Fatal Cop Shooting of Antonio Martin in Berkeley, Missouri Sparks Clashes

[EC]

Here we go again.

A cop fatally shot a teenager at a gas station late Tuesday just miles from Ferguson, Missouri, police said, setting off angry clashes between demonstrators and officers.

St. Louis County Police confirmed in a statement that an officer from the city of Berkeley had "fired several shots," saying the cop was "fearing for his life" after a male allegedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him. A handgun was recovered at the scene, police added.

Police did not confirm the victim's identity, but a distraught woman at the scene identified herself to reporters as Toni Martin and said that her 18-year-old son, Antonio Martin, was the victim.

"He only just left the house to go see his girlfriend. Maybe he started to run and they got shooting," she said, adding that she did not think her son was carrying a gun. Toni Martin — who said her son's girlfriend had told her about the shooting and brought her to the scene — told reporters Antonio had turned 18 in September and used to attend nearby Jennings High School.

Berkeley is just two miles from Ferguson, Missouri, where the fatal police shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown set off violent protests that spread nationwide. Early Wednesday, an angry crowd of about 200 gathered in Berkeley near the gas station and clashed with police as a body lay covered on the ground.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fatal-cop-shooting-antonio-martin-berkeley-missouri-sparks-clashes-n274181

[alicewonders]

Aw crap!

[GourmetDan]

"He only just left the house to go see his girlfriend. Maybe he started to run and they got shooting," she said, adding that she did not think her son was carrying a gun.

Unfortunately, CCTV shows the guy pointing a gun at the officer...

CCTV shows moment black teen, 18, pointed gun at a St Louis cop who was responding to reports of theft - at a gas station just three miles from where Michael Brown was killed

[EC]

That CCTV is blurry as hell - hard to make out what is going on.  Wonder why the dash cam was off - it shouldn't have been.

On another note:

Al Jazeera America ‏@ajam 7s7 seconds ago

White Missouri cop kills armed black 18-year-old http://alj.am/1xbysrD

No bias there ....

[aligncare]

Police across the nation are feeling under siege. The police station in Queens across from my office has two police guarding the entrance 24/7. It's a war out there and cops are on war footing.

[mystery-ak]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/24/st-louis-county-police-officer-kills-man-who-pulled-gun-authorities-say/?intcmp=latestnews
Violent protests after St. Louis County police officer kills man who pulled gun, authorities say

[NavyCanDo]

In the video it definitely looks like a gun to me. At the very least there is a 100% certainty that his right arm is pointed towards the police car in a shooting posture.   No doubt that this was a justified shooting - yet the facts don't matter to the protestors. 

[Scottftlc]

Police across the nation are feeling under siege. The police station in Queens across from my office has two police guarding the entrance 24/7. It's a war out there and cops are on war footing.

Of course they are feeling under seige...Obama, Holder, Sharpton, de Blasio etc. and ALL these protesters are saying that black thugs have the right to commit crimes and to KILL cops without consequences.  When the leadership structure and a segment of the population - the segment that commits the highest proportion of crime at that - is politically agitating strongly for the ability to KILL you without you being even able to defend your own life...well, yeah, you will be feeling under siege.

[GourmetDan]

Of course they are feeling under seige...Obama, Holder, Sharpton, de Blasio etc. and ALL these protesters are saying that black thugs have the right to commit crimes and to KILL cops without consequences.  When the leadership structure and a segment of the population - the segment that commits the highest proportion of crime at that - is politically agitating strongly for the ability to KILL you without you being even able to defend your own life...well, yeah, you will be feeling under siege.

And the siege won't let up until the police agree to be federalized.  Only then will it dissipate... by design.

There's only one group in this country that could be used for this purpose and you're watching it happen...

[Carling]

That CCTV is blurry as hell - hard to make out what is going on.  Wonder why the dash cam was off - it shouldn't have been.

On another note:

No bias there ....

A gun was found at the scene.  Witnesses saw a gun.  CCTV shows a gun.  Point a gun at a cop, and you're going to get shot.  This is a nothing story, just like Mike Brown the felon in Ferguson, as well as the obese guy from NYC who had been arrested 30-some times.

[Fishrrman]

I believe this perp, though only 18, already had an extensive criminal resume including armed robbery.

Sounds like one more case of a bad black getting his comeuppance...

[jmyrlefuller]

A gun was found at the scene.  Witnesses saw a gun.  CCTV shows a gun.  Point a gun at a cop, and you're going to get shot.

May I expand that to:

“Point a gun at ANYONE, and if they're also armed, you're going to get shot.” Cops, by rule, are almost always armed, so you're only asking for trouble.