White ex-officer charged in death of black Atlanta man

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

White ex-officer charged in death of black Atlanta man

Updated 11:24 pm, Saturday, July 16, 2016

ATLANTA (AP) — Court records show a white former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot a black motorist has been arrested.

Fulton County jail records show James R. Burns was arrested Saturday on charges including felony murder in the June 22 shooting of Devaris Caine Rogers.

Burns told investigators he shot a car that was "trying to run me over and kill me."

But a police internal affairs investigation found that evidence contradicted Burns' version of what happened. It showed that Burns shot into a vehicle not knowing whether 22-year-old Rogers was the person he'd been called to investigate at a northeast Atlanta apartment complex.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/White-ex-officer-charged-in-death-of-black-8382106.php

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[Feeling the Bern]

1. No. No. This isn't right. Two cops just helped a homeless black man. See, cops are all good

The black kid must have done something for this innocent cop to kill him.

[840high]

2. I don't think most cops are bad. Carry on.

[cstanleytech]

7. No, they arent all bad but nor are they all good either and there are clearly some police

officers who should not be police officers.
Fixing the problem though its not going to happen overnight but instituting better criteria for selecting candidates as well as vastly improved training and doing a better job at maintaining discipline for the police would be a good start.

[Sand Rat Expat]

14. No one said they're all good.

840high is, I think, making the same argument I've made here on DU that, like people in general (being that cops are, yanno, people...), most cops are good and decent people trying to do their job as best they can. I've made the argument that given the myriad interactions between cops and citizens on a daily basis across America, the vast majority of interactions result in no harm coming to either party, and in some cases the cop helps the citizen in some way.

But no, we can't even acknowledge that. Nope. Cops are totally bad, all the time, no matter what, to hear some people tell it. The positive interactions and outcomes are utterly meaningless, and we must focus on only the negative outcomes, which clearly prove that police are terrible human beings.

That said, I agree with everything you posted about selection criteria, training, and best practices.

[Sand Rat Expat]

15. You're wasting your time, 840high.

Some here on DU will show prejudice toward cops that they would condemn, in the most heated terms, if another person showed it to a different group. Apparently some prejudices are okay, as long as they're aimed at the "correct" targets.

[Judi Lynn]

3. So true. If you don't want to get nailed in a flash, don't do anything wrong!

See, we're still here! That means we haven't done anything wrooooonnnnnggg. Is that so hard to understand?

[Feeling the Bern]

4. Philando Castile did everything the cop said and was still gunned down like a dog in the street

[Judi Lynn]

5. Maybe it was something we couldn't see, like giving the officer a dirty look.

It should stand as a reminder to people to act subservient when cops approach you.

[Feeling the Bern]

6. yes. . .regimentation is the order of the day. Look whipped and beaten.

Obey, obey, obey.

God, what the hell as my country become?

[cstanleytech]

8. Actually its more like everyone should be treating everyone else

like they want to be treated, doesnt matter if its a cop to a civilian or a civilian to a cop if you behave like a dick to someone they are probably going to behave like a dick to you.

[neohippie]

9. Ah yes, it has to be all those victims faults for behaving badly

I mean there has to be some difference between you and them that makes you feel safe and sleep better at night blaming the victim should at least serve some useful purpose

[cstanleytech]

10. No, its not a blame the victim its just simple human nature.

If you get pulled over by a cop who behaves like a dick the odds are you are not going to behave towards them like you are best buds and vice versa.

[Lulu KC]

11. Ok but---

when did "behaving like a dick" turn into shooting and killing people? Out of control.

[cstanleytech]

13. Probably sometime between AD 1000 and the 13th century when the first gun was used to kill

someone which goes to show you that we have a long way to go as a species to improve ourselves especially when we are still in the murdering each other stage over stupid shit.

[MariaThinks]

12. Good.