vlpate
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2009
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Walking down a street does not mean you are up to no good. TM was walking because he had no car. How do you steal a TV or other electronic equipment and walk to the back gate without someone seeing you? People walk all the time. There were two other people out at that very same time. John and the boy walking his dog. Why was TM suspicious.....because he was walking back from the store? GZ had every right to call LE and report TM. His rights stopped when he got out of his car with a gun and followed TM. That's the unreasonable part. He knew to stay with the car and he ignored his training in the NWP and ignored directions from LE. That was extremely unreasonable considering what the end results came to be. He was acting in an unreasonable manner and without the regard and safety of others. That is why he is facing charges today. jmo
BEM: Exactly. 30% of the community is AA - I'm sure they walk around all the time, so why did TM stand apart? Why did TM look suspicious to GZ? Maybe he wasn't just walking around? The black males he had called in as suspicious previously were up to something, as was proved later by their arrest. I think GZ knew the difference between "just walking around" and acting "suspicious".
His rights did not stop when he got out of his truck. He had a right to get out of his truck. He had a right to see where the suspicious male was running to - he had a right to watch him. TM, on the other hand, had no right to confront and punch GZ and hold him down. From the evidence we do have, TM was breaking the law at that point. The rest will be up to a jury to decide. IMO