This past September 17, a white Saint Paul, MN, police officer shot and killed Ronald Davis, a black male. Within five days, organized protests took place against police brutality, complete with professionally printed signs and “Stop Killing People of Color” banners.
This is how a “news” (actually propaganda) source, that self-identifies as focusing on “the People’s Struggle,” described the shooting:
31-year-old Ronald Davis was a father, recently married, and had just graduated school. After allegedly bumping his vehicle into the back of a cop car, he stepped out of his vehicle and Mattson gunned him down.
Sounds pretty bad, right? A black man killed by a white cop over a fender-bender!
Wondering what really happened that led to Ronald Davis’ death at the hands of a police officer? Interested in seeing the body cam video? Stand by!
So, here’s the Black Lives Matter narrative of this shooting by police:
Ronald Davis, a black male described as “a very respectful, kind person” who “wasn’t an aggressive person,” maybe, possibly, it’s merely alleged, “bumped” into the back of a cop car, and in response was “murdered” by a white police officer.
Care to guess how much of that narrative reflects reality? At least in the context of whether that officer’s use of deadly force was legally justified.
Pretty much none of it, as you might have guessed.
First, let’s consider the “alleged bumping” of the cop’s vehicle. Here’s what the front of the car driven by Ronald Davis looked like immediately after this “bump:”
Folks, that is one heck of an “alleged bump.”
And that’s probably the least important lie on the false narrative of the purported “murder” of Davis at the hands of the police.
That claim that Davis was a “very respectful,” “kind,” and “non-aggressive” person? In case you’re wondering, that description is intended to be of this person:
Yep, that’s a knife in Davis’ right hand, and the officer’s dropped flashlight in his left, as he continues aggressively charging at the officer.
How can someone describe Davis as a “very respectful” “kind” “non-aggressive” person? He smashes his car into a police vehicle and immediately rushes at the officer with a raised knife. He continues his deadly force attack despite orders to desist. He then causes that officer to fall to the ground, and ultimately compels that officer—who has reportedly been on the job less than a year—to shoot and kill him?
Meet the Ronald Davis that this St. Paul, MN, police officer met on September 17, 2019, as captured on body camera (note: there is some initial silence when the body cam is on mute, and also some profanity):
Does it still look like a “racist police murder of a person of color “event?
I think not.
To paraphrase Professor Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame, it would appear that the demand for “racist police murders of people of color” vastly exceeds the supply, or claims of such events would not almost invariably prove to be nothing of the sort.
An open question: Where, exactly, are all the demonstrably unlawful police murders of “people of color” in which the officer is not held legally accountable?
Frankly, the shooting of Ronald Davis goes far beyond even a suicide-by-cop event. It’s simply an attempt to murder a police officer, for reasons unknown and irrelevant. Charge at a police officer with a raised knife in a vicious sustained attack, or do the same to any innocent armed citizen, and getting shot and killed should be a reasonably expected outcome.
And that’s true no matter how often propagandists after the fact choose to describe such an attacker as a “very respectful” “kind” “non-aggressive” person.
It’s perhaps worth asking ourselves, why? Not why was Ronald Davis killed by a police officer—the reason for that is obvious–but rather why are there organized groups that are determined to falsely characterize such straightforward acts of self-defense as the conduct of a racist police force determined to murder people of color?
Cui bono? Who benefits?
The answer that that question is certainly not society generally.
I suggest that the victim here is not the murderous aggressor Ronald Davis. The primary victim is the rookie police officer attacked by Davis. The secondary victim is civilized society generally, whose public safety is routinely sacrificed on the basis of these false narratives of a purportedly racist American society.
Finally, I can’t help but share a headline from the New York Times for an article that somehow manages to not observe that this officer’s body cam video has utterly blown the “racist police killing of Ronald Davis” narrative completely out of the water:
Activists Unconvinced by St. Paul Bodycam Video
Never change, NYT. Never. Change. #eyeroll
Today is Wednesday, meaning it’s time for another live episode of my self-defense law show “Calling the Shots” in which I analyze video footage of use-of-force events. The show airs live every Wednesday (including today!) at 3 PM Pacific time and is hosted on the Alien Gear Holsters Facebook page: http://facebook.com/aliengearholsters.
By the way, if you’re aware of a use-of-force video you’d like us to consider for analysis on this or a future show, just email a link to the video to me at: support@lawofselfdefense.com, and put “CTS” or “Calling the Shots” in the subject line.
See you at today’s show!
And remember:
You carry a gun so you’re hard to kill.
Know the law so you’re hard to convict.
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Law of Self Defense CONSULT Program
[Featured image is a screen capture from the officer’s body camera footage.]
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