I try to stay out of the knife rights thing. As far as I'm concerned most of the arguments too closely parallel gun rights and there just isn't going to be any useful ground between the pro and anti sides in either case because all the arguments are rooted in absolutes and platitudes. I try to stay out of it but in this case I figure something might come out of it because no matter how doubtful I may be of abstract concerns and rights there is clearly something wrong here and how people see, and fear, knives has a lot to do with it.
The story in a nutshell is that John T. Williams, a native American woodcarver, and well known lush, in full form at the time, was walking across a crosswalk. He had a knife in one hand and a piece of wood he had been carving in his other. Officer Ian Birk sees the knife, gets out of his cruiser, pulls his gun and orders Williams to drop the knife several times, and then shoots Williams four or five times. Elapse time from first order to shooting is approximately five seconds.
Officer Birk then holds his gun on the motionless Williams as other cruisers and police arrive. They take time to form a ten-man 'stack' and then rush Williams who, as far as I can see, hasn't moved and is dead.
After the fact the knife, a folder with a three inch blade, is found closed and is photographed.
Watch the video:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/trigger_happy.phpInclude short discussion and crime scene photo of closed knife:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/108548839.htmlAn account that cover most of the same ground but includes a good photo of the knife presumably opened for display:
http://mother-earth-journal.com/2010/09/01/05-seattle-police-officer-slays-native-woodcarver/Discuss. I'll come back with my two cents worth. Please keep it civil.
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