Plainclothes Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 gunshots over 41 seconds during a traffic stop that left one man dead and one officer injured, according to graphic video footage a police oversight agency released Tuesday.

Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt. Video shows the 26-year-old Black man briefly lowering a window and then raising it and refusing to exit the vehicle as more officers arrived, yelled commands and drew weapons.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    According to additional information, they were in an unmarked car and not uniformed officers. So for all intents and purposes, a random group of people.

    How do you expect someone to react to a seemingly random group of people approaching a vehicle and demanding they get out? Sounds like self defense in that context.

    We need all the information, with body cam video. Police have lied about these situations before to protect their shitty decisions. Their report cannot be trusted by itself.

    • crossmr@kbin.social
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      3 months ago

      You mean like the bodycam video that it’s in the article? The one that clearly shows at least one of them wearing a vest that has ‘POLICE’ written on it while they repeatedly tell him to unlock and open the door? and after being told multiple times to unlock and open the door, saying he will, so the cops on the drivers side all back off to let him out and then he starts blasting at the one on the passenger side?

      There was absolutely no confusion at the point when he started shooting that they were cops.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        You can buy those patches on Etsy. Get a police car, get someone in their actual uniform. They’re the one that engages the driver with commands. Not this mob style shit they’re doing.

        • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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          3 months ago

          Wow. I think it’d be hilarious to see you in court claiming you shot at a police officer because you thought they were fake. Bonus points if you mention etsy.

          I guess if they actually were fake, you’d have a point. Kind of like when cops shoot at people who they think are armed.

            • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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              3 months ago

              The police have a duty to protect

              No they don’t.

              It’s not knowing it’s the police and getting killed because you thought you were being attacked.

              This guy clearly knew they were police, which is why you see so many apologists claiming that you can buy fake cop things online. They legitimately think that’s a rational belief; assume the people pursuing criminals aren’t actually police.

              I’m glad the real world is a bit more rational than what goes on here.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                If they don’t have a duty to protect then they’re just a well funded gang and they should be disbanded; by force if necessary. And if the world is so high minded and rational why are there so many stories of criminals disguising themselves as cops?

                • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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                  3 months ago

                  If they don’t have a duty to protect then they’re just a well funded gang and they should be disbanded

                  Not really. If police departments just sit around and do nothing, then the communities funding them would (hopefully) do something different after enough crime goes unpunished. This isn’t a guarantee, but is typically what happens in Western societies.

                  We’ve already experienced life without cops. It was called CHAZ and it wasn’t long before the upstanding citizens inhabiting it started murdering each other over petty things like respect and material goods.

                  Like it or not, without cops real criminals would have their way with you. This is because you can’t fight and you don’t own guns. That means anyone who can fight or has a gun can take what they want from you because you can’t defend yourself. All the mental health care in the world won’t stop them or protect you.

                  It’s a pretty simple concept, but reality tends to get warped if you just believe whatever is upvoted on these forums.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    Ah yes because the only options are an official gang that can do whatever it wants and Anarchy. There’s nothing at all between the two and the cops are the only thing protecting us from the horrible no good criminals. Sure thing buddy.

        • crossmr@kbin.social
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          3 months ago

          What patch? The guy in the car was up on illegal weapon charges and illegal carrying a weapon. He didn’t shoot because he didn’t know who they were. He shot because he didn’t want to go back to jail.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            The one that clearly shows at least one of them wearing a vest that has ‘POLICE’ written on it while they repeatedly tell him to unlock and open the door?

            The one you so ably pointed out. And if our prisons are so bad people would rather die than go back we should probably fix that.

            • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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              3 months ago

              Would rather die? He would rather fight than be punished.

              Damn, seeing how you guys twist facts and argue in bad faith really puts things into perspective than me.

              Most of ya’ll are too removed from reality to ever be brought back. These forums are just your containment zones, lol.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Nobody in the criminal world thinks they’re going to shoot at police surrounding them and come out alive. He didn’t think he was getting into a fight and then going to prison again.

                • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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                  3 months ago

                  Lol. You speak for all criminals in all instances? Nobody has ever won a shootout with the police?

                  I guess that’s what makes you removed from reality, lol. Thanks for proving my point.

                  at police surrounding them

                  Nice loaded language! It really makes it seem like this guy has a 6 star wanted level rather than being pursued by 2 cops in an unmarked vehicle.

                  This is why rational people do not take you seriously.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    Did you watch the video? It was 4 cops, one to the right front, two to the left front, and one to the left rear. That’s not a scenario in which you successfully shoot your way out. And I didn’t say nobody ever won, I said with the police surrounding them.

            • crossmr@kbin.social
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              3 months ago

              That doesn’t appear to be a patch. Unless the prison comes with 24 hour massage and blow job service, very few criminals are ever going to want to go to jail. There is no fixing that. Maybe instead of trying to defend someone who would rather shoot at cops than face his illegal actions you could spend that effort teaching people like that not to be like that.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Face what actions? Why was he stopped in such an aggressive manner again? A seatbelt?

                And no the choice isn’t torture or blowjob.

          • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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            3 months ago

            This is the rational response, but there are plenty of irrational children here whose growth has been stunted by these forums.

        • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          These are police vehicles, with lights and sirens, you can see them in the video. That’s not easy to fake.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            They’re unmarked, any lights and sirens are low profile stuff in the grille or passenger compartment. And yeah you can buy them.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Yeah, but that hasn’t stopped people. That’s why it’s important for police to not blur the line. Even one actual police car with one officer in their full uniform would remove the ambiguity.

                • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                  3 months ago

                  I don’t think it’s realistic this person didn’t know these people were police, if it was a rival gang or dealer etc, they would have simply opened fire on him without trying to get him out of the car.

                  He knew they were police, and he knew he was in trouble.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    Robbers, including ones going after drug money have impersonated police. You don’t know what they want, this isn’t Hollywood where gangs are in a 24/7 war. You don’t even know if he was in a gang.

              • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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                3 months ago

                You apparently get in a massive amount of shit of caught without your seatbelt too, yet here we are.

                • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                  3 months ago

                  This wasn’t really about the seatbelt, the police knew what was going to happen. You don’t have four people with guns drawn for that.

                  • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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                    3 months ago

                    “The police knew what would happen when a squad came out of an unmarked car wearing plain clothes brandishing guns…”

                    Well, they at least hoped.

      • PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        And people being ambushed generally don’t have time to check if their attackers unmarked vehicle has emergency lights.

        • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          You can very clearly see the lights in the video, there’s no way this person didn’t realize they were dealing with police.

          Why else would they have pulled over?

          • PoopDelivery@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Yeah, we can see the lights from the video’s perspective, that doesn’t prove Dexter saw them. If we’re going off what the video shows, it doesn’t look like they pulled him over, it looks like they boxed him in with their vehicle.

            • stringere@leminal.space
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              3 months ago

              it looks like they boxed him in with their vehicle.

              Yes.

              Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt.

            • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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              3 months ago

              Which is highly illegal.

              Are you trying to say that he would be justified if he saw the lights because he could’ve thought they were fake?

              The cop-hate among ya’ll is insane. Really puts into perspective the kind of person that frequents these forums too much.

              • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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                3 months ago

                Which is highly illegal.

                Better tell the criminals, they wouldn’t want to break the law.

                The cop-hate among ya’ll is insane.

                Let’s have a quick reality check here:
                What was the crime?
                How many police were involved?
                How armed were the police?
                Is that proportional to the crime?

                • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                  3 months ago

                  Suspected for illegal possession of a firearm, which I think any reasonable person would agree warrants an armed response.

                  • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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                    3 months ago

                    Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt.

                    Nothing in the article about an illegal firearm.

                    I suppose if “suspected of having a firearm” justifies this kind of response, then police are always justified using this kind of response because who knows if they have a legalally obtained firearm?

              • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                I bought a light wand from Walmart and one of the functions is red and blue flashing lights. You can also use an app on your phone, I remember some kids getting in big trouble for messing with people using one.

      • Halosheep@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        The other day a car that was very obviously not a cop lit up some lights and ran a red light I was stopped at. Turns out you can just buy lights.

          • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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            3 months ago

            It’s hard to say how you’d react when you’re surrounded by seemingly random guys “shouting profanities” at you, pointing weapons. The cops almost certainly escalated the situation completely unnecessarily. As they are wont to do. If you read the article, it very much sounds that way.

            Their excuse is he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. It isn’t clear how the situation went this way, but they apparently didn’t announce themselves as police, and when he rolled the window up they pulled their guns and shouted at him.

            Tell me how you’d react.

            And tell me honestly what you think would be more dangerous: a bunch of cops escalating this exact situation, or car jackers trying to force him out of the car? Honestly, it seems like the situation with the cops is more dangerous.

        • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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          3 months ago

          I don’t believe you, but okay.

          Putting spotlights or emergency lights on your car is highly illegal.

            • sepulcher@lemmy.ca
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              3 months ago

              It’s definitely a deterrence.

              Go ahead, argue you thought they were fake cops in court. See how well that works for you out in the real world.

              You’d have point if they were actually fake cops.

              • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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                3 months ago

                Thank god all the laws have deterred people from breaking them. Like drugs, speeding, murder, changing lanes without signaling, running a red light, shoplifting. Those things never happen because theyre illegal! Why didn’t we think of this solution to crime before.

                  • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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                    3 months ago

                    But you’re trying to bring the “well it’s against the law and laws are deterrents against law breaking so how likely is it that happened” argument into the conversation. Our point is that means nothing to someone breaking the law.

                    And you’re also saying this like it matters to someone who might’ve thought their life was in danger. The kid very, very well might’ve been thinking these people were going to murder him.

                    OUR point is the cops need, need, need to be so much better than that. Arguing against that point is foolish. Hence, we think you’re being a fool.