… AND A FAMILIAR RACIAL RING
|| By FITSNEWS || It’s impossible to climb inside the mind of Anthony Hill – the 27-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed Monday (March 9, 2015) by a DeKalb County police officer. And we wouldn’t want to.
But the fact remains the Berkeley, S.C. native was unarmed – naked, in fact – when he was gunned down.
And yes, Hill is black and the officer who shot him was white … which means you’re probably going to hear a lot more about this case in the coming days. And see more than a few #BlackLivesMatter hash tags on Twitter.
And maybe this time … unlike last time … that anger is legitimate. Or maybe not. We’ll have to see what the facts of the case
What do we know at this point about what happened? According to a 911 call from a Chamblee, Georgia apartment complex, Hill was acting “deranged, knocking on doors and crawling around on the ground, naked.”
“The caller reported (Hill) had taken off all his clothes and was just running throughout the entire complex,” DeKalb County public safety director Cedric Alexander told reporters.
“He tells me, ‘I’m OK, I’m OK.’ That’s what he was saying,” one witness told WSB TV 2 (ABC – Atlanta). “He was acting crazy but he was calm like he didn’t know where he was. He was like kind of lost in his face.”
Video taken by witnesses shows Hill – naked and raving – hanging from balconies at the complex.
Police responded to the scene and within moments, Hill was dead.
“When (Hill) saw the officer, he charged, running at the officer,” Alexander explained. “The officer called on him to step back, drew his weapon and fired two shots.”
Those shots hit Hill in the “upper torso,” killing him.
The officer – who has yet to be identified – is a seven-year veteran of the DeKalb police force. In addition to his sidearm, the officer also had a taser – which he obviously did not use.
Why not? That’s a good question … as is the question of why Hill was shot twice in the upper torso as opposed to say, once in the leg.
Witnesses say Hill – a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom who claimed to be bipolar – had his “hands up” when he ran toward the officer.
Yeah …
The website Heavy.com has perhaps the best write-up of the incident … along with some background on Hill’s bipolarity, his military service as well as some comments he made on social media regarding prior police shootings.
The website also has his final Facebook post from the morning of the shooting, in which he wrote “Where i once saw death i only see life.”
Sad …
This website refrained from rushing to judgment during the whole Ferguson, Missouri saga last summer, and we’re glad we did. That case – which prompted a raw, sustained outpouring of black anger over police shootings – turned out to be a less-than-compelling example of the underlying point the protesters were trying to make.
We will similarly refrain from rushing to judgment in this case, which is currently being probed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
59 comments
First sh I up the officer had teased him not yes but hell yes. But put yourself in the officers shoes. A crazy ass person is coming at your and about to attack. So he grab a gun instead. I cannot blame the officer in these cases. But I will blame the crazy people attacking the officer. If you don’t attack you would be alive today
You need to remember how much training cops are supposed to have. When they arived on the scense the first thing they should have noticed was he was unarmed and naked with nowhere to conceal a weapon. after that the thought to draw a firearm should never have entered their mind. unarmed, naked, but still potentially dangerous means use non-lethal force.
Does anyone remember the ex NFL player Lexington country had to tease over and over again about 2 years ago and he was still fighting them. You see on a calm normal person a teaser works but on crazy people it may not.
With a Deranged man running at you you have one shot with a Taser. If the officer failed to make contact with the probes then the shit is on! Then officer is forced to use his hands. This ain’t TV. This is real life and a person can kill you with his hands just as quickly as with a knife or gun. We can’t expect expect cops to engage in mutual combat and hope they win. Fight aren’t always fair. It’s also perplexing to me that people don’t understand that cops are people and not robots. They feel emotion such as FEAR and Terror. They want to go from work just like the rest of us.
The simple solution to this is to not attack the police. Why is this so hard for society to comprehend?
Not so simple if the person is mentally ill, is it?
Again, there are reasons that cops are given extensive training to deal with these situations.
The simplest solution is usually the best. Two to the center of mass one to the head repeat as necessary until the threat is neutralized.
Yes. It’s fairly simple. He is a Cop, not a mental health worker or a WWE wrestler.. We should not expect our police officers to make a mental health diagnosis in 6 seconds. He feared for his life. Just because a person is a cop does not mean they excel at street fighting. Should a person because he is a cop be willing to take a severe ass beating or death because a person is unarmed?
Go google “Ohio trooper beaten by bus passenger”. This incident happened recently. Female trooper was overwhelmed in a hands on attack. If not for the help of the bus passengers she very likely would have been beaten to death. The attacker was unarmed and female. Had this ended in the suspects death, we would hear reports of “another unarmed black killed by police”. And people like you second guessing what the officer SHOULD have done and what “handy dandy tool” they should have pulled from the Bat Belt to make everyone go home without a scratch!
It is very easy for us to sit on our computers and make judgement on what someone should have done. You have to put yourself in the officers shoes. Until you have been in that situation its hard to comprehend the mindset of the officer.
As far cops being given “extensive training” for these situations……….surely your kidding? We cant even pay them a living wage must less pay for “extensive training”.
When you fear for your life you will do whatever you have to to survive. Cope Lives Matter also.
He is a police officer. He is trained to be able to handle stressful situations. He was facing a naked man with no weapon. He had a taser.
Don’t want to be placed in dangerous situations like this? Don’t be a cop.
Taser’s are only effective to ~25 to ~30 feet, the probes just aren’t any longer. If the subject was charging from further away the sidearm was likely the only effective deterrent. Being charged by someone running at you from 30+ feet away can inflict serious injury and in some circumstances can kill. The officer isn’t paid to be a punching bag or a target. I say two shots, one clean kill, good work officer and good marksmanship.
Let me tell you something lady! I did it for 30 years. I was “trained” in Defensive tactics. One cold December morning on the side of dark SC highway at 3 in the morning I encountered a “Unarmed” man during a traffic stop. It was very normal and I detected nothing unusual before he attacked me. We went from him looking for his drivers license at the back of his car to him doing everything that he could possibly do to take my weapon from me in a split second. Flashlight goes flying and your on your back in a flash! It is extremely difficult to protect your head from punches while using the other hand to keep your weapon in its holster. I knew he was physically superior to me. I also knew that that if I did not win this battle the chances of me being murdered were fairly high. I have always been of the belief that anyone who would attack a “Armed” police officer is willing to kill you . It did cross my mind that he was “deranged”. …..but only for a nano second! The next 120 or so seconds all I could think about was how do I get this crazy son of a bitch off of me before he beats me to death or takes my weapon and shoots me. Oddly, I also thought about my 8 year old son and how I did not want to DIE just before Christmas………… Shooting him was my first thought but unfortunately I could not get my weapon from the holster without the fear that he would take it and kill me with it before getting a shot off.. You get innovative when you have imminent fear of death! I used the only thing I could to win this fight. I used a Motorola hand held radio to hit him so damn hard in the head that I hoped it killed him. It appeared to be working so I repeated the process until he was unconsious………….For all intents and purposes it ended well for all. But make no mistake, I would have killed that son of a bitch in a heartbeat if I could have! I walked away that morning and for that I thank God.
BTW. A handheld radio was nowhere in the “Use of Force” policy and I had never been trained to use it as a weapon.
I sir applaud your ingenuity, flair and “never say die” spirit. After all, a radio was the appropriate tool to communicate to this “gentleman” that he wasn’t going to prevail.
Apples & oranges.
That being said, glad you had a positive outcome to a potentially deadly encounter.
Apples and oranges ONLY in your mind. Those of us who have been there understand. You don’t so keep praying someone else is willing to protect you.
Scrappy, keep the faith, bro!
Um, no… the situations are entirely different.
In a class about the equipment officers carry, the police chief told us about an incident that happened about 3am one morning. An officer went on a call about another officer being attacked. When he got there it came to a point where he pulled out his weapon — only there wasn’t one! He had been on duty about five hours and didn’t realize he had never put it on. Sheepishly, the officer admitted that a third officer had arrived and they took the guy down without having to shoot him.
Dangerous? No problem. Suicidal? No. GREAT idea… how about we NOT require officers to take action where they might be sued or injured, or where they might have to injure someone else?
Mamatiger, how about we just let some punk beat your child to death because intervening might mean having to hurt the poor dear?
Yes, because that is exactly what I was implying.
smh
In hazardous situations like this, TWO officers are the norm for taser deployment…. 1 with the tazer, one with lethal force. Why? Because tasers don’t always work. In fact, you learn fast NOT to trust them. Good when they work, but expect them to fail. ONE officer responding? Brave.
I’ve seen the results of an officer too afraid of consequences to take appropriate action when needed against an “unarmed” suspect. He was lucky, only lost an eye.
You need six seconds to figure out a naked guy is probably out of his mind? Call for backup, use a taser, spray some mace, whip out the baton, a lot of options available here.
After he had closed the distance, assaulted you and taken your sidearm and taser what should your response be?
Crazy people don’t generally respond well to tear gas and often they aren’t affected by tasers in a normal manner.
Tasered Man Dies: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-taser-death-20150107-story.html
Crazed Tasered man dies: http://www.policeone.com/less-lethal/articles/7087962-Video-Crazed-man-dies-after-resisting-TASER-attacking-cops/
Naked man takes taser from officer: http://koin.com/2014/12/22/naked-man-takes-taser-from-officer-surrenders/
Colonel, I agree but here’s my issue not just with this one, but the others that occured over the past few years. Put two cops in the car.
Sounds like an (expensive) plan to me. I’d support it but we could never afford it. Even then, it took 4 policemen to subdue Eric Garner.
Check this video out of “one nude man” – the lead policeman in this one is a stud: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=50b817b9a7
Or this “unarmed clothed man” who decided to resist: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6baa0d56c2
Some facts for those who don’t (or WON’T) understand… http://www.policemag.com/channel/weapons/articles/2014/09/revisiting-the-21-foot-rule.aspx
Based on the facts provided here, I sure as hell can blame him.
Haven’t seen facts, just opinion and pandering. Waiting for tox screen. I hope they do a complete one instead of the standard abbreviated one. Lots of .mil using bath salts and synth MJ because they don’t show up on standard screens. This sounds like salts.
Fact – The man was naked & unarmed.
Opinion & pandering – This sounds like salts.
Thanks for playing.
Fact. He is still naked and unarmed.
A Cop went home last night. Chalk another one up for the good guys!
And a naked, unarmed, veteran is dead. Certainly cause for celebration.
Being a veteran doesn’t qualify you in some “special status” when you commit a crime – in fact, to my mind at least, it puts you in a “more criminal” category.
You’ve actually been formally taught right from wrong and have been held to a higher standard. Your criminal actions aren’t a result of your upbringing, environment or any other “he was a good boy” excuse – they’re the result of a decision on your part.
I sat in a recent court case where the defendant used “I was a Soldier” as a part of his sentencing hearing – the judge’s response was “…then you should have known better…”.
I’m quite capable of killing MOST people with just my hands. As are most physically fit people today. Acting deranged? Forget about pain compliance -he isn’t feeling any.
Mamatiger, learn a little about the subject matter.
Then why carry a taser or pepper spray at all?
Fits, any chance you can find the DeKalb County’s police department’s policy for officer conduct when dealing with a charging nekkid madman?
I think official policy is to aim for a disabling shot to the balls or the dick, if he is naked.
The leg is a small moving target on someone charging you. Not a good place to aim for. He should not have been aiming a gun anyways.
Depends on what level of threat he experienced. Not too long ago there was a case where a man died from one punch in the face. Serious bodily injury and death are common results from severe unarmed physical attacks.
Tasers and pepper spray both have a substantial failure rate, and I’ve had my ass whipped pretty good by a guy high on pcp and an entire can of cap-stun emptied in his face. If it hadn’t been for 4 other officers there, I would have been seriously hurt, maybe killed. The real world isn’t tv.
But da bruthas have no problem hittin’ a lagg!
FITS is about as simple-minded a cliché as you can get….
Grow up you imbecile…”Legiitimate Anger” ?????…No white cop in his right mind would want anything to do w/ enforcing the law on a black criminal…because of F*#king Dolts like FITS…
If you think this white officer had Anything on his mind, other than doing his job….you’re about as F*#king stupid as I say you are…
What ignorant F*#ks like FITS, Obama and the real media do…is make it easier for criminals…
You need to SFTU, you irresponsible Dumb@$$…
PS: The Dude looks WHITE, if that’s his photo you’re showing…
Pissed off your “blog” failed…much?
It really burns him bad that his blog got flushed down like the dookie it was and fits is still going on strong. Envy is a terrible personality trait and boy he has it
The sad thing is, dookie gets a better ending. It’s final & unceremonial.
There’s no embarrassment or gnashing of teeth over it’s disappearance.
So dookie has a higher place than his failed blog.
Was that you posing as Purple Rain, SR???… About as stupid as you…LMAO…
Here we go again. Do you say Obama in every sentence. For someone who hates him so much you sure seem obsessed with him. Got a man-crush there GT?
Do you think Obama has acted racially divisive in office?
Do you think Obama has been racially responsible as president?
Based on Obama’s F*#K-ups…the last thing we need is some irresponsible, @$$-backward Dumb@$$, like FITS, trying to play media, fanning an already Towering Inferno of race-hate.
Nothing of value was lost. #Idiotslivesdontmatter #genepoolcorrection #darwinawardwinneroftheday.
Every life matters, especially the life of a man who served to protect your life in the US Air Force.
This story will more than likely be labeled as a racist act and cause protest demonstrations, but the officer should have used non-lethal force first… like pepper spray or taser. I’m not rushing to judgement and calling it racism. A shiny badge isn’t a license to kill.
i want to see the video idk idk idk
Yea they don’t train police officers to shoot people in the leg. If an officer pulls their sidearm, it is SUPPOSED to be because there is life-threatening, imminent danger, and they are trained to shoot to kill, rightfully so. A mentally unstable nude man should not qualify as such. Why the officer would not use pepper spray, taser, anything that they are equipped with to handle these kinds of situations, is beyond me. There is a common thought process among law enforcement these days that there is lethal danger around every corner, and that may be true. But, the training they are given, for the most part, equips them handle such situations. They just aren’t using it. And, we the people, are suffering for it. The truth is we just lost a human life. One that served this country, and all because this officer was either ill-equipped concerning their training, or because of unnecessary fear of the public. The people they are paid to protect mind you. Regardless of the facts that will be released, an unarmed(and unclothed) was fatally shot by an experienced police officer.
Johny, am I any less dangerous to you if I have a gun or empty hands? If I can kill you with my bare hands (which I can), am I suddenly NOT a threat because I don’t have a knife? It isn’t the BS monday-morning QB nonsense that matters, but rather the reality of the circumstances and perceptions of the officer. Let’s put your sorry, weak ass out there and see how you do!
So anyone who approaches an officer should be killed, unarmed or otherwise??? I admire your confidence friend. You sound like bruce lee and chuck norris had a child together since you can apparently kill anyone(because you do not know me and I could literally be anyone) with your bare hands. Granted, the full story has not released, but the 911 call is about a naked man knocking on doors. It is clear the man does not have a weapon. IF the man rushes the officer, IF the officer is alone, IF the officer has attempted every non lethal action to control the subject (ie 1.physical presence, 2. Verbal commands, 3. Intermediate weapons) then I can understand. Prime example? Ferguson. Given the facts that I have seen with Ferguson, the officer was well within his right to use lethal force. I do not know why I am even arguing with you though. I have been out there. I have experience both in the classroom and the real world. I empathize with your desire to defend those who are often judged for a job that is one of the most difficult in the world. I do too. But this incident has no justification according to what has been released so far. No pepper spray. No intermediate weapons at all. The mans life has been ended because he had a mental disorder, and a police officer overreacted. Again, this is my opinion based on the facts so far. You can pretend to know it all like so many often do. But please don’t pretend to know me.
I like his commentary because it gives everyone a peek at what goes on inside the mind of a typical policeman.
Nope. It’s a fact that ANYONE can kill ANYONE ELSE with bare hands. You’d be amazed at the number of murders committed with bare hands (reemmber all the articles on strangulation and CDV?). What’s the number one weapon used in CDVs? Personal weapons (hands and feet). What weapons cause the most injuries in all assaults? Again, personal weapons. No “Bruce Lee” about it. Simple fact.
Oh, and YES, I have quite a bit of training in several martial arts. Given that I’m often required to deal with combative and resistive people, I need it. Have I had my tail whipped? Sure. anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Do I like violence? Absolutely not. No sane person would take any pleasure in inflicting harm on others. Do I recognize that there are people who willingly harm others, and that I will encounter them? Yes. I’m also the one who is expected to protect others from those people and I take that VERY seriously.
I’m glad you’re so insulated from all the bad people… it means I’m doing my job. What are YOU doing for other people? Feel free to pick up a badge (if you qualify) and come help.
So, serious question for you:
How many assaults, rapes, or B&E’s have you been able to stop while they were in progress?
Nope, you miss the point. Police have to be careful more today than ever —they are actually being hunted at times. Tell you what…. I’ll charge you, and you can see if you can survive pulling out an intermediate weapon. I once fought a naked 300-pound Jesus in the street who had beat an EMT silly (yes, he really thought he was Jesus). Why? Because there were SEVERAL of us there. By myself? Woulda been bad. Size and feeling no pain are a bad combination when you’re trying to not hurt someone. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me OR my job. You just pretend to.
No-one wants to see people hurt. Unfortunately, sometimes it is an inevitable result of someone making a bad choice. Maybe the subject for getting high on a strange drug. Maybe the cop. At this point we don’t know, but my experience tells me from the narrative the officer had a legitimate fear.
Too many people here comment about “training” without knowing anything about it. A badge does NOT mean some magical expertise in all things. It can take YEARS for officers to learn even a portion of the knowledge we wish they all had -and face it, society as a whole refuses to pay police enough to retain them, and doesn’t want to fund agencies to a level where all of this “training” you all expect can be provided (as well as the proper equipment to utilize the training). You only deserve the service you are willing to PAY for, and nowhere in the job description does it say that an officer is expected to sacrifice himself to save anyone. Try being realistic in your expectations, and imagine YOURSELF in that position…. with all of a second to make a decision.
remember when that kony 2012 guy went on a naked jacking-off-in-the-street rampage? he managed to get away with just being arrested and not getting shot.
Well, I suppose the weather is warming up. Much more conducive for “free range shopping”.
What does all this mean?
Don’t run at a police officer with his gun drawn while he repeatedly commands you to “STOP,” especially if this occurred at night.
Unfortunate, but probably justified.
I will just comment as someone who has been professionally trained for law enforcement while in the military – no doubt different than civilian counterparts – and someone who has faced altercations faced with and without a lethal weapon involved.
Training includes only using a lethal weapon, such as a side arm, with the intent of killing the target. The instinct needs to be there to draw and shoot at the target in one of two areas that will immediately take down the aggressor. The two largest target areas, the head and torso. No one is trained to shoot at legs, arms, hands or say a vehicles tires. It’s unrealistic to expect even a marksman to be mildly proficient shooting at those targets in real life.
That said procedurally, I think it would have been more reasonable, based on the evidence in this case for the officer to wait for assistance before approaching the scene. Secondly, the officer may not have approached the individual or scene with the appropriate amount of caution. He could have easily remained outside the vehicle and kept the vehicle between him and the man he was attempting to engage with to determine suitable action in these circumstances.
None of the released evidence thus far suggest the man was considered dangerous, but mostly a nuisance. I believe poor judgement in responding to the complaint and approaching the individual without back-up forced the officer to make split second decision. The failure and poor judgement occurred many minutes before the officer was even rushed. As for non-lethal weapons, I won’t comment on their use, as they were not part of my training. However, I would have chosen to engage and approach the scene in a way that would have minimized the need to use any sort of weapon. The risk that the officer put himself into unnecessarily, forced him to have to make a split second call.
If he was close enough to feel threatened by a naked man running towards him, he didn’t keep a safe distance and didn’t first try to engage the individual verbally from that safe distance, preferably with his vehicle and himself between the man. After those errors, I suspect the end result was inevitable. Very sad outcome to a situation that most likely could have been resolved differently with a little more patience, caution and assistance from a fellow officer.
Sounds like the person was experiencing excited delirium, which was caused by (cocaine) drug use. Person with excited delirium removes all clothing because the body is overheating. They experience hallucinations, agitation, no pain and super human strength. Less lethal force would have been useless. In time his body would have shut down from his brain frying or his heart exploiting.
Before passing judgement I would wait for his autopsy.