aijohn784 / Depositphotos.com
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – There are many anti-police activists in Madison who are trying to turn the shooting death of Corey Ruiz into George Floyd 2.0.
Shame on them.
The circumstances are not the same.
George Floyd was handcuffed and subdued when officer Derek Chovin forced his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck. The life drained out of him over the next 14 minutes. It was horrible policing. Officer Chovin’s job was to get George Floyd into a police car and get him to central booking. I am fully aware that there may have been other factors that contributed to Floyd’s death. No matter. Officer Chovin displayed none of the qualities that we are looking for in a police officer.
Compare that to the shooting death of Corey Ruiz. Police got a report of a man trying to steal bicycles and break into parked cars. Four officers responded. Ruiz tried to flee on a bicycle. Police caught up to him and he brandished a knife. He was tackled and tased. He was shot three times and died at the scene.
There is a false narrative being built around the Madison shooting. It is “no one should die in an encounter with police.” No, that’s simply not true. There are many circumstances where police are justified in using deadly force. An exchange of gunfire. Trying to ram a cop with a car. Threatening an innocent bystander. Brandishing and refusing to drop a dangerous weapon.
Corey Ruiz had a knife. At least one officer was injured. When the full, honest totality of the situation is reviewed, this is likely a justified shooting. I imagine most of the investigation will focus on the near simultaneousness of the taser blast and the fatal shot. I would have preferred if more time elapsed between Ruiz being tased and being shot. But I’m not one of the responding officers.
The lesson that has already been lost is this: “comply, don’t die.” The number of complaint people who die at the hands of police is very, very small. I wish that Corey Ruiz was still alive. But he died mostly of his own tragic choices.
Chris Conley
Comments