Reaction Roundup: what Toronto is saying about Friday’s shooting at Queen station
On Friday night, an 18-year-old man was shot by police inside Queen subway station. The incident conjures unpleasant memories of Sammy Yatim, whose police shooting death in July sparked protests and resulted in a criminal charge against the officer responsible.
The details of Yatim’s death were made public almost instantly, thanks in part to a video shot by a bystander, but in this latest case things are much different: the teen’s name hasn’t been released, we don’t know precisely what he did to provoke such a violent reaction from police, and we don’t know exactly how the situation unfolded. We do know that the teen will likely live to tell his side of the story. Several news sources are reporting that he’s hospitalized, but in stable condition.
Because of the lack of available facts, response from the public has been muted, but there have been a few flare-ups of commentary—some figurative, one literal. Here’s what Toronto is saying.
The Supposed Eyewitnesses
We have no way of confirming this account of the shooting, posted on Reddit Toronto by a user called Snuffy1717, but it contains some interesting details. According to Snuffy, who claims he and his girlfriend were on the subway when everything happened, the teenager was armed: “He had the gun in his hand, pointed at the floor. Never raised it or his voice. Looked over at where my girlfriend and I were sitting and said, ‘I don’t want to hurt anybody, just get off the train.'”
A woman named Jessica Wong, who also claims to have been on the train, has been quoted in several news reports because of this tweet:
Queen subway shooting some crazy kid screams"I have nothing to live for anyways" and multiple gun shots fired#toronto pic.twitter.com/Z9f0ML7yW4
— Jessica Wong (@jzkawong) December 14, 2013
Wong has also said that somewhere between 10 and 15 shots were fired.
The Protests
On Sunday, activists involved with a group called Disarm the Police staged a protest outside the Eaton Centre. The demonstration was not subtle, even by police-protest standards: it included the burning of a pig effigy. “They shot somebody who was clearly having a mental breakdown,” a woman named Sakura Saunders told the Star. No details about the teenager’s mental state have been made public.
The Official Line
The Toronto Police Service has said virtually nothing about the incident, but Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which investigates police-related injuries and deaths, has weighed in. SIU spokesperson Carm Piro told the Post and other media outlets that four officers fired at the teen, but that it’s not yet known whose bullets actually struck him.
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On Friday night, an 18-year-old man was shot by police inside Queen subway station. The incident conjures unpleasant memories of Sammy Yatim, whose police shooting death in July sparked protests and resulted in a criminal charge against the officer responsible.
The details of Yatim's death were made public almost instantly, thanks in part to a video shot by a bystander, but in this latest case things are much different: the teen's name hasn't been released, we don't know precisely what he did to provoke such a violent reaction from police, and we don't know exactly how the situation unfolded. We do know that the teen will likely live to tell his side of the story. Several news sources are reporting that he's hospitalized, but in stable condition.
Because of the lack of available facts, response from the public has been muted, but there have been a few flare-ups of commentary—some figurative, one literal. Here's what Toronto is saying.
The Supposed Eyewitnesses
We have no way of confirming this account of the shooting, posted on Reddit Toronto by a user called Snuffy1717, but it contains some interesting details. According to Snuffy, who claims he and his girlfriend were on the subway when everything happened, the teenager was armed: "He had the gun in his hand, pointed at the floor. Never raised it or his voice. Looked over at where my girlfriend and I were sitting and said, 'I don't want to hurt anybody, just get off the train.'"
A woman named Jessica Wong, who also claims to have been on the train, has been quoted in several news reports because of this tweet:
https://twitter.com/jzkawong/status/411675408300781568
Wong has also said that somewhere between 10 and 15 shots were fired.
The Protests
On Sunday, activists involved with a group called Disarm the Police staged a protest outside the Eaton Centre. The demonstration was not subtle, even by police-protest standards: it included the burning of a pig effigy. "They shot somebody who was clearly having a mental breakdown," a woman named Sakura Saunders told the Star. No details about the teenager's mental state have been made public.
The Official Line
The Toronto Police Service has said virtually nothing about the incident, but Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, which investigates police-related injuries and deaths, has weighed in. SIU spokesperson Carm Piro told the Post and other media outlets that four officers fired at the teen, but that it's not yet known whose bullets actually struck him.){kind=link}
The group Disarm the Police is trying to be taken seriously in making their point … and then they light on fire a paper mache of a pig? Immature!!
I do not like guns, but if you do carry one for your job you should really be a skilled marksman – woman, then you can aim for an arm or a leg and not kill, in this case the person is alive, this world is tough $10 min wage that will not afford rent let alone food, and creates crime and despair and people will lash out when they feel the world closing in on them.
A guy may elect to pursue a career in law enforcement with naive but noble intent. He wants to spend his workdays protecting the public, going after criminals. But he soon finds that he will spend most of his “career” threatening to kidnap and cage people for having transgressed any of the endless multitude of statutes that define “offenses” against the state, but which entail no actual harm to other people or their property. He will “bust” people for having committed these offenses – knowing they’ve caused no harm to anyone. He will participate routinely in actions no different in their essence than the things for which his predecessors – from the Redcoats of 1776 to the SA men of 1936 – history excoriates.
Cognitive dissonance, of course, puts up a two-inch thick Plexiglass wall between his mind and his conscience – and he continues to enforce the law and feel good about doing it. Certainly, he does not feel guilty about what he does.
But cognitive dissonance does not absolve him of his crimes – and that’s what they are – any more than Eichmann’s plaintive excuse that he was just following orders – which of course he was – absolved him of his.
You tell me: Does a good man choose – freely – under no coercion – to put on a special outfit and abuse his fellow man at gunpoint?
And if he does, what do we make of him? What shall we call him?
Yes, it’s harsh a verdict.
But hard truths must be faced.
Else the insanity will never be checked.
http://ericpetersautos.com/2013/12/24/good-cops/
f u.