Article from Reason by Joe Setyon.
Newly released body camera footage appears to show that a man in Charlotte, North Carolina, was trying to obey police’s orders to drop his weapon prior to being shot and killed.
On March 25, officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to at least one 911 call about a man “pointing [a gun] at employees” of a local Burger King, according to CNN. When officers arrived at the scene, they encountered 27-year-old Danquirs Franklin in the parking lot. Franklin had a gun and would not obey multiple commands to drop it, police said. Eventually, one of the officers, Wende Kerl, shot and killed him.
The shooting sparked considerable controversy in the Charlotte area due to some conflicting witness statements about what happened, The Charlotte Observer reported. The shooting occurred in the same city where Keith Scott was killed by police back in 2016. Conflicting reports about whether or not Scott was armed were never really settled, and the officer who shot him did not face criminal charges.
In Franklin’s case, Kerl’s lawyer and the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office did not want body camera footage to be released. A judge disagreed, ruling that the footage must be released to the public Monday.
Read the entire article at Reason.
Image Credit: By St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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This Black guy was not compliant and refused to drop the weapon and made a move with his gun as if he was going to shoot so the police took action and shot him. Stupid is as stupid does.
I didn’t see “a black guy.” I saw a person with a gun being ordered multiple times to drop the gun he was holding and the guy refusing to do so until he was shot by one of the police.
Meeker, he was black, time for an eye test…
Where in the article do you see a reference to “a black guy”?
It’s unlikely he made a move with his gun as if to shoot the police.
We in America need to be vigilant. Some of our police are becoming too aggressive and too trigger happy. If all one needs is a badge and a gun to make murder legal, we are all in a horrible spot.
His hesitation cost him his life because non-compliance escalated the officers tension. He was directed to put the gun down, no less than 18 times from different officers. The problem is they kept saying “drop” the gun or “put” the gun on the ground. The film shows he took it from a pocket, belt or holster on his right side…he was holding the gun butt between his thumb and forefinger and was NOT raising it or putting his finger on the trigger, but instead moving it forward into their view. Listen to him…he was saying, “I was putting the gun down.” Here’s the problem…in order to comply he had to put his hands on the gun to facilitate “putting” it on the ground, at which time they opened fire before he could drop it. The command should have been, “put your hands on your head!” Then they could have introduced him to the pavement and took the weapon. Telling him to “put” the gun down when it wasn’t actually in his hand yet, made him reach for it to comply, which is a furtive move to the cops…look closely, he had to reach where it was, to retrieve it, in order to put it down. Very tragic, but if he had obeyed instantly, this probably wouldn’t have happened…never test the cops patience with non-compliance when they’re screaming at you with weapons deployed.
Sorry, but it only takes ONE ‘drop the gun’ to be informed that if you DON’T drop the gun, you WILL be shot.
Our wonderful Gestapo at work. If you don’t kiss their hobnail boots, you will be shot.
Your a very funny man
Compliant is dropping the gun when ordered to, not squatting there not dropping it. His non-compliance gave the officers a reasonable fear for their own, and other’s, safety which will most likely be ruled justified unless it gets over politized where the officer will then be thrown under the bus.
Now let a christian speak,Truth to emotional hysteria, and bias ,he seemed to be contemplating the command awhile, then it appeared to me he was about to put the weapon down,BUT the Female Cop was to aggressive and way to quick to pull that trigger, she was way to quick to pull that trigger! she even said to the other officer I AM Coming Across! We Do Not Need Female Cops as Police Officers such as this!! FEMALES ARE TOOOOO EMOTIONAL!!!
This man, as are many in a similar situation, initially hesitated in following commands from LEOs. When he finally reacted his movement was forward and DOWN not up. It appears there were some very antsy LEOs responding to this situation.