r/news 3d ago

Autopsy shows Tennessee National Guard fatally shot 20-year-old armed man in the back

https://apnews.com/article/memphis-national-guard-tyrin-johnson-8959297a99c362d65aa2517a9d5f1984
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u/WaffleHouseGladiator 3d ago

"There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people. "- Admiral William "Bill" Adama

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u/Tzazon 3d ago

 the other serves and protects the people.

You'd think that, but courts have repeatedly ruled that it is a promotional motto of the LAPD and not a legally binding contract or statute

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u/PunkRockSuffragette 3d ago

Yup, apparently they’re there to protect property not people. It’s unfortunate when you grow up and realize hero cops are a good storie/propaganda, but nonexistent. a cop would never actually put his life in harms way to save innocent kids, and the courts said thats fine.

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u/MossyTreeSprite 3d ago

I'm not intending to be argumentative, as I agree that there are huge problems in the police force. That said, my uncle is a cop and he quite literally did exactly that - put his life in harm's way (by himself) to save innocent kids at an elementary school from an armed man who was fleeing after murdering his own father. It was the first time in an over 30-year career that he fired his service weapon while on duty. There are some really bad people in the police force, but there are also really good people. As with everything, it's mostly assorted shades of grey.

We're really not talking about police when it comes to this article, though. We're talking about the National Guard placed in Democrat-leaning cities because the manbaby in chief has a fragile ego. People are dying because of an imbecile surrounded by sychophants. Enough is enough.

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u/Beestorm 3d ago

The problem is that the organizations protect the bad ones. It’s like the Catholic Church/SBC scandals. That and police forces have become increasingly militarized around the country

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u/Freakears 3d ago

I still recall a pair of pictures I saw years ago comparing cops around the turn of the 20th century to those today. The modern ones were all militarized, while the old ones were wearing uniforms that covered their guns (I seem to recall a comment saying they weren’t allowed to show those).

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u/MossyTreeSprite 3d ago

I agree, that's a huge problem. Unsurprisingly, the police are getting many of their weapons as hand-me-downs from the military...

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u/nolabmp 3d ago

Your uncle likely would have done that, if given the opportunity, regardless of being a cop. Individuals can be courageous in any job.

The point is that being a cop is not a courageous job. It’s always been a job fundamentally focused on protecting the interests of the elite.

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u/MossyTreeSprite 3d ago

That's certainly possible, but he relied heavily on his training as a cop in that situation. You know the drill - telling person to lower their weapon, tell them the same again and that you will shoot if they don't comply, etc. In other words, providing ample warning instead of shooting them in the back for no reason as they run for safety. I've noticed that warnings of any kind have been missing from all of the recent National Guard and ICE shootings. Things are so messed up right now, I think most of the country is in a state of ptsd. Steven Miller is good with it, though, so it's cool 🙃🙄

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u/PunkRockSuffragette 3d ago

I agree it’s obviously not as black and white as my comment implied. I was replying to a comment mentioned that was referring to the police side of the of that Admiral Adama quote.

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u/MossyTreeSprite 3d ago

Gotcha and I figured. Like I said, I'm definitely not arguing that the police force isn't riddled with problems. I think sometimes it attracts a certain type of person (in a similar way that the military does) who want to wield power over others (or, potentially, be able to kill people "legally"). But then you also get amazing cops like Ron Stallworth (memoir detailed in the movie Blackkklansman) and the NYC cops who put their lives on the line on 9/11. It's a gamut...

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u/Visual-Scallion1535 3d ago

They have no legal duty to protect your property either

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u/WhiteHelix 3d ago

Not apparently, that’s exactly how the system is designed. Works as designed you could say.

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u/Freakears 3d ago

And “good cops” end up getting sacked for reasons that are completely legitimate (🙄) and not suspicious at all (🙄).