One day after shooting an unarmed behavioral therapist in the leg, an as-yet-unidentified North Miami police officer has released a statement via his local police union:
The unidentified officer, described as a 30-year-old Hispanic, was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. He could face charges depending on the outcome.
"I took this job to save lives and help people," the officer said in a statement Thursday released by the union. "I did what I had to do in a split second to accomplish that and hate to hear others paint me as something I'm not."
Charles Kinsey works as a therapist at a group home for people with developmental disabilities. He was attempting to calm down one of his patients, a young man with autism, who had run away from the group home and was sitting in the middle of the street. A call to 911 reported a man with a gun as wandering in the area and blocking traffic; Kinsey says his client had no gun but a toy truck. Video of the incident does not clearly show what is in the client’s hand, however Kinsey can be heard saying more than once that it is a toy truck. In an effort to calm his client down Kinsey laid down near him, in the middle of the street, with his hands raised in the air. Kinsey is heard on the video saying to police that he is unarmed, his hands are in the air, and asking for his client not to be shot.
Obviously, he forgot to include himself in that request. Video of the incident is below the fold. As of this writing, Kinsey has been treated for the gunshot wound to his leg and released from the hospital. In interviews from his hospital bed, Kinsey says he asked the officer why he shot him. The officer’s reply was “I don’t know.”
To go from “I don’t know” to a prepared statement 24 hours later smacks of standard “Cover Your Ass” operations. That should not work in this case. Everything from the beginning of this incident to its end graphically illustrates the truism that, when your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Why was there no other officer on the scene with mental health response training who could talk to the autistic young man? Why was there no officer on the scene with training and sense enough to actually ascertain if a gun was on the scene or a toy truck? Why was an officer going to shoot the young man, simply sitting in the street and posing no threat, with a high powered rifle in the first place? Why did the offending officer initially lie through his teeth saying he didn’t know why he shot Charles Kinsey? He knows damn well why he shot him; cops always shoot the black guy. Why did he then lie again with a statement released by his union? Why was Charles Kinsey handcuffed and left bleeding in the street, since according to the cop’s statement, he was trying to save Kinsey’s life by shooting the young autistic man—that’s how you treat people who are in danger? Why was he such a terrible shot in the first place, shooting three times and striking Kinsey once? Where did those other shots land?
According to North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the case as well as the Florida state attorney, and the Justice Department is in its information gathering stage.
Folks angry about the incident protested at the police headquarters later Thursday afternoon. Good. They should continue to protest this and all other nonsensical, unnecessary and deadly shootings until they are no more.