"That seems to be a rational response in a right-to-bear-arms society. If I were a cop, I would do the exact same thing when facing an over-armed population: shoot first, ask questions later. Bitching about 'police brutality' misses the point that this society first needs to be disarmed (2nd CA notwithstanding) if we are to expect more civil forms of policing." +++++++
I used to live in a country where only the police were armed (Romania). It was not good -- though, I did, as a result, grow up with a healthy fear of the police. I was also trained by the cops (to be a state park ranger) in the seventies I will bear witness to the fact that so far as a cop is concerned, the world is divided into two basic categories: cops and non-cops. I'm willing to bet my last dollar that if that cop had been chasing a white kid for misdemeanors, he would not have shot him. This is one of the most racist countries I have ever lived in.
Let's put it another way. A couple of years ago, my son (then fifteen) took off with my car and plowed into another parked car, demolishing it. No driver's license --nothing; but he is white. The Oakland cops called me in the middle of the night to come and get him. He didn't even get a ticket. Do you think that would have happened if had not been white?
Joanna B.