Is anything actually known about the circumstances surrounding this shooting?

We know what the police said. That’s about it

It is known that he was in crisis and the police shot him. Beyond that there are the police statements and the ongoing investigation.

How about a rally to support police doing an extremely difficult job in our city? I’ve yet to see anything they did wrong in this case. What happened is tragic, but they were being pressed by a man with a bloody machete. Not the outcome anyone wanted for sure.

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Organize one

So what’s the basis for calling this police brutality?

This is a tragedy, but I don't think there is anything wrong with what Police did. Unless anyone could provide evidence proving otherwise.

Can people bring machetes?

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As far as I know, nothing. Just general fuck the police sentiment. Under most circumstances I'd be the first person to jump on that bandwagon, but the Cambridge cops are... alright, so I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. If what happened is at all close to the initial reports, then I'd say the shooting was justified.

you cannot be serious

Definitely shove this protest where the sun doesn’t shine

I have no evidence that they did anything wrong either, other than to say we should be able to develop a way to respond to people in crisis that does not also kill them fairly often nationwide.

They did everything they possibly could. They tried talking to him, they tried non-lethal methods. He charged them with a machete. What other possible outcome was there? There is no “way to respond” that we could possibly develop that would have had a better result.

Better non-lethal methods seems like a place to start.

I am a little bit annoyed, like I always am, that there are no body cams. Body cams would resolve ALL ambiguity here, and would show whether the police were in the right or were in the wrong. I think it's shameful and embarrassing that there are no body cams. And for this reason, I think we should all take a healthy heaping of salt with the police statement. And I think this kind of a disclaimer needs to be placed before all police statements when they fail to have body cams.

That being said, it sounds from the police description of the event like something went wrong. The deceased sounds like he was having an issue, or a breakdown, or something. Jumping out of another apartment, knife/machete in hand, cutting himself with that and/or glass. Not putting down the weapon, not putting down the weapon after being shot with a "less likely to be lethal" weapon, culminating in him approaching the officers knife in hand and getting shot. If that is what happened, then I wish that there had been other things tried (if possible) to deescalate, or a tazer or something... but as a last resort, an officer shooting someone coming at them with a knife is justifiable.

I hope that we get more information.

I agree from a policy perspective, but those better less-likely-to-be-lethal methods need to be in place in officers' vehicles and they need to be trained on them before events like this. If the officers did not have anything else available to them, and the deceased was coming at them with a knife, then their reaction is understandable/justifiable. Though I agree that we should be looking for and deploying better ways, whatever they may be.

This situation is tragic.

I am in no way pro-police, and strongly believe we should have another system for responding to individuals in crisis, but is it not premature to claim police brutality before there's been time for an investigation? We have a very imperfect system, but at the end of the day the officers are people, and surely most of them are trying to do their best working within that system.

Would it not be far more productive to rally for better access to mental health services? A person on our streets self-harming with a deadly weapon represents a failure of our society provide adequate (let alone comprehensive) mental health care to anyone who is not extraordinarily privileged, and usually self-motivated. This person would never have ended up in this terrible situation had they not first fallen through the cracks.

Here is a link to the event page: https://fb.me/e/5gDJaLp4Y?mibextid=RQdjqZ

I still feel like the killing was not justified at all. As I have heard, the victim had been shot 5 times including his neck and chest. I feel like one or two could've put him down and he would still be alive if taken to the hospital asap. Yes I agree with the fact that not putting down the weapon and being aggressive even after cops telling him not to, can be dangerous but the boy only had a knife on him. If it was a gun or something similar, that would have made sense that he is a bigger threat to others let alone the cops. Also not to mention that it was one vs 5 so I still don't buy the fact that he was shot because he was seen as a threat to others especially with a knife.

I mean ofcourse there was SOMETHING. The fact that the boy was "shot 5 times and killed" alone should be the reason for BRUTALITY. Remind you that the boy only had a knife and not a gun or similar weapon, so I still believe one or two shot could have put him down. Also it was one vs 5 polices so I don't buy the fact that he was charging at the police with a knife and that's the reason they killed him.

It was actually a knife, which still is a deadly weapon but not as deadly as a gun. Don't you think one or two bullets could have put him down and not 5 bullets that killed him?

Yes and also I feel like one or two bullets could have put him down and not kill him. Remind you he only had a knife and there were five cops so 5 shots for charging with a knife is not justified.

It was three, not five. And he was running at them with a 12" knife. They tried less-than-lethal rounds first.

It wasn’t 5

There are people who can’t even be stopped with an average tazer

“Only had a 12 inch knife on him” written like a professional arm chair expert

He was very clearly in a mental health crisis and needed help, not execution.

You keep saying this over and over. I doubt it's as easy as you think when in a high pressure situation with a knife in your face to pull the trigger twice verses five times.

Shouldn't polices be trained to face situations like this? or at that point the aim should be to murder the suspect?

I agree they probably don’t need to shoot that many shots

When you become a mortal threat you cede some leniency in what you seem to be innocuously framing as “mental health crisis”. Unfortunately that’s where we are as a society in 2023, maybe that will change with different tactics eventually but it’s not current operating procedure

It’s not known that he had a knife?

Fuck the police

Tasers should not be used. Japanese police resolve this exact situation with poles and fucking gumption. It's fair to say we're doing something wrong with training officers in America