Unarmed man charged for assault, after NYPD shoot 2 bystanders

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**Ninjacommando**

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/nyregion/unarmed-man-is-charged-with-wounding-bystanders-shot-by-police-near-times-square.html?_r=2&

An unarmed, emotionally disturbed man shot at by the police as he was lurching around traffic near Times Square in September has been charged with assault, on the theory that he was responsible for bullet wounds suffered by two bystanders, according to an indictment unsealed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Wednesday.

The man, Glenn Broadnax, 35, of Brooklyn, created a disturbance on Sept. 14, wading into traffic at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue and throwing himself into the path of oncoming cars.

A curious crowd grew. Police officers arrived and tried to corral Mr. Broadnax, a 250-pound man. When he reached into his pants pocket, two officers, who, the police said, thought he was pulling a gun, opened fire, missing Mr. Broadnax, but hitting two nearby women. Finally, a police sergeant knocked Mr. Broadnax down with a Taser.

The shootings once again raised questions about the police use of firearms in crowded areas and drew comparisons to a shooting a year ago, when officers struck nine bystanders in front of the Empire State Building when they killed an armed murder suspect.

Initially Mr. Broadnax was arrested on misdemeanor charges of menacing, drug possession and resisting arrest. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office persuaded a grand jury to charge Mr. Broadnax with assault, a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years. Specifically, the nine-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday said Mr. Broadnax “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”

“The defendant is the one that created the situation that injured innocent bystanders,” said an assistant district attorney, Shannon Lucey.

The two police officers, who have not been identified, have been placed on administrative duty and their actions are still under investigation by the district attorney’s office, law enforcement officials said. They also face an internal Police Department inquiry.

Mr. Broadnax’s lawyer, Rigodis Appling, said Mr. Broadnax suffered from anxiety and depression and had been disoriented and scared when the police shot at him. He was reaching for his wallet, not a gun, she said. “Mr. Broadnax never imagined his behavior would ever cause the police to shoot at him,” she said.

After his arrest, Mr. Broadnax was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he told a detective that “he was talking to dead relatives in his head and that he tried throwing himself in front of cars to kill himself,” according to a court document released on Wednesday.

A judge ordered a mental evaluation, and a psychiatrist later found Mr. Broadnax competent to stand trial, Ms. Appling said.

On Wednesday, Justice Gregory Carro set bail at $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash.

Mariann Wang, a lawyer representing Sahar Khoshakhlagh, one of the women who was wounded, said the district attorney should be pursuing charges against the two officers who fired their weapons in a crowd, not against Mr. Broadnax. “It’s an incredibly unfortunate use of prosecutorial discretion to be prosecuting a man who didn’t even injure my client,” she said. “It’s the police who injured my client.”

TLDR "He created the problem and is responsible for the 2 women being shot, Its not the Police offciers fault"

thoughts?

**daedalus**

The police are blaming the victim.

**Bromsy**

daedalus wrote:
The police are blaming the victim.

The police are trying to force the victims to blame the victim. It's .... a perfect storm.

**djones520**

NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

**daedalus**

Bromsy wrote:
daedalus wrote:
The police are blaming the victim.

The police are trying to force the victims to blame the victim. It's .... a perfect storm.

Victimception.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

Meanwhile the good Samaritan who hasn't fired his gun to hurt anyone for 4 years puts five rounds in a thug robbing a store.

Conclusion: You're safer with private gun fanatics defending you than the police. The fanatics bother to practice.

**d-usa**

If only everybody involved had a gun...

**djones520**

d-usa wrote:
If only everybody involved had a gun...

Well, since New York is trying to take everyones gun away, we'll never know...

**Palindrome**

d-usa wrote:
If only everybody involved had a gun...

The death toll would have been massive.

**Bromsy**

Palindrome wrote:
d-usa wrote:
If only everybody involved had a gun...

The death toll would have been massively awesome.

**BobtheInquisitor**

How serious were the injuries? It might not make much legal difference, but the situation would feel very differently if the women were hit in the face or spine or somewhere vital than if they received flesh wounds.

**Seaward**

djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

I remain convinced that at least part of it can be attributed to the excessively heavy trigger the city mandates they carry to reduce the potential of them giving themselves a case of Glock leg. Shooting a 12lbs trigger under stress is tough.

**Gentleman_Jellyfish**

Seaward wrote:
djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

I remain convinced that at least part of it can be attributed to the excessively heavy trigger the city mandates they carry to reduce the potential of them giving themselves a case of Glock leg. Shooting a 12lbs trigger under stress is tough.

Is that something that could be fixed with more mandated hours at the range? Or is it just a hurdle that some people are unable to get over?

**Seaward**

It could be fixed, I'm sure. People learn to shoot gakky triggers well all the time. But combining a gakky, heavy trigger with minimal range time is a recipe for disaster, and I don't see New York suddenly upping its ammo budget anytime soon.

**motyak**

Was it these guys?

**Ouze**

Ninjacommando wrote:
TLDR "He created the problem and is responsible for the 2 women being shot, Its not the Police offciers fault"

thoughts?

It's not without some precedent. It's well established that once you are culpable for unintended consequences of criminal situations you engage in: for example, if you rob a bank, and the teller drops dead, you can be charged with murder, even though you didn't kill the teller directly.

I think they're overreaching with this one, though, and even if he can't prevail with a diminished capacity argument it's fair to say, in my opinion, he didn't create the grave risk to another person.

Also kinda curious why they didn't go for the Taser initially. I mean, it obviously worked well enough once employed.

**SilverMK2**

How can you miss a 250lb man? At the very least gravity should have done most of the aiming for them...

**PredaKhaine**

SilverMK2 wrote:
How can you miss a 250lb man? At the very least gravity should have done most of the aiming for them...

That was my thought too, He was also trying to kill himself. Were the police taunting him by missing?

"Haha - I'm not going to kill you - that woman over there who wasn't involved managed to get shot, but not you, you 250lb bullet dodging suicidal ninja"

Said the policeman in my head...

**Peregrine**

Fire the police officers involved and hit them with criminal charges as if they had been any random person shooting into a crowd.

Execute the district attorney for incompetence.

Repeat as needed until things like this stop happening.

**carlos13th**

Its yet another example of police operating with impunity and taking no responsibility for their actions.

**SilverMK2**

Peregrine wrote:
Repeat as needed until things like this stop happening.

But who will arrest, try, convict and execute the last human being alive?

**notprop**

Judge Death of coursssssssssssss law breaker.

I like the cut of these Police Officers jibs; Shoot first tazer later. Its the only way to be sure.

**SilverMK2**

notprop wrote:
Judge Death of coursssssssssssss law breaker.

I like the cut of these Police Officers jibs; Shoot first tazer later. Its the only way to be sure.

**DogofWar1**

This is sad. I can understand the cops shooting after it looked like he was going for something in his pocket (though I'm wary of trusting that, since that's a go-to excuse if they step over a line with firearms, similar to how they use "I smelled weed" to get probable cause), because even though I disagree with how quickly police shoot once they see someone reaching for their pocket, especially in crowded areas, I can at least understand the rationale. And unfortunately, bystanders might get shot. But charging someone with the injuries caused by the police shooting is silly.

SilverMK2 wrote:

But who will arrest, try, convict and execute the last human being alive?

Well, hopefully the last person alive is Judge Dredd, and he has the conviction to off himself if it becomes necessary.

**KingCracker**

SilverMK2 wrote:
How can you miss a 250lb man? At the very least gravity should have done most of the aiming for them...

Not to mention being inside taser range. Those things are good for only 30 to 40 feet? Yikes.... you have to want to miss.

**MeanGreenStompa**

Charging him reeks of panic to avoid lawsuits against their bungling response.

**the shrouded lord**

If all officers involved are mentally slowed, this is meh. If they aren't,

About the triggers, if they've been trained with them (from beginning) the weight shouldnt matter, if they trained with normal,

Again.

**chaos0xomega**

djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

I'll still take NYPD over LAPD any day.

**Dreadclaw69**

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Charging him reeks of panic to avoid lawsuits against their bungling response.

Pretty much my thinking too. Get in and muddy the water before any lawsuit from the injured bystanders gets filed/settled and hope that you can drag it out until the statute of limitations kicks in

**Alfndrate**

Ninjacommando wrote:thoughts?

Isn't one of the first things they teach you when learning to fire a gun is to always be mindful about what's down range? Obviously these mavericks missed the first day of class at the Police Academy.

SilverMK2 wrote:How can you miss a 250lb man? At the very least gravity should have done most of the aiming for them...

Hey! I'm a 250lb man, and let me tell you, I don't have that good of a gravity pull yet

**Frazzled**

Seaward wrote:
djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

I remain convinced that at least part of it can be attributed to the excessively heavy trigger the city mandates they carry to reduce the potential of them giving themselves a case of Glock leg. Shooting a 12lbs trigger under stress is tough.

Thats a good point actually.

This follows under old stare decisis and/or statute law, that a BG is responsbile for the results, including damage from those attempting to apprehend him. Its a little more complicated though when they are blasting away and he's unarmed. The issue is was he really reaching or is that the excuse given?

Automatically Appended Next Post:

chaos0xomega wrote:
djones520 wrote:
NYPD seriously needs to put some money into fire arm training. This is just ridiculous.

I'll still take NYPD over LAPD any day.

Nah. LAPD hits what they shoot at (a lot). Its what they are shooting at that can be the problem.