The Tory bureaucrat handed the reins of the RCMP by Stephen Harper has come out with his first statement on the tasering death of Robert Dziekanski and it's a remarkably lame dodge at that.
Commissioner Bill Elliot says the public - those of us who've had the chance to watch that grotesque video - shouldn't prejudge the four young, fit, healthy, armed and armoured cops who put Dziekanski to death. From the Conservative Television Network:
...Elliott has called on the public to wait for "a sober, sound examination of the facts and the circumstance" before forming negative opinions of the national police force.
... Elliott said the public must understand the very quick decisions that RCMP officers are forced to make when working on the job.
"They don't realize how quickly things happen and they don't realize how quickly often -- unfortunately -- bad things happen."
Well Bill, the execution of Robert Dziekanski was certainly quick so I guess you've got a point there. And rest assured Mr. Commissioner that we do understand. Everyone around the world who watched that video understands. Everyone who has read the astonishing and false statements the officers gave in the immediate aftermath understands. These are guys who are trained observers and yet, before they were aware that a civilian video existed, they all gave accounts completely dispelled by that video.
Bill, we understand. We get it. Do you?
Commissioner Bill Elliot says the public - those of us who've had the chance to watch that grotesque video - shouldn't prejudge the four young, fit, healthy, armed and armoured cops who put Dziekanski to death. From the Conservative Television Network:
...Elliott has called on the public to wait for "a sober, sound examination of the facts and the circumstance" before forming negative opinions of the national police force.
... Elliott said the public must understand the very quick decisions that RCMP officers are forced to make when working on the job.
"They don't realize how quickly things happen and they don't realize how quickly often -- unfortunately -- bad things happen."
Well Bill, the execution of Robert Dziekanski was certainly quick so I guess you've got a point there. And rest assured Mr. Commissioner that we do understand. Everyone around the world who watched that video understands. Everyone who has read the astonishing and false statements the officers gave in the immediate aftermath understands. These are guys who are trained observers and yet, before they were aware that a civilian video existed, they all gave accounts completely dispelled by that video.
Bill, we understand. We get it. Do you?
6 comments:
It's rather scary when those in charge have such a disconnect from reality.
Murder is murder, except when of course it's different...
No wonder I have so little respect for the "national police force"...
Mound, no matter how many times a person has been convicted of molesting children, rape or spousal abuse, those people are are entitled to the presumption of innocence when facing future charges. Why not police officers with clean criminal records?
Do you want us to gather up a lynching mob to dispense justice to these officers?
I'm not suggesting for a moment that the officers in question be let off the hook simply because they are police officers, nor that their jobs make them any more credible than any other accused person. I'm just saying that they have the right to be heard, and the right to be judged accordingly.
And Cherniak, murder is a charge that requires the intent to inflict injuries that a reasonable person knows would likely cause death. This death is manslaughter at the very worse. There is a big difference, and you discredit yourself by using inflamatory language.
From the evidence I have seen, I would hope that the officers are charged with manslaughter, and if convicted, given appropriate sentences.
Unfortunately Fish the Crown out here has already announced there'll be no charges out of this killing. I think the best we'll ever see is some half-assed perjury prosecution out of the evidence these cops have given at the hearing.
You said "they have the right to be heard and the right to be judged accordingly." How, when, where?
You should familiarize yourself with the case of Ian Bush to understand the impunity with which the RCMP has been operating in British Columbia. A 22-year old kid, arrested because he was found on the street with a single beer, somehow shot in the back of the head in a jail cell by an officer who said he was acting in self-defence against the unarmed young man.
It took the RCMP 7-months to question the shooter, one of their own, and even then they agreed to his demand to be given questions, in writing, in advance of the interview.
The cop said Bush had jumped him and threw him to the floor, face down, and proceeded to choke the cop. The officer then reached to his sidearm (remember, he's chest down) and somehow managed to stretch and twist his Gumby arm all the way around to shoot the kid in the back of the head. A top blood spatter forensic expert from Edmonton showed that the blood patterns in the cell were totally inconsistent with the cop's account and the defence never even attempted to replicate the physical feat. No one else has been able to do it either. Case closed. Officer aquitted.
Then there was the Mountie who was put on active duty in my little town while he was under investigation on pedophilia complaints from another municipality. He was convicted of the charges but we didn't find out about any of it until after he was pulled from duty.
Please, Fish, your concern for the RCMP is misplaced. People out here despise them and they've got plenty of reason for that.
I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. The RCMP approach on this has been all about lies and cover-ups from the get-go. If there hadn't been that inconvenient cellphone video, they'd have buried this one a long time ago. Instead we have the officers trying to announce with straight faces how deathly frightening a stapler was. I threw heavier things at my little brother when I was 6.
And Cherniak, murder is a charge that requires the intent to inflict injuries that a reasonable person knows would likely cause death. This death is manslaughter at the very worse. There is a big difference, and you discredit yourself by using inflamatory language.
While you may not like the inflammatory language part of it is due to the absurdity of this whole situation.
At first, the RCMP and other levels of government tried to push aside this whole incident. Only when a citizen pushed to get his tape back did part of the population start to question the version of the police.
Even after that the police and politicians have basically lied...
As for murder, well how many times was he tazered?
Time and time again the police have shown themselves to either be complete idiots, highly incompetent, thugs, liars - they have a serious credibility gap that is tainting the complete force.
That is not to say I think that all are bad - just that there is a lot of rot.
poppy cock!
We all saw the video when they finally gave it back.
We all saw their behaviour.
We all saw Mr. Dziekanski turn and put up his hands in a gesture of submission, surrender and declaration of harmlessness and innocence.
We didnot see it frame by frame.
It was on the national and international news.
The world cringed when viewing. We were shocked and astounded.
They had 24 hours after the incident to review what happened and apologize to all concerned for their over zealous approach, their lackof inquiry and communication with the victim.
The first person they needed to call on was an overwhelmed and suffering mother .
Now we are disgusted.
They have seriously soiled the reputation of the RCMP and the public trust in their officers.
Now we have another member of the RCMP making excuses.
Send them to Guatanamo?
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