TX - Police Taser Councilman Jonathan Miller, Prairie View, 8 Oct 2015

[Woodland]

It would have been SOOOOOOOOO easy for him to have not gotten tased. All he had to do was refrain from interfering with the police doing their jobs.

He's a councilman, for heaven's sake. He should know there's plenty of opportunity later to challenge LE actions through legal channels if he thought they were harassing his friends. No excuses here. He was just looking for trouble, and he found it.

Look forward to confirmation LE wasn't looking for trouble to begin with. Any idea who will provide that?

 

[kimlynn]

The councilman didnt give the cops a chance to do that. He was asked several times to step away and he refused. He took a few steps back, then then took one or two forward towards the male cop. The cop said " i have asked you already to step back, if u dont I will arrest you' --and he still did not step back.


There were two cops and 5 young men. The cops did not want to be outnumbered like that. All the guy needed to do was step back and give the cops some room/ The cops would have figured out the guys were not doing anything wrong and let them go on their way.

I counted two male cops and one female cop. The three males with Miller seemed to be out of the picture. And IMO he moved away and it was more than a few steps.

 

[katydid23]

Three cops to one man that was down on his knees and facing away from them. Not a threat. IMO

Not true. There were four friends of his there as well. Cops know that if one of a group starts a tussle with them, the others sometimes join in, especially if they have more in numbers and are not cuffed. IMO, there is no way the cops want to chance a brawl.

 

[Elley Mae]

All I can see at the moment is, we have no idea why LE was there at the time the guests were leaving or why the 'needed' to be questioned. Coincidence or planned? We don't know.

Anyone got a link yet as to why this went down in the first place?

In the usa patrolmen/women are driving around in their jurisdictions and if they see something that garners their attention they will stop & ask ?'s, normally people that are not involved in the ?ing don't interject themselves. When people interject themselves in business that is not theirs police usually don't like that & take offense to it & will ask that person to step aside. It's best to listen to police & obey their orders to keep oneself out of jail. jmo idk

 

[Deleted member 39678]

It may have looked that way because according to the reporter the cop followed behind him as he moved away. At any rate it appeared to me that it was more than a few steps away,but we all see things differently. I used the tree as a guide to how far away he moved.
In that video he isn't saying anything after he moved away so I have to wonder if this cop was using his badge as a power play.
Keeping in mind that he seemed to have a former grudge or opinion of Miller. IMO

I can't say how far Miller moved but it wasn't far enough for the officer so he should have kept moving until he reached the right spot.

I'm sure the cop would have told him when he reached that spot if Miller still had problems understanding him. JMO

 

[kimlynn]

Not true. There were four friends of his there as well. Cops know that if one of a group starts a tussle with them, the others sometimes join in, especially if they have more in numbers and are not cuffed. IMO, there is no way the cops want to chance a brawl.

The only tussling going on was from the male LE during the take down of Miller. IMO
I have seen three males guests but I will concede that media isn't always correct.

 

[kimlynn]

I can't say how far Miller moved but it wasn't far enough for the officer so he should have kept moving until he reached the right spot.

I'm sure the cop would have told him when he reached that spot if Miller still had problems understanding him. JMO

As long as he was staying out of the 'investigation" and he seemed to be at that point....I can't see why LE would ask him to move further away.
Bottom line he did move away as requested.

 

[katydid23]

The only tussling going on was from the male LE during the take down of Miller. IMO
I have seen three males guests but I will concede that media isn't always correct.

Exactly. there was nothing going on that Miller needed to be concerned with. His friends were just being questioned. No tussling, no cuffs, no arguing.

 

[CoolJ]

" Mr. Councilman, you are not under arrest but could you please place your hands behind your back for the time being for our safety while we sort out what's going on?"

This man is obviously intelligent, and obviously a supporter of local LE. If they had just spoken to him in this way, I am sure things would have went very smoothly.

 

[katydid23]

As long as he was staying out of the 'investigation" and he seemed to be at that point....I can't see why LE would ask him to move further away.
Bottom line he did move away as requested.

It is a safety thing for the officers. They are outnumbered. What if they suddenly discover that one of the guys has a felony warrant out on him? Do they want to be surrounded closely by his friends?

 

[kimlynn]

Exactly. there was nothing going on that Miller needed to be concerned with. His friends were just being questioned. No tussling, no cuffs, no arguing.

Do you think it is common behavior to stay in ones house when LE pull up to your home and seem to be curious about your out of town guests?

 

[Deleted member 39678]

As long as he was staying out of the 'investigation" and he seemed to be at that point....I can't see why LE would ask him to move further away.
Bottom line he did move away as requested.

Miller completely stopped the investigation while officers attempted to move him away from the suspects.

That's what I saw when viewing the video of this case.

JMO

 

[bluesneakers]

<modsnip>

There's a good chance, imo, the charges are going to be dropped.

What's the going rate for Tazing lawsuits now, $40k?

 

[kimlynn]

It is a safety thing for the officers. They are outnumbered. What if they suddenly discover that one of the guys has a felony warrant out on him? Do they want to be surrounded closely by his friends?

From what I have seen and heard so far in this case I don't think it's LE that has to worry. IMO

 

[Elley Mae]

There's a good chance, imo, the charges are going to be dropped.

What's the going rate for Tazing lawsuits now, $40k?

I don't see a good chance. jmo

 

[bluesneakers]

" Mr. Councilman, you are not under arrest but could you please place your hands behind your back for the time being for our safety while we sort out what's going on?"

This man is obviously intelligent, and obviously a supporter of local LE. If they had just spoken to him in this way, I am sure things would have went very smoothly.

Exactly. Simple, direct, concise, respectful. If they had started with that they wouldn't even have needed to ask him to put his hands behind his back. How hard would it have been?

 

[Deleted member 39678]

<modsnip>

I always put JMO or IMO to keep people from complaining.

I've always read posts for what they are. If it's obvious that the poster is stating opinion I don't make a big deal out of them not using MOO, JMO IMO or anything else.

JMO

 

[katydid23]

Do you think it is common behavior to stay in ones house when LE pull up to your home and seem to be curious about your out of town guests?

They were out of town guests?

And I think it was happening in an apt. building parking lot. They were just being questioned.

It is fine to go look at what is happening. but he should have complied upon the first request to stand back. He ignored several requests and two warnings.

 

[kimlynn]

There's a good chance, imo, the charges are going to be dropped.

What's the going rate for Tazing lawsuits now, $40k?

I agree that the charges will be dropped and find it sad that some are crowing in delight about a possible smudge on the record of Miller.

 

[Woodland]

It is a safety thing for the officers. They are outnumbered. What if they suddenly discover that one of the guys has a felony warrant out on him? Do they want to be surrounded closely by his friends?

So who had the felony warrant?