http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2013/02/20/video-shows-merle-hatch-taunting-running-at-cops-with-broken-phone-receiver Comments On: Video Shows Merle Hatch Taunting, Running at Cops With Broken Phone Receiver by Denis C. Theriault en-us Copyright 2013 Portland Mercury. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Portland Mercury readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Portland Mercury. webmaster@portlandmercury.com (Portland Mercury Webmaster) Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sat, 25 May 2013 11:00:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
And @ DamosA:
Relax, man. Dude was white. All is well.
Posted by human in training]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:11:27 -0800 Portland Mercury
Based on your rules, you're telling me that a soldier standing a check point would not be able to shoot a person who is running directly at him and refusing commands to stop? Add in the subject was threatening (in English for some reason) to kill and/or take hostages. Are you trying to tell me that you would have called that a bad shoot? That is not what I seem to remember being how things operated when I took my turn in Afghanistan.

The ROE that is so often mentioned fully allows for soldiers to take pre-emptive action to protect themselves and others. Find the ROE itself here: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/US_Rules_of_Enga…

For a concise perspective from this hardly right wing source (http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/us-iraq-…) US ROE states: “US Forces may always use force, up to and including deadly force, to neutralize and/or detain individuals who commit hostile acts or exhibit hostile intent against US Forces or Coalition Forces.”

Note the "exhibit hostile intent" portion. Go sell your, "I needed to be fired upon first" somewhere else; it never existed.
Posted by bridger]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:05:46 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Reymont]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:20:01 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by ill paxton]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:41:20 -0800 Portland Mercury
Now a busted phone receiver taken from a hospital is the first that I've heard. However, in the past cops have "mistaken" wallets, cameras, cell phones, and a hot dog for weapons. There have been plenty of national cases where cops have demanded identification, and people were shot or beaten b/c they [tried] to pull out their wallet to fetch id. Pigs would later claim they "thought" they were reaching for a weapon - which is a stock excuse any cop uses when he/she writes up a report.

And they also seem to think that taking down someone requires them to empty their guns 'til there's no more bullets left. Again, plenty of cases where autopsies done on police shooting victims showed that bullets had entered them AFTER they were laying on the ground. So, it would be really interesting to see A: how many shots were fired and B: what position was (Merle) Hatch in when he was shot.
Posted by DamosA]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 07:15:18 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by ujfoyt]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:28:38 -0800 Portland Mercury
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So this "GUN" that we've all been hearing about for days ad-nauseum turns out to have been a busted phone receiver... lovely. And for that, Portland cops gun down this man in a barrage of bullets [which could have struck innocent by-standers as well]. And that they're being all silent about the details is both typical and depressing, b/c it just shows that for all the damned grief this city's been put through, these pigs STILL refuse to change their behavior when it comes to dealing with people in a mental crisis. Gotta hand it to 'um though, turning a hospital parking lot into a bloodbath - i think that's a new one for PPB. Of course, this only means they'll have to up the ante. Perhaps these cops can slaughter someone in front of a daycare next? Why not?

So the pattern i'm noticing from these cops is, if you don't move at all you get tased or beat or pepper-sprayed. If you move an inch, deadly force. Ever noticed how Portland cops aren't at all good at gunning down VIOLENT ARMED CRIMINALS??? Seriously, when was the last time a cop here shot someone who was actually armed? Like, with a GUN???
Posted by DamosA]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:29:03 -0800 Portland Mercury
This is indicative of a larger social safety-net mental health crisis and not of malfeasance in the constabulary.
Posted by Graham]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:24:47 -0800 Portland Mercury