CREDIT: Facebook, Alva Braziel
Yesterday, I posted about the death of yet another black man at the hands of cops in Houston. At that time, his name had not been released. His name was Alva Braziel. I just read an article where there was the usual laundry list of every wrong thing he ever did in his life, oh hey, he had done time, so sad, too bad. Absolutely infuriating. If you watch the footage from a nearby store / gas station, you can clearly see Mr. Braziel with his arms in the air, high up over his head, then he was shot. 10 times. 10 fucking times.
Appears to have his hands up right before being shot 10 times by the Houston Police late Friday night.https://t.co/rzi6azCAPv
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlvaBraziel?src=hash
Think Progress has an article up. Before any other idiot wants to defend the cops, read first:
For example, in a majority-white neighborhood of Houston this weekend, an armed suspect fired seven rounds at police officers. Yet police managed to end the standoff with gas and other non-lethal means without killing the man. He may now be transported to a psychiatric center for evaluation and treatment.
He walks into the street in traffic? What are the two flashes at ~ 0.26? Mussel flashes? Is that a gun in his raised hand?
I can’t answer all those questions, I don’t know. I do know that I clearly saw him with his hands up, did a complete circle with his hands up. I expect more detail will come to light eventually, but just by virtue of the fact that Mr. Braziel can be clearly seen with his hands up goes against the cops’ narrative.
The first time I read about this, the article said he lowered his hands when asked to put the gun down, keeping the gun pointed at the cops. Cops were afraid for themselves and the bystanders so they shot him.
Even in that version, shooting him sounds like an overreaction, since his intent was not apparent.
In this new one, their action moves straight into despicable territory. They came, they killed. That’s it. NO ATTEMPT to talk to him. They were so quick that even if they had yelled for him to drop the weapon, I doubt he’d have the time.
After watching a few more times, it look like suicide by cop to me.
Beatrice @ 3:
Exactly. It looks like they had already made up their mind.
Looking at the video again (this time with my nose about 2 mm from the screen) and yes, his hands are definitely in the air while he’s turning around.
Don’t know about the last second or two before he’s shot… but it doesn’t seem like he lowered his arms.
Either way. NO ATTEMPT to talk to him. Just drove there and shot.
It’s awfully easy to commit suicide by cop these days in the US. Cops are almost enthusiastic to help.
Fred Tully @ 4:
Oh, you think so? Interesting, because most people who are looking to die don’t bother doing things like putting their hands up to indicate they mean no harm. Did you happen to notice the witness who collapses in disbelief and pain? Do you suppose that might indicate the cops were doing something very fucking wrong, like murdering a black man?
Are you aware of the large amount of cases of white men who point guns at cops and they are taken alive, and don’t end up a corpse on the ground? I’d be willing to bet you don’t, because you have racist asshole vibes coming off you in tidal waves.
Have you paid attention to Mr. Braziel’s family, who might just have an inkling to whether or not he’d decide all of a sudden to commit suicide by cop? I’d bet the answer there is no, too.
Don’t push me, Mr. Tully. I’m just in the right mood to smack a racist asshole to hell and gone.
Beatrice @ 7:
Yes, all you have to do is not be white.
To me, this always sounds about as bad as ‘he was mentally ill’ when speaking of white male shooters. It is an armchair (keyboard?) diagnosis that does nothing but blame the victim. I’m not really verbal enough at the moment to say more about this, but suffice it to say, Fred Tully, that you are an asshole.
The man’s arms were in the air. What else is he supposed to do to prove that he doesn’t want to get shot? Look you straight in the eye and mouth the words?
Also that one man’s reaction just breaks my heart: so much despair in that momentary collapse.
rq,
I was so focused on trying to see what happened with the shooting that I hadn’t even noticed the man collapsing.
That was… Uh.
rq:
Yeah. That’s why I asked Tully (#8) if he noticed that witness at all. The pain and disbelief is palpable. Beyond heartbreaking.
“Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.” -- Gordon Hewart, Lord Chief Justice of England
I hope this video plays for you all: Link to Facebook
The cops must have forgotten their guns that day. That’s the only explanation I can think of for why he just gets arrested.
Saad @15:
I have no doubt that if that man had been black that he would be dead from multiple gunshot wounds. White privilege indeed.