Is the Cop Racist - or Something else?

In MN a police officer shoots and kills a black man whose only "crime" appears to have been a defective taillight. At leasty, that is what his girlfriend, the MN governor, Jesse Jackson and thousands of protesters would have us believe. And so they automatically play the race card, claiming the cop must have been racist.

But a thinking person without any bias would see another possibility.

First, it must be considered that with all the cops being murdered these days, every police officer has that in the back of their mind - that, without warning, they could be shot for no reason.

Second, in most police departments, officers are trained to handle certain situations in certain ways. For example, if someone tells you they are armed, the officer would, as a matter of standard operating procedure, advise the person to keep their hands where the officer can see them until such time as the officer can safely secure the weapon. Since the "livestream" of the girlfriend does not show what transpired prior to the actual shooting, we should assume that is what the officer attempted, since he wants to go home at night.

So, let us assume the officer followed SOP, and told the individual to keep his hands in view. Instead, the driver, innocently enough, reaches for his wallet to show his license. To the officer, the driver could have been reaching for his gun. He has no way of knowing.

At this point, most people would act defensively. The cop draws his weapon and fires. And at that point the girlfriend begins livestreaming, and making claims that would make it appear that her botfriend was shot without cause.

I contend the officer was doing what all officers are trained to do when they encounter an armed person. And the armed person, without thinking, acted in a way that gave the officer cause for fear for his life.

They both made huge mistakes. And it cost one man his life.

The driver may have been acting innocently enough, but the officer would not know what is in his mind, as the armed person reaches for his pocket.

Unfortunate. But not racist.

If YOU were the cop, and you were faced with an armed person who reaches for his pocket instead of keeping his hands in view, and having it in the back of your mind that the murder of police officers is up 40% this year. Would YOU gamble your life?

Not me.

As to the MN governor, Jesse Jackson and all the other race-baiters out there who want to use this to further a false narrative, I say they are the true racists.

And as I type this, eleven more police officers have just been shot, 3 dead in Dallas, TX.

Can't blame cops for erring on the side of caution.