I agree that violent action and criminal damage are unacceptable.
Some of the people perpetrating these actions say that they do so because our collective treatment of the environment is arguably all three: violent, criminally damaging, and as problematic as literal arson.
Society is easily able to identify these harms when perpetrated against man-made structures. Much of society is desensitized or uninterested in acknowledging the same level of harm against the environment itself that is continuous and ongoing.
I think these forms of protest are deeply misguided and counterproductive, and I do not condone them. They also highlight the difference in attitudes towards various forms of ongoing harm.
Charged yes, literally executed on the street without trial, no.
There is absolutely no universe where someone who surrenders to the cops should be shot 50 times. I don't care if they're Jeffrey Dahmer, I don't care if they just moments before murdered someone in cold blood.
Forget ethics or morals, it's a moral hazard. If the cops are just going to shoot you dead you have no incentive to stop and have every right to defend yourself against them doing so. The only way to make surrendering to the cops a feasible action is if they always stand down the instant you do.
If cops are in a mini-warzone with vehicles on fire and bricks and molotovs being thrown, bad outcomes are likely going to happen. (50 shots does seem extreme, but when the decision to use lethal force has been made, does the number of shots really matter?)
If you're a genuinely peaceful protestor, you need to seriously consider leaving the protest area before trouble escalates to the point where police are forced to make impossible life-or-death decisions within seconds amidst chaos.
It does kind of paint a disturbing picture of the mindset of the shooters when so many shots are fired at a single target sitting a few feet in front of you.
If they were military, would this not be considered a huge breach of protocol and training and liable for discipline? Wasting that much time and ammo on a target that was neutralized with a few shots? That really reflects poorly on your ability to assess and react to this kind of situation.
Definitely a sign that better training is needed. But the public reaction to a suggestion of 'more riot/combat training for cops' isn't likely to be positive.
Well, the cops are getting all the combat and riot training that they want. The public reaction doesn't seem to impact this. I'd suggest that these cops come a work culture of impunity, and that's why they fired so many shots.
