I am well, well aware of how shitty the system is, I assure you. But given how you patronized me (“Maybe try to live a little more empathetically”- sincerely, go fuck yourself, you self-righteous prick), I don’t feel like arguing. All I’ll say is this- Leonard Cure’s death is a sad situation that was avoidable with different choices from either party. The officer made mistakes, but given Cure’s erratic behavior (my bet is that toxicology will show that he was high on some sort of stimulant given the strange “Yahweh” answer, the disjointed head and arm movement, aggression, and lack of pain response to the taser, baton, or bullet), combativeness, and noncompliance, I completely understand why the officer defended himself. If this was an “obvious egregious case”, then why is it being discussed here and throughout the internet?

We have no idea if he complied before. Given the fact that his sentence was only so long due to a previous record, it seems more likely that not complying was his usual stance. I don’t know this for sure, obviously, but it does seem more likely. The previous statement is misinformation, I believe. One of the attorneys in the exoneration said that he complied with the original arrest and thought he’d be able to simply explain that he wasn’t the robber, which obviously did not go in his favor. While it definitely helps explain his actions, I still do not believe assaulting an officer is the right path to take, though I do understand it better now.

But there’s such a vast gulf between “complying” and “attempting to kill (or at least cause serious bodily harm to) an officer” that I have a hard time finding the officer at fault here. Why did he flee? Why did he refuse lawful commands? Why did he give his name as “Yahweh” as far as I can hear? Why did he attempt to assault the officer after being tased? What was he planning to do to the officer had he not fired, as the repeated “Yeah bitch” suggested very violent intent to me. These are all valid questions that I hope we get answers to, but it’s unlikely that we will. All any of us can do is watch the video- which is the most direct evidence of the truth- and form our opinions based on that.

I think that’s a reasonable take. It still could have been prevented by Cure simply complying with the orders- the court is the proper place to fight that- and I think the officer was well justified in attempting to arrest, but he should have only used the taser and escalated once backup arrived or he was forced to. I agree that was probably a mistake, but at the same time, with a person that combative and non-compliant, it’s difficult to say for certain.

A black man is dead because he was speeding, evaded the police, resisted arrest, and assaulted the officer.

A cop defended himself.

There you go, I fixed it for you.

Here’s the full video. Please give it a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGNIAozOIok

The CNN video is very deceptively edited. The full clip shows way more combativeness and non-compliance from Cure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGNIAozOIok

Give the full video a watch. It may change your mind.

https://youtu.be/tGNIAozOIok?si=957m9XDvuYryhM5D

But you didn’t establish that he’s a murdering son of a bitch. Did you actually watch the video you posted? All of it? Cure wasn’t “pulled over for speeding”, that’s insanely reductive to the facts. He was going over 100 and refused to pull over for over a minute for no clear reason. In addition, when he refused to obey lawful orders and allow himself to be placed under arrest, he further escalated the situation. When he attempted to inflict severe bodily harm on the officer while taunting him, I’d say the shooting is extremely justified, especially when you consider the fact that the officer only fired after deploying two separate non-lethal methods to subdue Cure. He didn’t deserve to die for speeding. I’d say he somewhat deserved it when he attempted severe bodily harm on the officer, though.

Any fleeing is still fleeing. I don’t understand why you think this was an unjustified shooting. He was putting every other driver at risk, refused lawful orders, and threatened the officer’s life while saying “Yeah bitch, yeah bitch.” Not exactly a paragon of humanity here.

Did you also flee, though? That’s the other thing. He kept driving for well over a minute before finally pulling over. That was the reason for the arrest, and then when he resisted arrest, only then did the officer escalate.

He also fled and resisted arrest. Both arrestable offenses. If he would have promptly pulled over, it would almost certainly have been a citation at worst. He fled at 100 MPH for over a minute before finally pulling over. Also, how is an officer being choked out on the side of the highway defending himself with a taser, then a baton (while actively being strangled and bent nearly backwards), and only THEN a gun, “zero cause”?

The article says Cure was going at 100 MPH for 80 seconds after the officer put on his lights. Cure pulled over in the end, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a chase, which is why the cop ordered him out so quickly. 100 MPH is already more than just a speeding ticket, that’s reckless endangerment. In general, 15 MPH above the speed limit is considered reckless. Add that to the chase, and that’s why Cure was under arrest rather than just a ticket. I agree with you, the cop did nothing wrong here. He gave lawful orders, escalated force reasonably, attempted both his taser and his baton before firing as a last resort when he began to lose the fight and his own life became threatened, and administered first aid immediately.