I Was in Fear for My Life ... Or, Did You Have Pre-Conceptions?

[RicInOR]

This particular case may involve race. But put your finger over those words and read the article. The question is in the moment are you sure of what you think you see?


House is for sale ( just under a $Million to give an idea of the neighborhood)

Realtor and Photographer show up to a scheduled appointment, to shoot video / photos
Wife sees people on security cameras
Calls Husband, who shows up with his gun
Bad things happened -- tho no one was shot

What did he / witnesses see?

"[H]e even lied to the police in front of me by saying he thought my photographers camera was a gun… But yet he still reached and grabbed this so called gun (camera) while the photographer was already in his vehicle and smashed his camera."

Neighbors who witnessed the incident also reported seeing one of the photographer's crew members "pull out a long automatic rifle" from a vehicle. Police believe what the witness saw was actually a pole used for lighting in photography, AL.com reports.

Rickels' attorney, Brian Steel, says the charges against his client are outrageous and meritless.

Alabama Fire Chief Pulls Gun on Black Realtor and Photographer

Alabama fire chief Jason Rickels was arrested for pulling a gun on a realtor and photographer who had booked a viewing at his house.

petapixel.com

Alabama fire chief arrested in armed dispute with GA real estate agent; attorney says charges ‘baseless’

A Realtor told Atlanta media Tarrant Fire Chief Jason Rickels targeted her and a photographer because they are Black.

www.al.com

Read More

 

[Certaindeaf]

Lawyers suck.

 

[BigDog67]

Remember what Shakespeare said.

 

[Stomper]

Remember what Shakespeare said.

"Drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!"?

or was it...


"Watcheth thou this, holdeth thou mine tankard of mead!!" ?

 

[BigDog67]

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers"
Billie Shakespeare

 

[cigars]

Remember what Shakespeare said.

"you want fries with that"?

 

[cigars]

Remember what Shakespeare said.

Oh sorry... "does thoust want fries with thine order"?

 

[CRBMoA]

 

[The Heretic]

This is what comes of teaching and training people, civilians and LEOs alike, to be afraid of firearms; they start seeing what they fear, even though it is something else altogether.

 

[Mygrainman]

 

[Xaevian]

If on the jury, I may have enough information to pass judgment at the end of trial. Not a big fan of the court of public opinion, especially considering the state of modern "journalism".

 

[RVTECH]

While the story has more holes than swiss cheese one 'takeaway' I get from the story by 'reading between the lines' is the Fire Chief was intimidated by the glitz and glamour, felt 'outnumbered' , not in control and let his, well, 'proclivities' toward 'certain' people get the best of him and by gawd 'I'm the Fire Cheef heer in Alabamee an' theez heer peeople ain't gonna jest roam aroun' and take pitchurs sos' I'll show them whooz bozz'

But this is just MY take on it......

 

[No_Regerts]

Not sure about Alabama, but if she scheduled a viewing and had the code for the box to get into the home, it becomes a lot less reasonable to believe she is anything but legit. I just sold a home and I approved the showings beforehand.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Setting aside race and other details of this story, it's a good reminder to all of us to be sure of what u see before using deadly force.

One example is this creep was checking out my house last week, looking in windows etc and had something in his hand which could have been pepper spray, a flashlight, glass breaker, or something else. But to me it was obviously not a firearm. So I think one has to be ready in case deadly force is needed but should look to de-escalate the situation if at all possible. In my case verbal command was all that was needed but shotgun with #00buck was in my hand and not visible to the creep in case it was needed. I know from shooting that at that range the 9 pellets would have made about an 8" spread or so. That's the equivalent of getting hit with 9 shots of .380 to center mass simultaneously.

That guy with the self defense channel on YouTube does a good job talking about "verbal jujitsu" to de-escalate. That is even more important now imo cuz people r so riled up and ready to let their tempers fly for almost anything.

Makes me think we need a good course/training on "verbal jujitsu" available and treat it as an essential part of self defense. Just my opinion though, not saying anyone else should follow that. The more tools in the toolbox the better I think. Not knowing all the details of the story above, I wonder if a commitment to de-escalation would have helped diffuse the situation? But like all these stories u almost have to be there to know the whole truth of what was going on.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

While the story has more holes than swiss cheese one 'takeaway' I get from the story by 'reading between the lines' is the Fire Chief was intimidated by the glitz and glamour, felt 'outnumbered' , not in control and let his, well, 'proclivities' toward 'certain' people get the best of him and by gawd 'I'm the Fire Cheef heer in Alabamee an' theez heer peeople ain't gonna jest roam aroun' and take pitchurs sos' I'll show them whooz bozz'

But this is just MY take on it......

Yea hard to say u may be right. If one let's their ego/pride get in the way it really limits ur thinking and ability to act in the best manner for the situation (ie one tends to react more from emotion rather than logic of what would be the best course of action). Plus hearing things 2nd and 3rd person -and piecemeal-it's hard for us to judge.

 

[The Heretic]

It occurs to me that a small body cam that isn't completely obvious would be beneficial, regardless of which side of a conflict you find yourself in. It would help with the "he said, she said" issues.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Another example from 2017 of a cop shooting a photographer who thought camera was a gun. The photographer was taking pics of lightning when he saw a traffic stop of another car and decided to move his camera and tripod to take pics of the traffic stop. The photographer knew the policeman and didn't want to press charges.

I remember 2 years ago I was driving on I205 near clackamas and the police had all traffic stopped. I had my camera and wildlife long lens with me on the pass seat and after one of the other drivers told me there was a jumper on the overpass I briefly thought about taking the camera out to take pics. But I thought of this story about lighting photographer (mine was during the day though) and I said to myself, "it would be interesting to play "photo journalist" but just not worth the possible confusion". So I didn't take any pics (could not see jumper from the car I would have had to get out and walk to edge of freeway).

Ohio photographer shot by police officer who mistook camera for gun

www.google.com

 

[RVTECH]

It occurs to me that a small body cam that isn't completely obvious would be beneficial, regardless of which side of a conflict you find yourself in. It would help with the "he said, she said" issues.

I agree it would but it would be hard for one to know when to deploy the cam on a case by case basis and I don't think most people want to have a cam on them 24/7 - or even just 9-5.

 

[CRBMoA]

That would be hard.

Even now, I often pay for things in cash and when the cashier asks if I want a receipt, I reply, "Receipt?!?! I wasn't even HERE."

 

[WillametteWill]

Fire chief, not police chief. He got in the wrong line if he wanted to point guns instead of hoses. Just say'n.

Police had been called, be a good witness. If they were criminals you are outnumbered by a factor of six at least. He put himself in a very bad situation (and ruined about $5,000 worth of camera and glass). They are brining stuff into the house, not out. Think people, think. Asking a lot I know.