this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Julian Lewis didn’t pull over for the Georgia State Patrol cruiser flashing its blue lights behind him on a rural highway. He still didn’t stop after pointing a hand out the window and turning onto a darkened dirt road as the trooper sounded his siren.

Five minutes into a pursuit that began over a broken taillight, the 60-year-old Black man was dead — shot in the forehead by the white trooper who fired a single bullet mere seconds after forcing Lewis to crash into a ditch. Trooper Jake Thompson insisted he pulled the trigger as Lewis revved the engine of his Nissan Sentra and jerked his steering wheel as if trying to mow him down.

“I had to shoot this man,” Thompson can be heard telling a supervisor on video recorded by his dash-mounted camera at the shooting scene in rural Screven County, midway between Savannah and Augusta. “And I’m just scared.”

But new investigative details obtained by The Associated Press and the never-before-released dashcam video of the August 2020 shooting have raised fresh questions about how the trooper avoided prosecution with nothing more than a signed promise never to work in law enforcement again. Use-of-force experts who reviewed the footage for AP said the shooting appeared to be unjustified.

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[–] [email protected] 163 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I was scared when I was a 19 year old doing a patrol through Sadr City in 2003, while manning the .50 cal and having dozens of kids suddenly show up and throwing rocks at me. Did I waste them even though I would have been justified because it wasn't uncommon that patrols would go through markets and peopled start throwing produce and mix a grenade in?

No. Because I was well trained and realized that life is precious. And I was dealing with those rocks a lot longer than 1.6 seconds.

[–] [email protected] 79 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If the cops want to be militarized, they should be bound by the UCMJ and face the same consequences.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 5 months ago

How dare you advocate for destroying the entire police force!

/s... Cause that's what would happen. I'm pretty sure more than half would quit outright if they thought there was a possibility they'd see consequences for their actions.

Just one example https://voiceofsandiego.org/2022/10/04/police-union-says-sdpd-officers-are-quitting-because-of-oversight-commission-that-doesnt-exist-yet/

[–] [email protected] 33 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Because I was well trained

Well you see, many of these cops joined the force because they would've flunked or did flunk basic.

[–] Rampsquatch 20 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yea, but I'm betting you had more training than this clown. Maybe the cops need more than a couple weeks before they are given the power of a firearm, maybe I'm crazy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

He had plenty of training. He PIT the dude's car, and shot him in the forehead 1.6 seconds after stopping his car. Lots of training went into that.

It's just the wrong training.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Your restraint shows a great deal of character. I don't know I'd have the same fortitude in the same situation.