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On Monday, Tulsa, Oklahama police chief Wendell Franklin released graphic body cam video footage of Officer Aurash Zarkeshan and Sgt. Craig Johnson being shot on June 29th by David Ware after Ware was pulled over on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
Johnson was killed. Zarkeshan was seriously wounded.
A shorter version of the video was posted on Twitter by Blaze social media editor Jessica O’Donnell. It’s disturbing, and not for the faint of heart:
Warning: very graphic video released from the shooting of two Tulsa officers in a traffic stop. One of them died.
This is what they face on a daily basis. Tasers & pepper spray often don’t work. Remember this scene when you are quick to condemn officers in escalating situations pic.twitter.com/pYjPH9CCtq
— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) September 15, 2020
The full video can be viewed here.
Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst for Heritage, watched the video and it sparked her to compose a Twitter thread in which she noted she was “tired of the one-sided conversations on policing” our country is having right on police shootings now where the civilian’s actions in every incident are treated as irrelevant to the tragic situations that sometimes unfold from these interactions.
She also cited numerous other cases that also involve violence against officers during what typically start out as routine traffic stops as evidence that these situations are often not as clear cut as the media and other critics of law enforcement make them out to be.
I thought it was worth sharing in light of the Lancaster, Pa. officer-involved shooting death of 27-year-old Ricardo Munoz, who ran after the responding officer with a knife before the officer shot and killed him.
The assumption from the Usual Suspects about the Munoz shooting was almost immediate – that Munoz was shot because of the color of his skin, not the fact that the officer feared for his life. “Protests” and riots soon followed, with radical leftists not caring to wait for all the facts before drawing conclusions.
Swearer says it’s time to stop assuming all police officers are bad, and time to give investigators a chance to find out the facts instead of jumping to conclusions and immediately taking to the streets. She also pleads for people to try and understand things from the perspective of officers who put their lives on the line every time they put on their uniforms:
I watched the video of the Tulsa officers shot by a non-compliant driver during a traffic stop. I'm tired of pretending like this type of "things quickly go bad because some jackass doesn't want to get arrested" isn't exactly why I don't feel bad for Jacob Blake.
THREAD:
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I don't know what the officer saw before he shot an irate, non-compliant Blake as he stormed toward his vehicle. But I know what flashed through my mind the first time I watched the video.
I saw Deputy Kyle Dinkheller being executed. I heard his screams.https://t.co/2FD0dnBt0s
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw Daniel Clary grabbing his gun through his driver's side window and almost two Pennsylvania state troopers.https://t.co/PRHGJKGiW7
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw Mario Hobson so desperate to avoid getting arrested on felony domestic violence warrants that he opened fire on officers from a car filled with children.https://t.co/QwS6E90WeT
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw this Arkansas officer getting shot at point blank range by a guy in the back seat.https://t.co/PMUegqZcjM
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw Officer Quincy Smith somehow surviving getting shot in the face by this guy, a friendly reminder why cops tell you to keep your hands in plain view.https://t.co/WKh3rup9zR
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw Deputy Riley Jarecki going from "guy being difficult" to getting shot at in a fraction of a second.https://t.co/iPW0gFcbJr
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw these LAPD officers getting shot out of nowhere by a guy on probation who really didn't want to go back to jail for being in illegal possession of firearm. https://t.co/mhk4IWGFBB
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw these Tulsa officers getting fired on by another man who really didn't want to go to jail that day. https://t.co/lTyhV8HzFe
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw this punk reaching back into his car to grab a gun. Thank God that officer was on his toes. https://t.co/y5xctXxMLA
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
I saw all of these images flash in my mind and a hundred more. And now I will see the video of those Tulsa officers being gunned down.
I'll see it every time I have to watch a video of a non-compliant, angry person ignoring clear police demands.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
This matters. I'm tired of people pretending that every police shooting victim is Breonna Taylor sleeping innocently in her bed. I'm tired of a one-sided conversation on policing where the civilian's actions aren't scrutinized, or the officer's legitimate fears acknowledged.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
Of course I want a world with well-trained cops who are held accountable for their unreasonable or unjustified actions. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't also understand how our own actions provoke a certain – and often not unreasonable – sense of heightened alert by officers.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
So please, if you can stomach it, watch these videos. Watch the Tulsa video. And then never again try to tell me that Jacob Blake's own actions didn't play a significant role in getting him shot, regardless of whether you think the decision to shoot was ultimately unjustified.
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) September 15, 2020
This really is a discussion that is long overdue.
Read Swearer’s full unrolled thread here, and please continue to keep members of our law enforcement communities everywhere in your thoughts and prayers.
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