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Facebook temporarily disabled the social media accounts of a woman who was posting video of her own standoff negotiations with the police:
Baltimore police shot and killed Korryn Gaines, a 23-year-old black woman, after an hourslong standoff on Monday — during which Facebook and Instagram, at police request, temporarily shut down Gaines' accounts. [...] Police Chief Jim Johnson says Gaines was posting video of the standoff to social media as it was unfolding, which prompted police to request the deactivation of her accounts. Gaines' Facebook page is now reactivated; it does not have any videos visible to the public. On Instagram, one video apparently recorded during the standoff remains. [...] A second video, now deleted, showed a police officer with a gun drawn at Gaines' door. Facebook and Instagram have not responded to NPR's requests for comment.
[...] "Gaines was posting video of the operation as it unfolded. Followers were encouraging her not to comply with negotiators' requests that she surrender peacefully," he said. "Clearly, you can see this was an exigent circumstance where life and serious injury were in jeopardy." After a short period of time, Facebook (which owns Instagram) complied and deactivated the accounts. No data was deleted, Johnson said. Police do not have the authority to directly deactivate a social media account, Johnson and the spokeswoman both said. Facebook decides whether to comply with such requests.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Thursday August 04 2016, @03:22AM
So long as the police prefer to arrest people in their homes, in the hopes of finding further evidence, we will see more situations like this. Had she been stopped elsewhere, in a less defensible position, there wouldn't be long guns or a child involved. Why can't police do a legal traffic stop the way they are so efficient at using them for parallel construction in drug cases? Or a flash mob of plainclothes officers in a location she regularly frequents, perhaps legally tracked via her cell phone?
The fact they wouldn't let her mother try to talk her down should not be written off as acceptable policy. It should be investigated as to why even in the midst of this supposed "war on cops" that police still prefer to shoot than defuse should tell us these troubles are not going to end anytime soon.
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(Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday August 04 2016, @03:44AM
Police don't prefer to arrest people at their homes, there's usually only 2 places that you can routinely find people. One is at home where there's likely to be fewer random bystanders and the other is at work, assuming they have a job, where there's likely to be at least as many people around, and probably more.
But, most warrants are served at traffic stops which is also why police officers pulling people over tend to be so jumpy. They don't know if you're packing and they know that you know if you're wanted before they do. Giving you an advantage if you're likely to shoot them.