Calls for inquiry after German police kill black man outside nightclub
Calls for inquiry after German police kill black man outside nightclub
Calls for inquiry after German police kill black man outside nightclub
Civil rights activists in Germany have demanded an independent inquiry into alleged police racism after an officer shot a 21-year-old black man from behind, killing him after an altercation outside a nightclub.
The 27-year-old officer was suspended from duty over the shooting early on Sunday morning in the city of Oldenburg in north-west Germany pending a murder investigation, said state prosecutors. Fatal police shootings are relatively rare in Germany and prosecutors were quoted in local media as saying the suspension and investigation were “routine”.
Police have not identified the victim due to data protection laws but media and pressure groups have identified him as Lorenz A.
The news report on this and some say that allegedly he threatened the officers with tear gas or a knife, but even if he did, in no way is shooting someone justified in this situation. Ever. His skin definitely played a role in this since racist and right-wing police in Germany is nothing new
Have to disagree with you here: If threatened with a stick, police have to pull out a bigger stick to do their job.
If a person starts a fist fight, the baton is the proper method to a) defend yourself and b) gain an advantage over the attacker. If the person then pulls a knife, the baton loses its advantage and a new tool is needed to regain it.
The issue in this case is not the choice of the tool for the job: Pulling the gun on someone attacking others with a knife. The issue is the attacker was shot in the back, which raises the question if he was still a threat.
Little fun fact: The vests regular police are wearing in Germany (at least in the southwest where I live) are bulletproof against small arms fire, but not stab proof. So "just tackle him and take it on the armour" is not an option.
Do cops in Germany not have Pepper Spray? Do they not have tazers? It seems like there were plenty of options to deal with the threat at hand without killing them. But the cop decided to take the US approach of shoot first ask questions later.
Also I assume the vests do not protect your neck, which is where a close range knife wound can quickly become fatal.
Incorrect, according to German legislation, weapons may be used to protect life and prevent harm. Courts have recurrently ruled that an attacker with a knife approaching the police or innocent bystanders are considered beyond stoppable if they are in immediate reach of a potential victim (which has been said to be in a range of 6 meters and below).
What needs to be established now is whether the cop used unnecessary lethal force, since the guy has been hit 4 times (3 direct hits, once grazed), and at least one shot was from behind.
This is not the US. And in contrast to the US, where such a shooting would barely make it to the local weekly paper, this is so outrageous for Germany that this is a topic for the national TV news for at least two days.
And: an American policeman would most likely get out of this unscarred, chances for the German policeman to continue in this job are rather dim.