DC Clothesline
written by Steven Ahle
Sunday February 15, 2015
Quanell X decided that in order to be the fair man, he considers himself to be, that he would take the police “Use of Force” test and he says it opened his eyes. Quanell X, who is considered a firebrand and who is a member of the New Black Panthers in Houston and is also a former member of the Nation of Islam, faced two tests during the demonstration.
In the first, there was a man holding a baby and pacing back and forth nervously and appeared to be having mental problems. Quanell X tried to talk to the man and diffuse the situation, when suddenly the man reached for something and lunged at him. Quanell fired his prop gun. He later said that he had not even seen the knife and that he would have fired even if his hand was empty. In that split second, where it’s a matter of life or death, he felt that he had to shoot.
“I didn’t even see it. It could have been anything in his hand, and I still would have used force to stop him.”
“It all happened so fast. You don’t know what they could have in their hand.”
The second test may have been the most significant as it answered a question he had asked many times after a shooting. Quanell X, who was a vocal critic of the police officers in Ferguson and Texas, had his eyes opened.
In that scenario, it was a routine traffic stop when the suspect charged him, even after he ordered him to halt and he reached behind his back. Quanell X shot six times. It had always been one of the things he had questioned most about police. Why do they fire so many shots? Now he knows:
“I actually fired six times. I always questioned why officers fired so many shots in these situations. After going through the training, I think it’s very hard for an officer to know how many shots they fired when they are in the moment.”
He summed up his experience with this bit of advice to the police and to those stopped by the police:
“I walked away with a few things. Many of these officers do not have adequate training and they should not be patrolling by themselves. Having backup would stop them from being skittish and firing their weapon.
“Also, we have to teach our community that, even if you disagree with the officer, do not try to litigate with them on the spot. Live to see another day. Don’t let our pride get in the way. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up.”
More police critics should take the test. Sheriff Joe offered the test to Rev Al Sharpton, who tucked his tail between his legs and ran like the coward he is.
No comments:
Post a Comment