I believe cops do stuff wrong and make mistakes all the time. They're human.... Let he who is without sin cast the first stone BTW... But to categorically imply they're all trigger happy statist jack boot thugs because some act inappropriately is ignorant.
Read more carefully. Nobody said that.
To suggest they do not deserve the right to a presumption of innocence, just like you have, is in itself - authoritarian and statist. So pot - meet kettle.
Dude, are you not paying attention? If us little people were given the same presumption of innocence that cops are given there wouldn't be a problem.
But we're not. Cops are given way, way more presumption of innocence than us little people.
When little people have their vault broken into they're charged with improper storage. When a cop leaves his gun in a public bathroom, they don't feel the need to charge because it turned out OK. It's not just local cops. Remember Operation Fast and Furious? Can you imagine an individual doing that? Or Ruby Ridge, or Waco. When .gov does it, they get a pass.
Just look through the "police protecting and serving" thread and imagine what would happen if you or I did those things.
And really, cops are
supposed to be the professionals. They're the ones who are supposed to have better training. It's reasonable to assume that people with better training, and given authority by the state to do all sorts of things that the rest of us can't do, should be held to a higher standard.
The strong majority of them are good people doing a tough job, dealing with the worst society has to offer - every single day. Your comment "This is the “look what you made me do” argument." is completely off base. The police are not the initiators. They're the responders..
No, it's not. When cops show up, (if they show up) they are under zero obligation to get involved. The Supreme Court has said so. They can literally hide behind stuff until it's safe. you said:
Had the police not responded and engaged, no one gets shot.
That's true, because if he police had not shot anyone, no one would have been shot.
The cops were not required to shoot anyone, they were not being shot at. A cop decided to shoot at someone armed with a bicycle lock.
As a gun owner I am 100% responsible for where my bullets go. Why do you not believe this is true for cops?