An Oklahoma City Police Officer has been charged with first-degree manslaughter after the fatal shooting of a man who charged officers while holding a knife.

The incident occurred on December 11, in a parking lot of a shopping center in Oklahoma City. Police were called to the location after reports of a man bothering customers outside of a store came in to dispatch. Officers encountered a man who was armed with a knife.  For several minutes officers attempted to of de-escalate the situation by talking to him, as well as using both pepper spray and a taser, which had no effect.  All attempts to get the suspect to drop the knife failed.

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The man began to run toward Sergeant Clifford Holman while still holding the knife.  Sgt. Holman discharged his weapon, killing the suspect and stopping the attack.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office charged Sgt. Holman with first-degree manslaughter. If he is convicted, he faces a prison term of four years to life in prison.

The entire incident was captured on video, from both bodycam and a bystander.  Watch this video and ask yourself, does this meet the standard of deadly force?

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The Supreme Court decision of Graham v. Connor set the standard for excessive force. The court said deciding whether an officer used excessive force “requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances of each particular case, including the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.” The decision added that the “reasonableness of a particular use of force” should be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, with an allowance that police often must make split-second decisions.

Based on these legal standards, do you feel the use of force was justified?

I would argue there was ABSOLUTELY an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others.

If you don’t agree, what do you think the officer should have done?

The war on police is both on the street, and in the courtrooms of the new “woke” justice system.

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This piece was written by Ray Dietrich on March 1, 2021. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

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