In the middle of the media feeding frenzy pillorying the RCMP members involved responding to the disturbance caused by Polish traveler Robert Dziekanski who died after being Tasered, Vancouver Police officers shot and killed Michael Vann Hubbard in a busy area of downtown Vancouver.
The initial reports were that he was a homeless man being checked as a possible suspect in a theft from a vehicle and in the process pulled a knife and was shot. The two officers involved were both female and the usual nonsense was inevitable from the media, the hand-wringers and the cop haters. Some of whom, I might add, are indistinguishable from the others.
But what was really amusing was the comments from some of the same folks blue with rage in their criticism of the RCMP for using a Taser on Dziekanski asking why the VPD officers involved in the shooting weren't armed with Tasers so they didn't have to shoot Vann Hubbard.
The mind boggles at the sheer hypocrisy.
But even though the shooting is under investigation the cop critics were in full voice. And they were happy to pile on the heels of the Braidwood inquiry into the death of Dziekanski. Police were being referred to as thugs and murderers.
On Friday members of the Vann Hubbard family filed a lawsuit claiming wrongful death on behalf of the VPD. Well, whatever. They have described their father as gentle and law abiding. Perhaps he was when they knew him, but when he was in Vancouver, he was homeless and violent as evidenced by his own behaviour.
He was being checked by two police officers while he was carrying a black backpack similar in description to one just stolen from a vehicle. According to a memo circulated by the Chief Constable of the VPD, Jim Chu, they engaged him in conversation for at least a minute that was "uneventful."
Suddenly, Vann Hubbard pulled a utility knife, a boxcutter if you will, that was razor sharp and fully extended. He approached the police officers with it and they pulled their service weapons and retreated trying to keep a safe distance while containing the armed man. All the while they endeavoured to keep busy downtown pedestrian traffic out of harm's way.
When at length, this "gentle man" charged at one of the officers after one minute and forty seconds of the standoff, he was shot. Once, to the centre of mass, just like the officer was trained to do. Vann Hubbard died as a result.
Those who were trying to nail the police to the wall, and I include the complicit media in this statement, tried to obfuscate the sequence of events to paint the police as killers and all manner of evil things. The reality is that they were doing their jobs in investigating a just occurred theft from auto and wound up being themselves placed in harm's way. Those two members, and females both I might add, accepted their responsibility in spite of the danger, and while trying to focus on the danger they faced also did everything they could to keep the public out of harm's way as the drama unfolded.
Never mind the nonsense from the family, from the so-called witness who said the police deleted a video from his phone while saying the police fired several shots, never mind all the nonsense. There are three independent videos of the shooting all of which corroborate the police version of events in the shooting.
Those two police officers did their jobs on that day and for that they deserve to be supported not chastised by the chattering class.
And for the family, I am sorry for your loss. But really, why was your loved one homeless in Vancouver? Why did he pull a utility knife one minute after being engaged by the police? And finally, in the face of warnings to drop the knife, why did he charge at one officer? Waste your time, money and energy in a lawsuit if you want, but the two members of the VPD did their job on that fateful day. And they carry a distinct sadness as a result.
Chief Constable Jim Chu did a service to the police officers of VPD with his memo. Hopefully the public airing of that memo will shut up those drowning in their ignorance when they are so quick to criticize those who protect the rest of us.
Leo Knight
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8 comments:
It seems obvious to me that the family is trying benefit from their father's death, when they could not from his life. These days, it seems that anybody will try to benefit from the death of somebody's bad actions. Screw them, those officers did their jobs. And we have one less DIRTBAG to complain about in the process.
Amen to what Anon # 1 said. Will the left wing media and the professional hand wringers offer their apoligies when it finally comes out that there was never any video from the half stoned pot activist? I doubt it. Will Pivot bill this retard for the full cost of sending his cell phone to the 2 firms that tried to retrieve a video that never existed?
Abbotsford Police are reviewing videos from 2 well placed sources. Two independent witnesses dispute the VPD account. The aged target was a very slight man and it is likely that he carried one of those pencil thin artist' blades, which VPD mislabeled as an "Exacto" knife. That said, an Asp Baton should have been the weapon of choice because they are effective - not only as an impact weapon - but for distancing. Frankly, if I was there and couldn't reason with the man, I would have rolled up a newspaper and used open handed techniques to pacify Mr Vann, rather than act out the Dirty Harry scenario that the 2 estrogen intoxicated chics-with-balls played out. Maybe they have issues with men, in general. Show me how Mr Vann could have used that paper cutter as a weapon. He could have used some compassion and pro-active service. That is what our taxes pay for. Peace!
To the person that said they should use a baton. Why in God's name would you put yourself in striking distance of a man with a sharp knife (who cares what kind it was). No one there new his capabilities and no one there was aware at what lengths he might go to use the weapon. Its very easy to be critical at this time since someone unfortunately died but you are insane if you would challenge a homeless man carrying a sharp but probably dirty knife with "open handed techniques" or a newspaper. Give me break! I am sure you are also saying they should have used their taser while at the same time criticizing police in the Dziekanski death.
Q
Anon 3, how could the VPD mislabel a knife that you think "is likely" to be an artist blade? It could have been a fork for all I care. Was he an artist or was he just hungry? Does it matter? Those little blades don't have a diamond-edge like surgeons tools, but it can pierce deep into your organs, or slash open dermia.. possible disembowelment with maybe 3 seconds of effort. When somebody "wields" an object with intent of use, you should presume the user is skilled in using it, and respond to it as a threat. Maybe you have issues with women serving as peace officers, you misogynist. "Pro-active service," as you call it, would be warning the public against wielding anything that could be used as a weapon against our peace officers, which could really be anything, and to listen to their demands to drop it, you lunatic. If you have a rolled-up newspaper and they tell you to drop it, you had better, because for all they know you have a lead pipe with a newspaper wrapped around it. I'm sure you are a martial arts expert in your own mind, or one of those MMA wannabe's, but when your job depends on taking risks, you have to take the least risk or you end up dead. Cry us a river for this "slight man" -- which is your opinion. Bruce Lee was a "slight man" -- by my opinion. And if he was dancing around with a weapon and not listening to me to drop it, and then charge at me, I would have shot him center-mass too.
I love this douchebag who'd roll up a newspaper and use open hand tactics to pacify him. He'd need the other hand to hold his own intestines in.
Another keyboard hero.
haha ya a newspaper, because it stops knives and bullets, everybody knows that. Saturday editions stop supersonic rounds, and 50% chance if the projectile's velocity exceeds 1500 ft/s, much like level 3A. Forget the knife, you should be more concerned about getting gassed (thrown feces or other biowaste at).. Oh wait, a newspaper stops that too, just wrap it around your face. That guy should make newspaper suits, I'm sure they would replace the NBC suits and soldiers wouldn't need to wear rifle plates anymore either. Oh you know, maybe he was an April Fool, oh, nope, he wrote that the day before. Maybe is he'd waited 20 hours or so, we would have thought it was a joke.. but I guess he was serious!! Maybe he meant roll it up so they could hit the bum on his nose, "bad bum! Baaaad!"
Will he ever come back to defend his statement? I want some more fuel.
Yeah, real biased opinion, skinhead. Hubbard was obviously innocent or the investigation would be over by now. Where are these videos showing him advancing with a knife? Where is the pathologists' report? Where is the final word proving Hubbard was the aggressor? You know damn well if there was any evidence against him besides the word of a corrupt cop, it would be plastered all over the news by now. But it isn't, because they have no more tricks up their sleeve. The family has every right to seek the truth. No one else will care enough about a homeless man to protect him. The cops obviously didn't.
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