly, how many officers have to commit a similar “mistake” before effective action is taken?
After Amadou Diallo’s death “The Street Crime Unit” that the four officers were a part of was thoroughly investigated and disbanded once the extent of their racial profiling was uncovered. The officers were reportedly re-trained and released back into their regular jobs once they were presumed fit for duty.
The officer who killed Daunte Wright may lose her job. I for one hope that fear will not continue to be used as a legal excuse for such actions. At the very least, I hope this will inspire police departments to review the procedures that allowed this officer to wield a gun and to be deemed fit for duty.
I don’t expect cops to become fearless, but I hope they all learn to wield a weapon with caution. Measure the level of danger accurately and act accordingly. Don’t lose focus and let their fear control their actions. All important qualifications for their job.
