Comments

1

"Press Charges"? Good grief. Pressing charges occurs in criminal law when a victim opts to proceed against a defendant when the prosecuting attorney agrees there is evidence of a crime. What Mr Gladen Jr intends to do is sue, which is de rigueur and hardly news. Whoever wrote this headline is either too ignorant to be allowed near a newspaper press or Trumpishly misspeaking so as to imply criminal culpability on the part of the officer in this shooting.

2

Most of this article is based on hindsight. In the moment, when the victim was rushing the officer with knife in hand, I would like to know alternatives to what the officer ended up doing.

I wish people would give alternatives for their argument instead of using hindsight. And, the Mercury ALWAYS leaves out important details to build their "case" that EVERY shooting of an African-American man is racist.

Again, what would be the alternative to what actually happened? What would you like the officer to have done in this situation? From the Oregonian:

"When an East Precinct officer arrived, Gladen ran inside the home (breaking and entering) and fell on the living room floor. Precinct Officer Consider Vosu followed and struggled to turn Gladen onto his stomach to try to handcuff him, but Gladen kicked the officer off and ran into a rear bedroom, Pescaia told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an interview. The officer, cornered in the bedroom, fired a Taser at Gladen after several warnings to get back, Pescaia said. Gladen fell down briefly but got back up.

Gladen then pulled a knife and went toward the officer and Vosu fired three shots from his handgun, Pescaia said. Gladen was taken by ambulance and declared dead at a local hospital, police said."

4

The woman who called the police wanted them to help him, not kill him. That's what she said anyway, who knows what the truth is. Anyone with half a brain knows if you call the cops on a black person in America there is a near 100% chance they will be murdered no matter what the circumstances are.

If cops are able to take armed mass shooters alive, they can take down a mentally ill person with a knife ALIVE. Pretending the only option was to shoot to kill is bullshit. And I love how everyone acts like the family is to blame. Have you ever had a mentally family member or friend? Have you ever had to deal with them during a crisis or their refusal to take medication or even try to navigate the shit show that is the "health care" system in this country and try to get them help (which you can't do against their will, even if it's in their best interest).

The real question is, since the police cannot be trusted not to murder people in crisis, especially and specifically if they are black, who is to be called? The fire department? EMTs? It's not like this country gives a shit about mentally ill people or black people either. It's not like there is a emergency response agency that exists to help those experiencing a mental health crisis. We as a society have dumped the mentally on the streets, blame them for their inability to hold a job or not be homeless or not self-medicate.

The ONLY thing this country cares about our understand is MONEY. There is no consideration or value of human life or any other life for that matter. Why is the family suing? Because MONEY is the only language this country speaks. No one gives a shit about their family member who was murdered. Lots of people care about any MONEY that they might get.

5

"if you call the cops on a black person in America there is a near 100% chance they will be murdered no matter what the circumstances are."

I suppose that's correct if you assume that near 100% of black people are stupid enough to argue with, fight and pull a weapon on the police.

6

"since the police cannot be trusted not to murder people in crisis"

Guy with a knife busts into your apartment. I'm sure you would just calmly offer him a spot of tea and talk him down. That always works.

Or maybe it's both sad but also 100% correct what the officer had to do in this situation. Their job is to protect the public from danger, and it doesn't make a knife attack any less dangerous just because the person wielding the knife is going through an episode of some sort.

7

What could PPB have done some of you ask?
A lot more when they got the call. Assess the call & the info provided. ANDRE CATREL GLADEN, SR., was BAREFOOT, had soiled himself & was SLEEPING on a STRANGER’s porch under the awning out of the rain. Portland police were called & given that info. ANDRE was also LEGALLY BLIND, struggling with PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA and a BLACK MAN. Within minutes of a lone rookie officer arriving, ANDRE was KILLED BY POLICE. ANDRE had lived 36 years on this EARTH & HE was killed HIS first month living with family in Portland, Oregon 🖤
.....
🖤💔ANDRE CATREL GLADEN, SR.
SAY HIS NAME🖤💔
Shame on portlandpolice failed AGAIN
You’ve failed your community again. Why??? How do you dispatch calls like this? Based on the basic facts that were called in, an incoherent man, sleeping on a strangers porch, middle of the afternoon, barefoot, soiled pants... HOW do you use assess how this particular person, a human, is likely to respond based on the details you were provided - do you really think a person sleeping barefoot in rain on a strangers porch is going to coherent, cooperative, understanding, mentally alert? Couple that with, if this person’s race was given to 911 that too plays into this response of both cop & civilian. This person waking up disoriented to see cop/ cop car/ sirens / what do you think their reaction will be - flee / run. How can YOU PAID & TRAINED PPB prepare for that & #DEESCALATE the situation? 🚑Where was the behavioral health unit? What is the protocol? MentalCrisis team should have additional resources, the ambulances & teams they need to go to these calls. PPB has all the shiny expensive💰toys, vehicles & officers 💰for the occasional protest. ......
This city lives in a daily constant state of
this human crisis. Funds should be reallocated for this.
🖤 #shame

8

Kudos to the officer for his clear headedness. He tried a less than lethal but Mr. Gladen decided to not comply and the officer did the right thing when confronted with a lethal threat. Remember Mr. Gladen got to choose, the officer didn't.

9

"ANDRE was also LEGALLY BLIND, struggling with PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA and a BLACK MAN. "

First two were unknown to everyone involved and the last is irrelevant.

10

@SayHisName: Again, you're using hindsight as your argument.

"An incoherent man, sleeping on a strangers porch, middle of the afternoon, barefoot, soiled pants" -Who is to say this wasn't a meth-head coming down from a bender?

Officer approached, victim broke and entered into a home (a crime), officer tried to detain him (handcuffs are non-lethal), victim fought with officer and broke free (another crime), officer tried to tase him (non-lethal), victim pulled out a knife (lethal weapon) and lunged towards the officer (another crime), officer forced to use a lethal option.

WITHOUT the use of hindsight, what would you have preferred the officer to do after the victim broke and entered into the home? Start from there and refrain from any rainbows and lollipops solution.

11

@Douglas_Banter... What do people like @SAYHISNAME prefer officers do in similar situations? The flip answer will be "Not murder people." The "deep" answer will focus on magical training that has never existed except in the minds of people who have never had to confront a person in crisis in an uncontrolled environment. The real answer is they want cops to leave them and theirs alone regardless of what they have done... unless they call, and then, by gosh, the cops are incompetent, worthless, and don't care.


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