this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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“I will no longer be complicit in genocide [in Gaza]. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest,” the man apparently said before setting himself alight and repeatedly shouting “Free Palestine!”

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[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

If your job is to secure the embassy/ site/ scene you work down a list. They clearly followed the list.

We now know that he was no risk, but they couldn't.

They aren't equipped with fire extinguishers (aside from the guy who got one), so are you assuming they should jump on him? Smother a fuel fire with their bodies? Does that secure the site? No. It's also not realistic.

Seems like securing the site then 1 person getting a fire extinguisher is a completely responsible response.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

He'd already fallen down and stopped screaming when they drew on him. What threat would he pose that a gun was going to solve at that time? Before you say bomb, think carefully about what a gun was going to do in that circumstance.

No, this was an example (once again) that "try to kill anything you don't immediately understand" is the default condition of our law enforcement. Last week's example was an acorn, and a very, very lucky handcuffed man in the back of a police cruiser.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is not the acorn thing at all. They are trained to secure the embassy and they did that.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for ignoring everything else I wrote.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I ignored it because it's irrelevant. You're applying a subjective value assessment to professionals following training. It's ugly, but it's not meant to be "nice" or compassionate. They are there to protect the embassy

[–] zaphod@lemmy.ca 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I ignored it because it's irrelevant.

You ignored the context and circumstances because they're irrelevant?

Your answer to every comment has consistently been (paraphrasing): "trust the cops, they know what they're doing", irrespective of any surrounding facts that might suggest otherwise, or any past history that would suggest that law enforcement doesn't deserve that level of blind trust.

Given that, there's little point in further discussion.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

Unfortunately for everyone here, the security staff do not care. That's the reality and the hard stop. There's nothing else.

Everyone is applying subjective value judgements, and hindsight evaluations on this. They don't apply.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I just want to know what they were going to prevent with guns, given he was immobilized and not even screaming anymore in addition to being engulfed in flames. You seem to have all the answers, so I'm sure there must be something dangerous he could have done at that point which could have been stopped by a gun - please just tell me what it was.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They don't know what they're walking into. We know after the fact what they had.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

But they know possibilities right?

If I say "guy in a store with a gun" - he could be a robber, he could be a murderer, he could have hostages, etc.

This guy was down, engulfed in flames, and not screaming when they drew. So what possibilities come up when I say "guy on the ground, on fire, past the ability to communicate or travel under his own power" that is a problem a gun could solve?

In any case this:

They don’t know what they’re walking into. We know after the fact what they had.

Is just a more palatable (to you) way to say this, which is what I wrote in the first comment of mine you replied to:

this was an example (once again) that “try to kill anything you don’t immediately understand” is the default condition of our law enforcement.

See, we agree!

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They are security staff. They approach anything and secure it. Everything else is subjective

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Why even bother to reply if that's the only thing you are capable of saying? We both know there isn't a reasonable answer to the question I keep asking.

Fuckers threatening a service-member with deadly force for compliance while he burns to death, and lots of folks jumping up to defend it. At the very least I refuse to accept these empty platitudes.

Edit - clarification of wording

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I mean, same to you?

You don't like the behavior of security staff who have one very cold, very unfriendly goal: keep the embassy safe. I doubt they have specific training on self immolation so obviously they used standard procedure.

They don't give a fuck about public perception, the feelings of the involved individuals, etc.

Everyone keeps asking " why weren't they this or that or the other thing". There's one root answer weather folks like it or not.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean, same to you?

I guess I kept hoping for an actual answer to the question I kept asking, as one might expect during an honest discussion. Don't worry, I've given up now.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

The actual answer is truly that these professional security types don't care. They go guns ready for anything that is remotely threatening to the embassy. A dude on fire on the perimeter apparently counts, no matter what we think of that.

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