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| The Execution of Sammy Yatim |
Toronto constable James Forcillo has been charged with second degree murder in the execution of Sammy Yatim in a Toronto streetcar on July 27th.
Over a span of 13 seconds, Forcillo fired nine rounds from his sidearm at the young man who stood alone in the empty streetcar.
Within the first two seconds Forcillo fired three rounds sending Yatim to the floor from which he never rose.
Then followed a break of almost five seconds before Forcillo fired another four rounds then a pause and the eighth round, another pause, and the ninth round.
It was that initial, five-second pause that transforms this into two distinct shooting events. However arguable the use of deadly force might have been at the outset when, in the first two seconds, Forcillo fired the first three rounds, there is no question that Yatim was down, seriously wounded, and no conceivable threat to Forcillo or the platoon of fellow cops at his side when the officer chose to fire his remaining six rounds into the prone and stationary body of this young man.
It's hard to imagine the authorities proceeding with the second-degree murder charge. Watch for counsel to plea bargain this down to manslaughter with a very reduced sentence.
3 comments:
Plea bargain? Watch him be found not guilty. By reason of . . . well, he's a cop and they aren't guilty of things.
See also not-guilty-of-perjury in the Dziekanski case, not-guilty-of-murder in that BC "With my amazing rubber arms I shot him in the back of the head execution style while I was face down with him kneeling on me, choking me, so it was totally self defence!" case.
It will turn out that the downed kid made a dangerous move that only the shooter saw but the camera didn't, maybe pulling out a gun that has since unaccountably disappeared, or twitching his arm in a way the cop with his amazing training interpreted as a little-known ninja shuriken-throwing move, and so had to make sure he was dead because you can't take chances with ninja.
Sadly, I agree with Purple Guy. I can't recall the last time I saw a Canadian Police officer convicted of violence committed while on duty. This was a very clear case of murder. However, if they do actually find him guilty then he will only be a scapegoat for a system that is terribly broken. It is time for a serious national discourse on police violence that includes a terrible recruitment system that attracts violent psychopaths to the ranks of the police.
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