LAPD guns down street performer, then plants a fake weapon?

[Londo_Jowo]

I already pointed out, the "black lump" is a wallet, not the knife. Notice it's up on the black, shiny speckled part of the sidewalk, and it's #4, not #1. There's a separate image of item #1, the knife, and it's not up on the sidewalk.

#1 is down on the concrete gutter between the sidewalk and street. You can't even see the knife with the marker sitting right next to it in the 2nd picture- I'm guessing you didn't even notice the marker.

This also doesn't look like a 2" blade either, more like 3.5" to 4".

 

[HumblePie]

This also doesn't look like a 2" blade either, more like 3.5" to 4".

You can see the little swiss symbol on the black scales. It's a victronix. It's not a locking knife so there is no way you can stab with it without cutting your own finger. It uses a slip joint which is good enough to keep it open for minor utility work like slicing open the tape on a box, but not much else.

Swiss army knives tend to be "big" because they contain other utility tools as well. Like nail files, screw driver tips, and other little gadgets. The blades are very small and tend to be around 2" depending upon the style of the knife.



As for Zaap, the black lump in your other photo is labeled #4 and is indeed the wallet, but it is also further up the sidewalk. The black lump in the comparison photo near the edge of the street has the #1 card next to it. That is the same number shown in the LAPD tweeted out photo which has the picture of a knife in what looks to be the actual street or curb edge. Of which the main photo of the scene has no police placards in that area. You can easily see that in the photo in the tweeted shot of the "close up' of the knife as the cement behind it does not match the sidewalk in that area, but does match the little gutter area. The sidewalk in that area has a very glossy finish with a much richer shade of gray than the gutter does which has no glossy finish and has a browner tinge to it.

Yes the police can move things around, but normally not to the extent that they've shown in the various photos. Nor would they scatter around objects like they are in the placard photo of the sidewalk unless the items fell that way originally.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Looks a lot like this Centurion

http://www.swissknifeshop.com/swiss-army-centurion

I would have to say the main blade is 4" long

Length (Closed): 4.37 inches

 

[HumblePie]

Looks a lot like this Centurion

http://www.swissknifeshop.com/swiss-army-centurion

I would have to say the main blade is 4" long

Close, but there is a swoop at the end of the scales not present on that centurion. The Centurion is one of the few rare bigger swiss army folders that actually locks as well.

 

[Zaap]

The black lump in the comparison photo near the edge of the street has the #1 card next to it.

No it doesn't.

The dead giveaway that the knife is in the exact same place in each photo (and again, it seems you're not seeing the actual #1 marker in the edge-of-street photo) is the straight line in the concrete under the end of the knife. That line is INDEED along the indentation of the concrete area between street and sidewalk, EXACTLY where the marker is in relation to it.

Of which the main photo of the scene has no police placards in that area.

Again, actually it DOES. It's at an angle along the depression in the sidewalk, (exactly along the crease where that telltale line in the concrete is).

For an easier time visualizing it, note the slope of the curve down to the street, now trace a straight line out from it. There's the marker, the knife will be next to it, it's just not visible in the photo due to the slope.

 

[HumblePie]

As I did point out, the close up photo of the knife has the background cement that matches the gutter cement and not the sidewalk. The photo for the items around the body place all the items on the sidewalk with the match #1 placard for the knife next a black lump that is close to the 'dip' in the sidewalk in one photo.

 

[Zaap]

The photo for the items around the body place all the items on the sidewalk with the match #1 placard for the knife next a black lump that is close to the 'dip' in the sidewalk in one photo.

Please post the photo that supposedly shows this. I don't see it.

 

[Zaap]

Looks a lot like this Centurion

http://www.swissknifeshop.com/swiss-army-centurion

I would have to say the main blade is 4" long

Seeing the knife- or at least similar version, I'm thinking now the knife IS actually clearly visible in both street photos. Since the top edge of it is probably shiny from having multiple blades, it's possibly just showing up as bright white reflection- if so, then that reflection would be what's visible beside the marker in the gutter, as well as possibly the bright white reflection in the top photo where the body is still present. (Could also be reflected light from water though.)

 

[HumblePie]

Please post the photo that supposedly shows this. I don't see it.

I've done it better with the photos used.

The only thing that could possibly be different is if that knife is actually in the gutter and is being obscured by the curb from the photos. But the tweet by the police in the second photo were trying to indicate the knife was on the sidewalk and not in the gutter despite the close up photo of the knife showing it on the cement that matches the gutter and not the sidewalk. That could have been a mistake.

 

[Zaap]

No, that's not the #1 marker. It's the #4 marker. The other marker (presumably #5, but looks like a #7) is just further up the sidewalk.)

 

[HumblePie]

Secondly, if you watch the video in the OPs link to the article, you'll see that the man was shot at the very corner of the sidewalk where it dips down. The picture in the police tweet of the supposed location of the knife is much further away. If I had to guess, that is a placard for a shell casing and not the knife as that makes much more logical sense.

 

[HumblePie]

No, that's not the #1 marker. It's the #4 marker. The other marker (presumably #5, but looks like a #7) is just further up the sidewalk.)

The man was shot at the corner of the sidewalk. Watch the video. How the hell would his knife get to what looks like 20 feet away from his body and the rest of his belongings? That placard is not the number 1 placard and several of the more recent news articles have said the knife was at the edge of the sidewalk. That is a placard for more than likely a shell casing from a shot fired by an officer.

 

[Jaskalas]

P&N: Crime Detectives?

 

[Zaap]

The man was shot at the corner of the sidewalk. Watch the video. How the hell would his knife get to what looks like 20 feet away from his body and the rest of his belongings? That placard is not the number 1 placard and several of the more recent news articles have said the knife was at the edge of the sidewalk. That is a placard for more than likely a shell casing from a shot fired by an officer.

No idea what you're looking at.

 

[Zaap]

P&N: Crime Detectives?

 

[HumblePie]

This video has a still image of the knife from the side which shows it to be a swiss army style knife.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...an-outside-hollywood-mall-20141206-story.html

 

[HumblePie]

No idea what you're looking at.

Ahh, that is the number 1 placard as you are right, although the tweet the officers did claims the knife in the image which is further back and on the sidewalk.

 

[Zaap]

This video has a still image of the knife from the side which shows it to be a swiss army style knife.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...an-outside-hollywood-mall-20141206-story.html

Yup, the cup lid even helps place it exactly. Case closed.

 

[HumblePie]

Yup, the cup lid even helps place it exactly. Case closed.

Which is a very small knife that isn't going to be hurting several officers with guns drawn several feet away. It is not a threat even if he did have his hands out with it and was "making threatening motions" with it. Which according to several witnesses videoing the scene said that didn't happen.

 

[Zaap]

No idea about that. I'd venture a guess that cops aren't going to stop and Google a knife before they decide that one is dangerous enough or not if a suspect has one.

I have no idea if it was a clean shoot or not, (not enough info) but the charges of planting the weapon are clearly bogus. Why on earth would cops 'plant' a weapon that wasn't a slam dunk?

 

[HumblePie]

No idea about that. I'd venture a guess that cops aren't going to stop and Google a knife before they decide that one is dangerous enough or not if a suspect has one.

I have no idea if it was a clean shoot or not, (not enough info) but the charges of planting the weapon are clearly bogus. Why on earth would cops 'plant' a weapon that wasn't a slam dunk?

Because it's all they had on them at the time in a hurry?

They obviously pulled his possessions out of his clothing to catalog them such as his wallet as the videos clearly show there were no items on the sidewalk or gutter prior to the placards being placed. The guy could have had the pocket knife in his pocket.

I did note the police didn't say that the knife was actually being threatened against any officers. All the stated was that they recovered a knife at the scene. Which could have been something they pulled out of his pocket and has no bearing at all upon what happened.

 

[Zaap]

Because it's all they had on them at the time in a hurry?

LOL, okay sure.

I'm going to go with "Because it was the only one the Hollywood Walk of Fame Gift Shop had on such short notice."

I mean, if we're just gonna speculate might as well make up a more interesting story.

 

[HumblePie]

LOL, okay sure.

I'm going to go with "Because it was the only one the Hollywood Walk of Fame Gift Shop had on such short notice."

I mean, if we're just gonna speculate might as well make up a more interesting story.

Hey, I didn't claim it was planted. Only that the knife was not on the ground in the original videos, nor were any of his other possessions.

The knife could have been his they pulled from his pocket. Which makes it "evidence" but not something that was used in a possible crime of threatening police officers.

Or if there were no knife and the police did plant it, which police have planted evidence in the past, then they would plant what they had on hand I would assume. It's not like they can order a crocodile dundee bowie knife right on the spot and plant it if they had planted a knife.

I'm not saying that evidence was planted in this case. I do think the knife is a red herring as I think they pulled it from his pocket along with other possessions when they were cataloging his personal articles. Again the language the police used was that the knife was recovered at the scene. Not a knife recovered at the scene allegedly used to threaten officers. There is a distinct difference there.

 

[Subyman]

What happened to tasering people? Even if he did have that pathetically small knife and was waving it around, I don't think it was cause for three head shots. Police seem to be on a hair trigger for some reason. Even back in the old days when police were really nuts they just bludgeoned people, like Rodney King. Now we got cops capping people.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Like all other such cases this needs to be thoroughly examined and whatever wrong done punished just as if it were an ordinary citizen who killed another.

I'll also say that this didn't make much in the news or here because white people being killed by police do not matter nearly as much as minorities, and that upsets me. Statistics do not matter to the victim or those who may have cared for him, but the press and other reprehensible "leaders" have naught to gain.

Not in the news?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=lapd...hoot+man+hollywood&rls=Palemoon:en-US&tbm=nws