While, as a former US Marine Military Policeman, I harbor no ill will toward the actions that the officer took, it's a question that must be asked and answered. The crime was alleged to have been committed by Clemmons, he had not been found guilty in a court of law and we are a country of law, are we not? Are we not "innocent until proven guilty ? Does not even the worst of us deserve our day in court? All this will be mute if it is proven that Clemmons did raise his weapon at the officer and the officer fired in self-defense. If that is the case then enough said because no one should be a target and our heroes, especially police officers, who places their lives on the line everyday deserves better than to be some misguided person's target of infamy.
My biggest concern is that it was reported that several officers were standing around where Clemmons was shot and killed, patting each other on the back. This image was a little disturbing to me and I hope that I read it wrong. I would really hate to see, officers celebrating the killing of another human being regardless of what he/she was accused of. Maybe it's just me but celebrating the death of another person doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Scary part is if a non-bias internal investigation is not performed, will we revert back to "shoot first and ask questions later ? Will all the years spent training our police officers to observe the rule of law in all of their dealings with the public be wiped away because its now okay to be judge and jury on the streets?
There are times in life where a split second is all you have and could be the difference between life and death. No one knows that more than police officers. We need to give them all of the protection and support that we can and we all must hold them to a higher standard than many. Seeing these questions as anything other than protection of our officers and the public as a whole means that you are looking through a prism of your own making. These questions must be asked and answered if for no other reason than the rule of law.
