presumption of innocence
despite the continued destruction in the US of the “presumption of innocence” of common law, there remains a class whose comparative privilege to be presumed innocent (and usually protected from prosecution) is denied only after the last clutch of fingernails is pried from the circled wagons. cops.
It was a Friday night, and Aaron Brown, as usual, was in high spirits. [...]
It was a Friday like so many others — so normal, so ordinary that when the group headed out about 11 p.m. to go to a party in Dumfries, Brown’s father, Jeff, who was feeling ill and was sequestered in his room, didn’t say goodbye. “Don’t be out too late,” his mother, Cheri, a worrier, called out after them.
The next time the Browns saw their son was five days later, cold and waxlike, lying in a casket at Demaine Funeral Home.
Four hours and 40 minutes after he walked out of his house that night, Aaron Brown was shot and killed by an off-duty Alexandria police officer in the parking lot of the International House of Pancakes off Duke Street as he rode in the back seat of his parents’ Jeep Grand Cherokee.
What exactly happened that night is under investigation.
Police have said that about 3:40 a.m., Brown and five friends walked out of the IHOP without paying. Alexandria police officer Carl Stowe, who was moonlighting as an IHOP security guard, went after them, police say, and shot at the Jeep. Stowe told investigators that as the Jeep headed toward him, he feared for his safety and fired. At least one passenger has disputed his account. [...]
i guess that disputing passenger didn’t hear: it’s “under investigation”, fuck. in other words, save your breath. were that “security guard” not a cop, however, would there be the restrained, weirdly tolerant understanding reflected in this article? though it dresses up in a protest, it’s a knuckling under.
who will watch the watchers? the obvious, painful answer: themselves. that shit might work better in japan, when people at least resign when they fuck up. but these alexandria gerbils are likely going to close ranks and keep the trigger-squeezing, apparently panicking idiot on board. “well, ma’am — it does appear that somebody with your dead boy hadn’t left the proper amount on the table. we wish this hadn’t been necessary. we sure do.”
run cop asshole empathy program 2724
::purse lips | shake head | sigh::
should be obvious to observers what’s going on with most modern goons. they are eager to use their guns “justifiably”, and consider every situation from a deadly point of view; the question, rather than “should i use my gun?”, becomes “may i use my gun? is there something to which i can point when the ‘investigation’ ambles by — some stooge placeholder solid enough to excuse firing into a vehicle after i believe kids are ducking out on a check?”
don’t think that the average dipshit cop in that role (“off duty”) isn’t angling in to contribute to a supposed attempt to run him down. these psycho fucks self-selected into the job, and you should never forget it if unfortunate enough to have to interact with them. do not forget that a study of human action indicates that most cops notice the consequences a fellow trigger squeezer suffers, and later will use that information as they compute the “good to go?” equation. it’s probable that the IHOP “security guard”, elevated across that blue line and into the ranks of the protected, thought it out very quickly when his ire was up and those kids were leaving his grasp.
do i know this? of course not. however, i do know that he hasn’t been treated as someone outside the ruling class would have been. that’s sure. i also doubt that if a normal security guard had been in that parking lot a kid would have died, or anybody, including the guard, would have been injured.
May 11th, 2006 at 07:08
So it kinda looks like this is a forgetten issue. But what happen there that night will never go away or be forgotten. At least not by the rest of us that were in that car, and those who were closest to him. But anyone who places blam and wasnt there well ur ignorant and unless you were there you’ll never really know what happen and how. Aaron Brown was the best kid amongest us, the kindest hearted kid i think anyone would ever meet. I know its an old sayin but even if he had nothin else to give u he would give u the shirt off his back, most of the time it was his jacket though. For me i place the blame souly on myself. Every day that goes by and i think about that night there was so many things that could’ve happen diffrently. So many things i could of done that would of changed every thing, well not every thing, but enough to still have Aaron here with us. If u still feel obligated to place blam technically both parties were in the wrong, but to say it was someones fault is incorrect. Really theres nothin i can say that will change what happen that night. So im out.
May 31st, 2006 at 14:06
Call me ignorant Ok can’t spell either,
the rules/guide-lines to shoot at a moving vichle were not met as per the officers owne statments.
No one else is to blame for the shooting . There were contributing factors but that is not to be
mistaken for fault. Do not blame yourself in any way!
Only one finger was on that triger and it was not yours .
PROSECUTE that perpitrator so we
can lable him a murderer
and not only alledge his action was murder.
Then let the HEALING begin.
January 3rd, 2007 at 16:21
It’s been almost a year! Hard to believe! Yesterday, the Alexandria Police decided that Officer Stowe did not follow department procedures when he fired on the vehicle Aaron and his friends were in. As the story ran on the news and the footage from that night aired, my stomach sank – just like it did the first time and every other time since. What a tragedy! Aaron did more for people in his short life than many do in their long lives. We were all blessed by the time he did spend on this earth. Even in his death, much good is being done in his memory.
It enflames me to see the comments from many out there justifying the shooting, some even saying Aaron deserved to die! These comments come from people who did not bother to really find out the facts and/or are so opinionated they don’t see the truth of this tragedy. No one argues the fact that everyone involved made mistakes. The problem is that none of the mistakes justified loss of life. The officer was reckless to fire his weapon – period. There were bystanders in the parking lot between the path of the vehicle and the officer. That alone should have stopped him. One of the bystanders had time to cross the street in front of the vehicle, but the officer couldn’t move to the side? Can anyone who wasn’t there know if the driver even knew this was a cop? Bullets were shot into the front, side and rear of the vehicle. If that is not excessive force, what is? Aaron was shot directly from the side from only a few feet away. The officer HAD to have known he was shooting the rear passenger. If he didn’t, then I do not want him anywhere near where I am!
I don’t care what all the naysayer’s rant about! Aaron’s death was a tragedy! The other people in the jeep, their families and friends, and mostly the Brown’s will never be the same! All because they may or may not have left enough money to cover the bill.
For all of you who say that isn’t the reason for the gun fire – it led to it. The vehicle was driving away from the officer. He CHOSE to move across the parking lot into its path. He CHOSE to open fire when it was 100+’ away, when he could not have been in danger. He CHOSE to continue firing as the vehicle passed him. His CHOICE killed a young man. The choices of the driver to drive past a person shooting at them and swerve to avoid the bullets were not unreasonable. He will have to live with the what ifs for the rest of his life. But what if he’d stopped the vehicle at the first shot? What if it hadn’t have been a cop? Would the cop have stopped shooting? According to the investigation, once he began firing, he would not have stopped immediately. So, would more of the people be dead? Who knows? There were bad choices all around. The DEADLY choice was the cops though. 30 days suspension just doesn’t cut it!
January 3rd, 2007 at 17:58
thanks for the update. of course, the shooting pig’s lawyer is talking about appeal options with the ludicrous suspension (30 days or less). no honor. i hope the family sues the murderer into another dimension.