• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

New Dashcam footage of NJ Fatal Police shooting

Status
Not open for further replies.

nateeasy

Banned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys0OzmH_EPg

With the dash cam in their cruiser rolling, police pulled a Jaguar over for running a stop sign on a dark New Jersey night. But things suddenly turned tense when one of the officers warned his partner that he could see a gun in the glove compartment.

Screaming "Don't you f---ing move!" and "Show me your hands!" at the man in the passenger seat, the officer reached into the car and appeared to remove a silver handgun. Then, despite being warned repeatedly not to move, the passenger stepped out of the car, his hands raised about shoulder level.

The officers opened fire, killing him.

The video of the Dec. 30 killing of Jerame Reid in Bridgeton, a struggling, mostly minority city of 25,000 people about 35 miles south of Philadelphia, was released this week, raising a host of questions and stirring anger over yet another death at the hands of police.

The shooting came after the killings of black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri, triggered months of turbulent protests, violence and calls for a re-examination of police use of force.

Both Reid and the man driving the car were black. The Bridgeton officer who spotted the gun, Braheme Days, is black; his partner, Roger Worley, is white. Both officers have been placed on leave while prosecutors investigate.

"The video speaks for itself that at no point was Jerame Reid a threat and he possessed no weapon on his person," Walter Hudson, chairman and founder of the civil rights group the National Awareness Alliance, said Wednesday. "He complied with the officer and the officer shot him."

Reid, 36, spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at three state troopers when he was a teenager. And Days knew who he was; Days was among the arresting officers last year when Reid was charged with several crimes, including drug possession and obstruction.

In Bridgeton, where two-thirds of the residents are black or Hispanic, the killing has stirred small protests over the past couple of weeks, including a demonstration on Wednesday, a day after the video was made public on a request made by two newspapers under the state's open records law.

The Cumberland County prosecutor's office previously said a gun was seized during the stop but would not comment further on the investigation. Bridgeton police would not answer any questions about the video and said they opposed its release as neither "compassionate or professional."

County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McCrae has disqualified herself from the case because she knows Days. But activists are demanding the state Attorney General's Office take over the investigation, something it said it will not do.

In the video, tensions flare as Days tells his partner about the gun and starts yelling, "Show me your hands!" The driver, Leroy Tutt, raises his hands immediately. Reid does not at first.
Days, still yelling, reaches into the car and appears to remove a gun.

"I'm going to shoot you," Days shouts, at one point addressing Reid by his first name. "You're going to be f---ing dead. If you reach for something, you're going to be f---ing dead."
Days tells his partner, "He's reaching for something."

Faintly on the video, Reid can be heard telling the officer, "I ain't doing nothing. I'm not reaching for nothing, bro. I ain't got no reason to reach for nothing."
Then one of the men in the car tells the officer, "I'm getting out and getting on the ground."

The officer again orders Reid not to move. Seconds later, Reid emerges from the car, raising his hands, which appear to be empty. Both officers fire immediately, shooting at least six rounds.

Bystanders start yelling at the officers, and other emergency vehicles arrive.
The South Jersey Times reported this week that residents had filed seven municipal court complaints against Days since 2013 and two against Worley in that span for alleged abuses of power; all the complaints were later dismissed.

Looks pretty bad by for the officers.
 

Maxim726X

Member
Been reading some conflicting information on this all day.

Apparently, the victim has had multiple arrests, including one in which he shot an officer. From what I read, he was just released from a 12 year stint in prison.

Not sure how valid this information is of course, but there may be reason for the officer to be a little trigger happy. Especially if the victim did have an unlicensed gun in the glove compartment.
 

hypotc

Member
I'm pretty grateful that police officers in my country aren't allowed to carry firearms. This is horrible.

"Don't move, you'll be fucking dead!!" Is this professional behaviour?
 

Smellycat

Member
There seems to be a struggle before the man gets out of the car. It looks like he was trying to open the car door to do something. Why the heck did he get out of the car when he knows that there were 2 cops ready to unload?
 
Reid, 36, spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at three state troopers when he was a teenager. And Days knew who he was; Days was among the arresting officers last year when Reid was charged with several crimes, including drug possession and obstruction.

I usually never comment until I read more into something... but seriously this has to be pointed out...

WTF.

If this was not the perfect opportunity for some revenge I don't know what is.
 
There seems to be a struggle before the man gets out of the car. It looks like he was trying to open the car door to do something. Why the heck did he get out of the car when he knows that there were 2 cops ready to unload?

Because his hands were up palms open and he thought there was no way they cops would shoot him dead....
 

KHarvey16

Member
Been reading some conflicting information on this all day.

Apparently, the victim has had multiple arrests, including one in which he shot an officer. From what I read, he was just released from a 12 year stint in prison.

Not sure how valid this information is of course, but there may be reason for the officer to be a little trigger happy. Especially if the victim did have an unlicensed gun in the glove compartment.

He had spent time in prison for shooting at three officers. The officer who killed him had arrested him last year on other charges as well.
 

Damaniel

Banned
Maybe someone could enlighten me about something.

If a person has his hands up, and is moving at a slow pace, why do they need to stay in the car and not move, as opposed to getting out of the car with their hands up and laying on the ground?

Serious question. I mean, if your hands are up and open, why does it matter if you're just moving? Is there some sort of threat in that, that I don't know about?

Aside from the duh, don't do anything a cop tells you not to do, disregarding that, why does it matter if you shift a bit or get out of the car as opposed to sit in the car?

Didn't anyone tell you? Black people have some magic ability to bend space and time just by holding their hands up, sending out beams of pure energy that threaten every police officer within a 20 mile radius. Look it up - it's completely true! /s

While this will be yet another case of 'guy getting he deserved' to most people, especially since he already has quite the criminal record, none of that still really excuses the fact that they killed a guy who wasn't really in a position to cause any harm. I'm guessing this is retribution for the officer he shot, nothing more.
 

benzy

Member
Cop is too trigger happy, but victim also had no reason to move or get out right after he was repeatedly told not to move.
 

Piecake

Member
Didn't anyone tell you? Black people have some magic ability to bend space and time just by holding their hands up, sending out beams of pure energy that threaten every police officer within a 20 mile radius. Look it up - it's completely true! /s

While this will be yet another case of 'guy getting he deserved' to most people, especially since he already has quite the criminal record, none of that still really excuses the fact that they killed a guy who wasn't really in a position to cause any harm. I'm guessing this is retribution for the officer he shot, nothing more.

People who think like that are scum. What is the point of our prison system if people think that ex-convicts can be killed without consequence when they paid their debt to society, and, are at the moment, doing nothing wrong?
 

Kettch

Member
There seems to be a struggle before the man gets out of the car. It looks like he was trying to open the car door to do something. Why the heck did he get out of the car when he knows that there were 2 cops ready to unload?

Speculating based purely on the article, it says this:

"I'm going to shoot you," Days shouts, at one point addressing Reid by his first name. "You're going to be f---ing dead. If you reach for something, you're going to be f---ing dead."
Days tells his partner, "He's reaching for something."

To which the guy replies that he's not reaching for anything.

Faintly on the video, Reid can be heard telling the officer, "I ain't doing nothing. I'm not reaching for nothing, bro. I ain't got no reason to reach for nothing."
Then one of the men in the car tells the officer, "I'm getting out and getting on the ground."

If he wasn't reaching for anything like he said, yet was being threatened with death, it seems reasonable to want to get out and show them that you aren't reaching for anything. Sure you might get shot for getting out, but you might get shot for staying inside too. That's my best guess on what was going through his head.
 
Cop is too trigger happy, but victim also had no reason to move or get out right after he was repeatedly told not to move.

Yea man, no reason to get out. Except for the fact that the officer kept exclaiming he was reaching for something and threatening to kill him. What would you do?
 
Yea man, no reason to get out. Except for the fact that the officer kept exclaiming he was reaching for something and threatening to kill him. What would you do?

breh. dude was a dead man the moment that pig recognized him. and he knew it. the moment i heard "he's got a gun in the glove box. he's reaching for something." a lightbulb went off. he was already marked for death. that dude was getting shot no matter what.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Yea man, no reason to get out. Except for the fact that the officer kept exclaiming he was reaching for something and threatening to kill him. What would you do?

It really does seem like the safer option to get out in that case.
You know... make it more obvious that you're not reaching for something. Calm the paranoia. Keep the cops from wetting themselves.
 

Zukuu

Banned
So he CLEARLY has his hands visible and is clearly just panicking and wants to lay on the ground to show he means no harm. Why do they use LETHAL force again?
 

Chumly

Member
Yea man, no reason to get out. Except for the fact that the officer kept exclaiming he was reaching for something and threatening to kill him. What would you do?
Yes he probably wanted to get out so he didn't get shot for fake "reaching" for something. You can already hear the officer bullshitting with "he's reaching for something". Unfortunately for him the officer shot anyways but at least now we can clearly see the officer was in the wrong.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
What an idiot.

He clearly thought the gun in the glovebox was going to get him shot.

Should have just _____.

It's not some insane leap of logic to think a guy with a gun in the glovebox might have one on him.

I don't think he should have shot the guy, but what was he thinking getting out of the car? Cops need better non lethal weapons.
 

Toxi

Banned
Damned if you don't move ("He's reaching for a gun!"), damned if you do ("Don't move or we'll shoot!").
 

Toxi

Banned
The sad part is how people think not strictly complying with what the police tell you to do gives them an excuse to end your life.

Fuck these monsters. They are killing our fellow citizens and not getting punished by the law for it.
 

Drensch

Member
So a guy with a history of shooting police, amongst many other charges, had a gun and decided not to comply with officers orders. Wtf did he think was going to happen?
 

dabig2

Member
The sad part is how people think not strictly complying with what the police tell you to do gives them an excuse to end your life.

Fuck these monsters. They are killing our fellow citizens and not getting punished by the law for it.

Aye. Judge, jury, and executioners they are on the streets and we give them this free power every time we excuse them; yet we wonder the next time shit goes down how it went so wrong. And rinse repeat.
 

Jackpot

Banned
Cop is too trigger happy, but victim also had no reason to move or get out right after he was repeatedly told not to move and he deserved to die.

If you can't add the bolded to the end of your post then it's not a justification for the shooting.

Everyone's going to focus on his past but it all boils down to the fact that a guy who is openly unarmed is not a threat.
 

RefigeKru

Banned
It's not some insane leap of logic to think a guy with a gun in the glovebox might have one on him.

I don't think he should have shot the guy, but what was he thinking getting out of the car? Cops need better non lethal weapons.

Of course not but at the very least you have to wait for him to draw it, reach for it and in any case, relinquish his state of surrender and put his hands down. Maybe then he can claim ownership or and all that jazz not sure how law deals with guns in gloveboxes where this is.

Fortunately as a young black male living in the UK I don't have to worry about getting shot because I might be close enough to a gun to warrant my own death.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
The sad part is how people think not strictly complying with what the police tell you to do gives them an excuse to end your life.

Fuck these monsters. They are killing our fellow citizens and not getting punished by the law for it.

Don't drive around with a pistol in your glovebox in NJ. That's what escalated the situation.


Of course not but at the very least you have to wait for him to draw it, reach for it and in any case, relinquish his state of surrender and put his hands down. Maybe then he can claim ownership or and all that jazz not sure how law deals with guns in gloveboxes where this is.

Fortunately as a young black male living in the UK I don't have to worry about getting shot because I might be close enough to a gun to warrant my own death.

Wait for him to draw it? Are you insane? You can't drive around with handguns in NJ.
 

Piecake

Member
Don't drive around with a pistol in your glovebox in NJ. That's what escalated the situation.




Wait for him to draw it? Are you insane?

So he deserves to die because he had a gun in his glove box?

This whole idea that a cop's life is worth more than a citizen's life is disgusting.
 
So he deserves to die because he had a gun in his glove box?

This whole idea that a cop's life is worth more than a citizen's life is disgusting.

What you're seeing is the exact reason why there will never be any significant change in this paradigm.

There's always an excuse, there's always a justification.
 

Marc

Member
Cops did not ask him to get out of the car. Should not have got out the car.

RIP. And blessings to his family.

So he deserves to die?

Being an idiot is not an executable offence to me, even though I understand why he might panic about the screaming over the glove box gun. All over a minor traffic infraction.



Shoot him in the leg if you're that scared of a guy with his hands up, or y'know... wait until he actually does something threatening.
 

DY_nasty

NeoGAF's official "was this shooting justified" consultant
people really need to stop and ask themselves why they're trying to make this or any shooting 'reasonable' in their mind

deadly force means everything else has failed. everything. a guy with his palms facing toward you doesn't have to die. doesn't matter what the record was or if he was mid-burglary. that's a defenseless person at that moment.
 
Reid, 36, spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at three state troopers when he was a teenager. And Days knew who he was; Days was among the arresting officers last year when Reid was charged with several crimes, including drug possession and obstruction.

I usually never comment until I read more into something... but seriously this has to be pointed out...

WTF.

If this was not the perfect opportunity for some revenge I don't know what is.

there it is.

Damn.
 

Toxi

Banned
people really need to stop and ask themselves why they're trying to make this or any shooting 'reasonable' in their mind

deadly force means everything else has failed. everything. a guy with his palms facing toward you doesn't have to die. doesn't matter what the record was or if he was mid-burglary. that's a defenseless person at that moment.
There are people who seriously think deadly force against Eric Garner was justified for arguing with a cop and lightly swatting away physical restrainment.
 

DY_nasty

NeoGAF's official "was this shooting justified" consultant
Don't drive around with a pistol in your glovebox in NJ. That's what escalated the situation.




Wait for him to draw it? Are you insane? You can't drive around with handguns in NJ.

uhhhh no

even if he had a weapon on his person, it doesn't somehow snowball into kill a guy with his hands in the air. cmon man
 

darscot

Member
These cops all seem so terrified, so far past the point that they can function as a police officer. If I saw a cop acting like that I don't know what I would do, our cops in Canada just have a completely different demeanor. They don't act like strung out crack heads screaming shit at you. I can totally understand why people don't respond properly to the commands. I know when someone is that amped up and scream at you, naturally your going to want to run or fight, its going to be hard to think or do anything. I would probable screaming back at them to calm the fuck down.
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Don't drive around with a pistol in your glovebox in NJ. That's what escalated the situation.




Wait for him to draw it? Are you insane? You can't drive around with handguns in NJ.

Well technically the guy who was shot was a passenger and wasn't breaking a law for having a handgun in the passenger glove box.. The driver was breaking the law when it came to NJ Fire Arm Transportation laws.
 

RefigeKru

Banned
Wait for him to draw it? Are you insane? You can't drive around with handguns in NJ.

-The Police officer gets justifiably tense because there's a gun.
-Tells him not to move, or he'll shoot, swearing blinding, shits happening with the door which opens.
-Unsure if Officer Opens it or Victim.
-Steps out
which in this scenario means AWAY from the gun
and gets shot
-Entire time his hands are up.

I'm saying you can't shoot someone who has made no physically threatening movements.

Of course just the context of the footage, but would you say he needed to get shot? Did he seem threatening? Does having a gun in a glovebox, even if illegal, then make it okay for the police to end your life?
 

Toxi

Banned
Why the fuck cant the passengers just comply? Drugs?
Probably because the passengers were scared out of their fucking minds at the violent psychopaths screaming at them while brandishing firearms.

I know when someone is that amped up and scream at you, naturally your going to want to run or fight, its going to be hard to think or do anything. I would probable screaming back at them to calm the fuck down.
Watch out, talking back to the police is another excuse for them to assault you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom