Blu's EPIC THREAD OF 'LOLs' and FAIL

**Mael Duin** · 08-18-2012

**gangsta_795** · 08-18-2012

Awesome! And, since I can, +rep!

**DreDayDetox** · 08-18-2012

I definitely have a friend like Activison. We talk about the same crap every time we see each other. Nothing new or original and it gets really boring fast, but I pity him for being stupid so I let it slide.

**bash** · 08-18-2012

A dash cam video from the officer who shot and killed Native American woodcarver John T. Williams was released Friday, showing Williams ambling slowly across the street in a crosswalk before the officer opens fire.

Although most of the action takes place off-screen, Williams is seen walking across the street in front of the patrol car in the video, dated Aug. 30.

The patrol car starts to pul More..l forward, then stops.

Officer Ian Burke can then be seen walking after Williams and shouting, "Hey, hey, hey! Put the knife down! Put the knife down!"

The officer walks off-screen and then five shots ring out in rapid succession, killing Williams.

Birk's badge was later pulled after a Seattle Police Department Review Board and Chief John Diaz reached a preliminary finding that Williams' shooting was not justified.

A judge ruled Thursday that the clip from officer Ian Birk's car could be released to the public after prosecutors had a chance to notify witnesses not to view the tape.

The tape's release comes after a public disclosure request from the Seattle Times.

An inquest into Williams' shooting death by Officer Ian Birk has been set to begin on Jan. 10. The facts of the case will be laid out in the open through the process.

Update: The guy was deaf!

More than five months have passed since John T. Williams , a 50-year-old Native American woodcarver and chronic inebriate, crumpled onto the sidewalk in downtown Seattle with four bullets fired by Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk lodged in his side. Since then there have been marches, town-hall meetings , demands for SPD Chief John Diaz to step down , and the start of a federal investigation into the department's use of force. And now, on the same day it was announced that SPD's own Firearms Review Commission has deemed Birk's shooting "unjustified," we also learn there will be no criminal charges filed against the officer for killing Williams.The news was leaked Tuesday night. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is expected to make a formal announcement at a press conference later today--as is Mayor Mike McGinn.

Afterward, SPD Chief John Diaz is also expected to announce the decision of the Firearms Review Commission, which has ruled the shooting "unjustified."

The decision not to charge Birk for a crime, frankly, was inevitable. That fact, however, will likely be of little consolation to a very large and very angry cross-section of Seattleites who have been seething for months over several high-profile instances of what looks, smells, and tastes like classic police brutality.

The fact that the shooting was deemed unjustified does free the department to take separate disciplinary steps against Birk, like demoting him, suspending him, or firing him. But even firing him is unlikely to quell the anger of groups who, even before this announcement, had been calling for heads to roll.
But while Satterberg and Diaz are likely to bear the full brunt of public rage, folks should remember that Washington's own laws protect officers like Ian Birk from prosecution over the use of deadly force, except in the most egregious of cases.

Washington law (RCW 9A.16.040 ) lists 10 different ways in which a peace officer can legally kill someone--one of which states that an officer can do so if he or she has "probable cause to believe that the suspect, if not apprehended, poses a threat of serious physical harm to the officer or a threat of serious physical harm to others."

Birk has long argued that he believed Birk posed a threat as he stood nine feet away giving him dirty looks while holding a dull carving blade. And that is pretty much that.

But to further this point, the law also says: "A public officer or peace officer shall not be held criminally liable for using deadly force without malice and with a good faith belief that such act is justifiable pursuant to this section."

In other words, Satterberg would have had to prove that Birk didn't actually believe Williams posed a threat and that he shot him with the direct intention of committing a crime.

Proving what anyone believes is a nearly impossible legal task. Thus, it's the law itself, more than anything else, that's keeping Birk from being held criminally liable for Williams' death.

Whether he and the rest of the department are financially liable is another story--and one that's likely not to fare as well for cops. And whether the decision leads to a large-scale shakeup at the department also remains to be seen.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/daily..._escapes_c.php

What a fucking retarded cop. The guy wasn't harming anyone with the knife (you can see he was using it for woodcarving) and secondly he was fucking half deaf. I am surprised they don't have a protocol to in place to check if the person has a disability before shooting them 4 times and killing them.

**keefy** · 08-18-2012

The cop wouldnt be doing his job if he didnt pursue and ask questions and I have No ida what went on out of camera shot maybe the man charged the officer so he opened fire.