Normally the episodes we see on ‘Body Cam Theater’ don’t make it into the mainstream media because the shootings are completely justified and they can’t easily be spun into tales of officers gunning down innocent black youths who were just on their way to church, going to give blood, running to extinguish a fire at an orphanage, etc. However this one is different. Once again the liberal media is trying to push the narrative that law enforcement officers are on a mission of genocide. CNN and USA Today have both publicized this shooting, and if you they’re on it, you know it’s because they see it as a chance to stir the pot again against police. Below is how USA Today sees it. I see it differently.
North Carolina police shot armed man who didn’t point weapon at them, bodycam footage shows
Police released video Monday showing an officer in North Carolina fatally shooting an armed man who didn’t point his gun at police.
The body camera footage shows two officers approaching 27-year-old Danquirs Napoleon Franklin in a Burger King parking lot on March 25 after two callers reported a man with a gun.
Police repeatedly yell at Franklin to put down his gun as he squats at the open door of a car, facing an unidentified person in the passenger seat. He doesn’t move as officers approach him, the video shows.
“Sir, put the gun down,” says the officer wearing the body camera, identified by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police as Wende Kerl. “Drop the gun!”
At one point, police shout to a woman walking up to Franklin to get out of the way. As they keep yelling commands, he raises his right hand with an object in it, still facing the passenger seat.
When Franklin lowers his right hand, the first of two shots Kerl fires ring out in the video, about 40 seconds after she exited her cruiser.
After Franklin rolls to his side, the person in the passenger seat shows their hands on the dashboard at the officer’s command, the video shows.
Kerl then reaches under Franklin’s body and picks up the handgun, saying “I gotta pick up the gun” before the released video ends.
And what would a “controversial” shooting be without the NAACP chiming in?
Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP chapter, said Kerl “didn’t view Danquirs Franklin as a man, but saw him as a danger.”
Ah, the delicately applied accusation of racism. The officer didn’t “view him as a man.” See what they did there? Basically he said cops don’t view blacks as human beings. Pretty slick way of calling cops racists without using that over-used term. But they are correct on one point; he was a danger.
“This female officer shot this man while he was adhering to her commands,” Mack said.
It’s possible that Mack is both deaf and blind, because what I saw was a thug who clearly was NOT adhering to the officer’s commands. How many times was he told to drop the weapon? I counted at least 21. And did he do it? Not until the impact of lead passing through his worthless carcass forced him to.
Kerl, who has worked for the department since 1995, is on administrative leave.
Charlotte leaders urged people to protest peacefully at a press conference before the video’s release, which was petitioned for by multiple media organizations.
“It is in moments like this that we can open for a discussion and discourse. We can talk about what’s on that video,” Mayor Vi Lyles said. “But what I always think about is how we respond as a community will reflect how we honor the memory of Danquirs Franklin.”
Police Chief Kerr Putney said the video shows that Franklin refused to drop his weapon and an officer fired after perceiving a deadly threat.
About four minutes before police arrived at the scene, one of the two 911 callers said an armed man entered the fast food restaurant and tried to start a fight with employees.
One theory about why Danquirs was there with a gun was put forth by a friend of his, Eric Frazier via the Charlotte Observer who stated that possibly “he was so emotionally distraught over a break-up that he took a gun to confront his girlfriend, a Burger King employee, over her new relationship with a co-worker.” He further describes Danquirs as, “as well-meaning as they come.” “Danquirs was not a criminal,” and, “He was not a liability to society.” Sorry, Eric. He walked into a Burger King with a firearm and was pointing it at people. That makes him both a criminal and a liability to society. In other words, a thug. But as they always do, the media is spinning it to make him look like a little angel. You’ll see a lot more pictures of him like these in various news articles:
And very few of him like this one:
“Can you please send somebody quickly? Please. He got a gun. … He’s pointing it,” she said in the recording released by police.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating the incident. The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office will review the evidence after, the department said.
What I see here is simply another case of an armed suspect not following commands. It would have been very simple for him to simply release his grip on that pistol and let it fall to the ground. He had over twenty chances to do so. USA Today’s headline reads “police shot armed man who didn’t point weapon at them.” No, he didn’t point the weapon at them but he also refused to drop it. Are the cops supposed to be polite and let him have the first shot? The Marquess of Queensberry Rules don’t apply here. Good riddance.
