Damn. What can I say? If you don't recall THIS shooting, let's refresh your memory.
Philando and his girlfriend were stopped for having a broken light. The cops told him the driver and him about it. Philando told the officer that he had a gun AND a license to carry it. In the video, the cop definitely doesn't ask him to see the license to carry the firearm, but Philando keeps making a move towards it, probably out of nervousness or fear. Philando just needed to chill for a moment longer and make sure the cop knew he was going for his ID, but then chaos.
Why someone wanting to shoot an officer would tell him he's got a gun, and then pull it out to shoot an officer is beyond me. These cops are trained to be robots and just react. It's freaking tragic. My heart breaks for his woman to see him go out like that.
That being said, Philando wasn't too bright in his continuous movement to get his ID to carry when the officer told him a few times, not to "pull it out". My guess was Philando was already nervous to be in the situation and was trying to do what was trained of him.
THE BIG QUESTION IS - Is the video RAW or has it been tampered with. It's not like we can see the words and audio line up. On the final "Don't pull it out" there is no overlapping in audio.
According to the Huffington Post, "It's almost impossible to tell if police tampered with evidence."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fake-police-cam-footage_us_55c23782e4b0f7f0bebb2b5c
So it isn't impossible, that the police cut out a chunk of audio where Philando says, "I am going for my license to carry," was cut and the latter moved forward or vice versa.
Concealed carriers are told to disclose this information to officers, but to go for an ID after telling him was a bad and deadly move.
If you carry, show the ID with your other ID and registration. Then tell him where the gun is. Let's avoid these tragedies all together.
What do you guys think? Was the officer justified or should he have been charged? Will he/or is he back on payroll?