I was watching this on CNN as I worked out. It was really disturbing.
Paraphrasing:
Cop says, let's see your license.
Man nods, turns and leans into his car to get his license. In other words, he was doing what he was told.
Cop goes berserk, pulls out his weapon and screams at the man to come out, and starts shooting. Man comes out, holding his hands up, as cop keeps shooting. Man falls, does not say things like, "You #*$&* *#$*&@), you shot me!" No, he says, "Sir, what did I do? Why did you shoot me?" And so on.
Now, one of the commentators said that the man should have told the cop he was reaching into his car for the license. Really? You're nervous because a cop stops you, you're polite, you're doing what you're told, you haven't received this year's training in "Exact Protocol To Follow When Stopped," and you're open to be shot because you're what you're told wrong?
How about this: If reaching into the car is such a wondrously fearful thing, how about the cop say, "Sir, if you're going to lean into your car, this is what I want you to do." Because the cop supposedly is trained on all kinds of contingencies (but apparently, not too well sometimes), and the cop should establish the protocol.
My thoughts:
1. Completely, shockingly, unjustified. He should not have a badge. It doesn't bother me that criminal charges are pending. He shot a guy for no reason. Generally, you put people in jail for that.
2. The state needs to pay the medical bills and settle with this guy soon. They do not want a civil jury to see this video.
3. It's a good thing that there was a dash cam, that it was on, and that it was pointed the right way. We've seen how utterly wrong this cop's perception is. If there wasn't a cam, how would he have described the situation? How much more believability would he have had? Or worse, given all the police shootings throughout all the years, how badly can these trained guys get it wrong but make it sound reasonable when telling it later?
Really disturbing.