The icing on the cake would be for them to house him with some patch holders of the proper percentage in the joint.

Fella's I can tell you from 23 yrs as a road Trooper that guy fired before there was any sort of threat,at all. The Officer had concelment and should have used better judgement. He should be in prison. I don't think he had what it takes to do the job. JMHO.and .03cents worth.

I really hate to harp on this sad situation but I have to say a couple more things......

I have been searching and watching every peice of video from this case including the testimony of both the officer, and the victim, to the statement the officer makes just prior to sentencing. Body language says ALOT about a persons feelings, watch the testimony of the police officer, leaned over on one elbow with little to no respect for the court proceedings from a law enforcement officer let alone the gravity of the situation he has caused. Again body language and his speech just prior to sentencing, absolutely no remorse to this young man OR his family, and continually hiding behind, "my training and oath"????????????? ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME?????? I have had to testify or give statements in numerous formal settings and I would never dream to allow myself to show that type of disrespect in my body language nor would I expect it from anyone from a trained background, I do beleive a LEO should show greater respect for the court proceedings than that you would expect from a punk on trial. Watch the video of the young man when he was on the stand when the shooting video was shown, quite a drastic difference in these two mens reactions. I do understand that the video does show a point of view that the officer did not have, but there was no threatening gesture made. If you feel perhaps there was, I ask you to go out and sit on your bike, stand it up and pull your clutch lever in, rest your right hand on your thigh which is pretty much what I do at every stop I make......and then turn your head in the direction that this officers voice would have been coming from, to turn yourself to acknowledge a police officers demands (whatever they may have been, which is a mute point), you will make very similar body movements to what this young man did. In the extended version of the video, you can see he was looking at his riding partner, probably to see if he was injured from riding over the curb and small grass knoll he had just run over (I know I would be looking to see if a friend of mine was hurt or not)! I think our justice system has been damaged by the corruption and greed of many and most times I do and will side with law enforcement, but this situation is just so very wrong on so many levels, it is really disturbing. Then we top this whole trial and sentencing off with a bond of $100,000 dollars paid in cash????? and a CONVICTED FELON is free awaiting appeal???? I really just don't understand this situation in any way shape or form??????? Sorry Rant Over..

I think they should hold a benefit ride through Ottawa Hills for this guy. I think we as a motorcyclist community should atleast show we oppose this crap!

JVRoadie wrote:
I think they should hold a benefit ride through Ottawa Hills for this guy. I think we as a motorcyclist community should atleast show we oppose this crap!

I am sure the COC and or the UC for that state are planning that very thing.

CPORetired wrote: Then we top this whole trial and sentencing off with a bond of $100,000 dollars paid in cash????? and a CONVICTED FELON is free awaiting appeal????.[/quote]
Someone else raised this issue too. If bail was set at $100,000, he is only required to pay 10% of that, the remainder if the appeal is unsuccessful. Chances are bail was not set at $1M, and he paid $100,000. The only reasoning I can see behind this is the officer is probably not a flight risk, however I would deny his appeal in a heart beat.

To me the rider looked confused, nothing else. That officer did not have a command voice, look at him, listen to him. He could not speak clearly over a blaring siren, it's impossible. The rider most likely was paying attention to his buddy who lost control when startled by the officers, then he's being yelled at from behind, turned unsure of what was happening, and was shot.

3 minutes is nothing, on my bike people can follow me in the dark, I can't see if they're a cop or not, nor do I care. Generally I assume they're not, because chances are, they're not. Especially if I'm not doing anything particularly illegal. It's entirely possible for me to believe they could have traveled 3 minutes without notice.

And there certainly was not alcohol involved. If there was, you know they would have played the HELL out of that angle.

For the charge, the officer received maximum sentence. However I think it was the wrong charge. I call it assault with a deadly weapon, conspire to commit murder, attempted murder, and toss in disrupting the peace, and harassment to top it off.

Higher standards for LEO's, if I'm going to entrust my life and safety to you, you had better not be half-assing it, harassing people unnecessarily, and sure as hell not recklessly putting others in danger.

Sorry, I'm Pro-LEO and all, but I have witnessed multiple forms of harassment and abuse of power in my day, and it really gets to me.

/rant

I'm still waiting for the video to load. After reading the article, I'm left with this initial perception.
LEO's have to make split second life or death decisions. They don't always make the right decision, no offence intended to LEO's. People, even bikers make bad decisions even when it is NOT life or death.
However, I don't think ANY LEO's are justified in shooting someone in the back unless the person they are shooting is about to kill another person, be it with a knife, firearm, or motor vehicle.
Simple rules of mine when enteracting with law enforcement in THEIR official duties;
Submit, comply, go to court to argue. Better the officer and I both go home to our families when it is all said and done. If you haven't done anything wrong take your chances with the judge and jury, don't put the officer in a position to make the split second decision that everyone might regret.

I'm pissed. It could've been any one of us.

If you look at the timer on the video, the cop yells, the biker just looks back, and in a split second, the cop shot the biker.

Greysnake wrote:
Fella's I can tell you from 23 yrs as a road Trooper that guy fired before there was any sort of threat,at all. The Officer had concelment and should have used better judgement. He should be in prison. I don't think he had what it takes to do the job. JMHO.and .03cents worth.

Thank you, Greysnake. Well said.

Having viewed the video, it appears to me that this guy was shot for NO justifiable reason. Quite a sad and shameful event.