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Pardoned January 6 rioter said ‘I’m shooting myself’ before Indiana deputy fatally shot him
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
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Police Activity posted the bodycam footage.
https://youtu.be/zf6BgUd86I4
It’s under 7 minutes and when the shooting happens it’s blurred out. It’s relatively tame from a gore point of view, but it’s still a video of someone being shot so watch with care.
Here’s my synopsis of the footage for people that don’t want to watch it themselves, you can skip the preamble if you just want to understand the shooting. In my opinion the officer acts reasonable, friendly, and professional throughout.
Preamble
Shooting
This is shown from his bodycam and also from his dashcam.
A felon retreated into a vehicle, stating he wouldn’t go back to jail, produced a firearm, and threatened violence. Was the guy lying about shooting himself, was his plan to fire the firearm at himself or the officer? Based on my view of the video, the officer acted within his lawful authority, was polite and professional, and only used force consistent with what the situation required. But I’d encourage you to watch the evidence and make up your own mind.
There are a ton of bad cops and awful shootings. I don’t like J6 but I don’t see this as justified because the guy is an asshole, but justified because of his actions at this traffic stop.
Honestly feel really bad for the guy. He goes to end his own life and gets murdered for it. He was right at the edge of what he could handle and the traffic stop and arrest was enough to put him over the edge.
Whether this sounds crazy or not, I possess the empathy enough to understand exactly how this person felt in his last moments.
I implore you to study the paradox of tolerance.
The fact he brought up his pardon umprompted as if he thought it would be his get out of jail free card makes it hard for me to feel empathetic. Especially since there's a real possibility some cops have let him off scott-free in the past just because of his involvement in J6.
You shouldn't, they were a Nazi traitor to our country
If he was actually gonna off himself then this is also a good thing: cop gets karma points for taking out a Nazi rather than the Nazi themselves
....because he was a traitorous Nazi, important context
Maybe if you're nervous about the law you shouldn't do 50% over the speed limit while also being a known regular bad driver
As do many of us, we just don't feel it was nearly bad enough for him compared to what he deserved
Yea I feel bad for him too, you can tell when the officer tells him he has no choice to arrest him that he’s realizing how badly he just messed up.
In his mind he was about to lose his pardon and go back into the prison system.
But to me that also makes me think the officer is justified in his use of force. People that think everything is ruined are unpredictable and he was reaching for violence. While he was saying he was going to turn that violence on himself, there’s no particular reason to trust what he’s saying. I think there’s a very real possibility he gets the gun saying “I’m shooting myself” but then once he has it maybe shooting the cop sounds a bit better.
If I’m the officer I’m not rolling the dice to see if he points the gun at his head or mine.
And as much as I can empathize with the feeling of fear and loss in that moment, ultimately he made a bunch of choices that led to that. He did whatever he did to get his license suspended, he drove on a suspended license, and even in this instance he broke the speed limit knowing that the results of even a minor infraction could lead to the loss of his freedom.
At some point he has to be responsible for the consequences of his actions.
I've been on the edge before, called the police on myself and it caught me interesting that my movement he did reach for a weapon when I went to hand over the knife, so I should feel empathy. I feel empathy for the officer who was in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, but...
I don't know. I'm out. This is a person who 1: Willingly joined in a coup to attempt to overthrow an election to 3: AFTER getting pardoned, get pulled over with a suspended license enough times for it to be a felony (I don't know about y'all, but it's kinda rare for me to get pulled over. And the times I have... I'll 100% admit I was way over, generally because I've missed the speed sign) 4: His FIRST interaction with an officer is how he was a Jan 6 pardon like it's a get out of jail free card. This shows he has zero actual fucking remorse for what he did and instead hoping the cop is on his side. 5: Go to his car and reach for a gun.
This is a man who has shown an actual pattern of not caring about anyone's safety but himself. His upset moment is when he's affected, but anyone else, damn them.
It's why I can't blame the cop in this one. This was a man in an unpredictable scenario who has shown these very things in decisions. Man could have easily said "I'm shooting myself" and instead shoot the cop. In EMS I've worked alongside too many cops, and I've talked to some who's had to shoot, most of them it bothers them. It should, honestly I'd question the ones that take a life and aren't haunted by it. This cop just dealt with a man reaching for a gun and the last thing he heard from the man is telling him he'd end his own life and the cop did it for him. So I can't help but to think that this is a Jan 6er who's managed to fuck up yet another life.
Suicide by cop is definitely a thing.
Why do you cry for someone who achieved their goals?
Wanting to be dead is usually a temporary goal. Not always, but usually. It's unfortunate that with this situation, there was no way to find out if it was a temporary wish this time.
I say the same thing when I see some asshole about to steal my kill in Call of Duty