To hear the head of the Toronto police union tell it, rank-and-file officers are “shocked and dismayed” at the guilty verdict handed down by a jury on Const. James Forcillo for attempted murder in the death of Sammy Yatim. The verdict sends a “chilling message” through the ranks, says union chief Mike McCormack.
It shouldn’t. While Forcillo’s lawyer Peter Brauti complained about “trial by YouTube,” the jurors appear to have given Forcillo every benefit of the doubt. They cleared him of the more serious charge of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Yatim on an empty, stopped streetcar in 2013. In effect, they accepted Forcillo’s claim that he was acting in self-defence, at least initially, when he shot Yatim three times — including the fatal shot — as the 18-year-old brandished a switchblade.
What the jury seemingly couldn’t stomach, and understandably so, was Forcillo’s followup decision to fire six more rounds at Yatim as he lay struggling and dying on the streetcar floor, hitting him five more times. That did not look like the use of lethal force as a last resort, to protect an officer’s life. By that point Yatim posed no threat. Because those shots were not the fatal ones, the charge was attempted murder.
The scene, captured on audio and video from multiple angles, showed Yatim being shot less than a minute after police arrived. It shocked the city and shook its faith in the quality of training police receive in dealing with disturbed, armed and potentially violent people. Hundreds took to the streets in protest.
Now the courts have sent a historic and welcome message that there are consequences to the misuse of police power. (more...)
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteAll those who are truly pro-life should be denouncing police brutality from the roof tops. But they are not. They are silent. Are they surprised when the police come for them?
The explanation for this silence may be a confluence of ideological biases. The feminist disdain for young men, even among pro-lifers, may be one factor. Also, the war-on-drugs fascism that targets the poor for elimination by addiction may be another. Sammy Yatim was of a class of persons that our society deems disposable -- cheap factory labor and cannon fodder for rich men's wars. His tragedy will recur as long as our culture is blind to the intrinsic value of every human life.
Delete