Sunday, February 23, 2014

I'm Sorry For Your Loss, But...

From the LVRJ:
The Los Angeles man shot by park rangers after a routine police stop just outside Las Vegas last week wasn’t homeless, didn’t use hard drugs and wasn’t a violent criminal, according to his father.
D’Andre Berghardt Sr. said he wanted to clear the air about his son, D’Andre Berghardt Jr.
“My son ain’t never been a gang member. He wasn’t violent. He never used hard drugs … I wouldn’t accept that s*** from him,” Berghardt Sr. said in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home.
“I don’t know what these (expletive) out there did to my son, excuse my French,” he said. “I won’t accept it. They’ll never have me believe that my son would have tried to hurt anybody.”
Berghardt Jr., 20, was shot and killed near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Friday afternoon after Bureau of Land Management rangers responded to call about a pedestrian impeding cyclists along state Route 159.
A video filmed by observers and obtained by the Review-Journal showed the lengthy altercation with rangers, who appeared to use pepper spray to subdue Berghardt Jr. but were unable to arrest him.
BLM officials issued a statement Thursday after avoiding questions for nearly a week. The statement said the rangers also used their batons and Taser stun guns in the struggle, but nothing was effective.
“The officers were unable to gain compliance,” the statement said.
The situation escalated after Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Lucas Schwarzrock arrived several minutes into the confrontation. Berghardt Jr. ran from the officers and tried to open the door of two cars, the BLM said.
The video later showed the rangers holding Berghardt Jr. on the ground. But Berghardt Jr. fought them off, pushed Schwarzrock away and climbed into the trooper’s patrol car. Moments later, a ranger is shown firing into the car, killing Berghardt Jr.
The BLM confirmed Thursday that both rangers fired after Berghardt Jr. reached for the trooper’s AR-15 rifle, which was secured in a locked gun rack. Only one ranger can be seen firing in the video.  http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/grieving-father-fatal-red-rock-police-shooting-i-won-t-accept-it
Here is the video just before and when the guy was shot:


Here are the facts in the case:
1.  There at least 1-2 calls to 911 stating he was trying to attack bike riders.
2.  The cops responded with 2 very experienced BLM cops and an experienced Highway Patrol officer.
3.  The cops used non-lethal force 3 times.  A taser, hands on fighting and pepper spray to the face all failed.
4.  The thug was violent and probably on drugs.
5.  The thug entered the Highway Patrol SUV and tried to take the rifle out it's case.
6.  The Highway Patrol car has many other items in the SUV that could harm people including flares, batons and other items that can be used as weapons to fight with and he could have possible started the SUV and drove off.
7.  The thug was given ample time and opportunity to surrender.
8.  The cops shoot to kill, not to wound.
9.  The thug tried to enter 2 other cars in an attempt to carjack the drivers.
10.  The thug could have ended the incident at any time, prior to the shooting, and he chose not to.
I understand the father's grief and pain.  But there are a lot of cop haters that commented on the story and blamed the cops with a lot of stupid comments and it's shown their hatred of all cops.
But it my opinion, this was a good shoot by the police.  The thug could have stopped the incident before the shooting and didn't and then when he entered the cop SUV, all bets were off.
Finally, the cops went home safe and sound, the thug is dead and a parent cries for his son.
And the thug is to blame 100%

3 comments:

  1. I knew this "Thug" as you call him. I know he made a mistake but there are still lots of questions for us (the people who knew and cared about him.) He was a nice guy. Your label doesn't fit so please refrain from using it. I met him when he was 15 years old. He held my son (an infant) and was very kind to me and my children. I needed to go to the store and he offered to walk me because he didn't want me out alone. I never heard him cuss or carry on like a lot of other young people. I don't hate cops, I just don't understand the escalation of the situation and why he was even out there in the first place. My heart broke seeing the video, why couldn't they get cuffs on him?

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  2. A very simple answer as to why they couldn't put cuffs on him: He didn't want the cuffs on him and he fought the cops.
    While he may not have been a thug all his life, for the last few monents of his life, he acted like a thug.
    All he had to do was do whatthe cops wanted him to do, that's all.
    But he chose a different course, by trying to get into a cops's car, try to take the rifle out of the car and who knows what after that.

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