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Students want Yale to disarm campus police and donate to Black Lives Matter in response to shooting

Students at Yale University are petitioning for the disarmament of campus police after officers shot and injured a woman who was a passeng...

Students at Yale University are petitioning for the disarmament of campus police after officers shot and injured a woman who was a passenger in a vehicle police believed to have been connected to an attempted armed robbery, according to Campus Reform.
The shooting, which occurred near the campus, has sparked days of protests in the streets by some who believe the woman and the driver of the vehicle were unfairly targeted due to their race.
What does the petition say? "Armed campus police are a risk to the students they are sworn to protect and to the communities in which schools reside. There is an epidemic of police violence and police brutality in this country, and this shooting all too tragically shows that Yale is not immune to this issue. We will not allow the Yale Police Department to contribute to this epidemic by acting violently against members of the community that we have chosen from all over this country and the world."
Petitioners want campus police disarmed and for the university to donate to Black Lives Matter.
How did the shooting happen? On April 16, police got a report about an armed robbery attempt on a news delivery man at a gas station. A Hamden Police Officer and a Yale Police Officer stopped what they believed was the suspect's vehicle. 
Police opened fire on the vehicle, reportedly in response to the driver, Paul Witherspoon, exiting abruptly. The passenger, Stephanie Washington, was hit and sustained injuries. The two involved officers have been placed on administrative leave.
See footage of the incident in the video below:
Shooting near Yale campus leads to almost a week of protestswww.youtube.com
Multiple protests: Protesters have posted outside Yale University President Paul Salovey's house, and Black Lives Matter members have protested outside the Hartford Police Department hoping to speak with the chief or another high-ranking officer about their concerns.
Yale's statement: The University issued the following statement about this situation:
"Yale police officers are trained to interact with community members in a respectful and professional manner. Many of our officers are from the New Haven community, and all of them take great pride in how they engage with the community, both on and off duty….Yale is fully cooperating in the investigation [conducted by the Connecticut State Police and Attorney's Office], and we will share publicly whatever information we can as quickly as we can."

5 comments

  1. This sounds a lot more like poor training that some sort of racial issue. There was a report, the cops responded and shot without ascertaining a threat. Jumping out of a car quickly during a police stop seems pretty reckless as well but if the guy wasn't armed, why shoot him? That all being said, what the hell does this have to do with skin color? It doesn't. We have to make sure we aren't going to ignore potential suspects because of the threat of being considered racist just as much as people shouldn't be targeted because of skin color UNLESS the reported suspect is of that skin color. It doesn't sound like these people were targeted for any reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A follow up question would be why the cops thought this vehicle was the robbery suspects vehicle? Did the occupants match a description, did the vehicle match a description?

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  2. Yeah this was a case of the cops watching too much TV. On TV cop shows all problems are solved with a gun. Now the idea of just getting rid of the campus police is not bad. Let the students conceal carry and the crime rate will go down.

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  3. I'm not seeing a sentence about the two people in the van NOT being involved with the robbery.

    It's a really bad idea to abruptly jump out of your car when stopped by the police. I'm sure the driver was going to get up in the face of the police and start shouting about racism, etc. I'm wondering why he didn't just keep going if that was his play. The police were investigating an armed robbery which is why the van was pulled over. If they think they've found the suspects and one jumps out, I can imagine the police were thinking the guy was going around to get a clear shot instead of firing across the woman in the van.

    Jumpy cops and a complete idiot that wanted to assert his rights as fast as possible.

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  4. Armed or unarmed is post facto. A guy that may have just been involved in an armed robbery jumps out of a car after pulling over and (I'm assuming here) dashes around the car and/or rapidly heads towards the officers? If I were one of the officers, I'd be in auto-mode too. If the person approaches closer than around 18-20 feet, they have a very good chance of getting to the officer before the officer can draw and fire.

    It sounds like the van fit the description, but the story is pretty thin on facts.

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  5. Better idea, just pull all the cops out of the Yale campus. The Snowflakes can "rationalize" with the THUGS as they empty their dorms.

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