Courtesy of Mediaite:
The Oklahoma reserve police officer who mistakenly shot and killed an unarmed man earlier this month finally spoke out on Friday morning, sitting down for a satellite interview with NBC’s Today Show.
“First and foremost, let me apologize to the family of Eric Harris,” Tulsa reserve deputy Robert Bates said of the 44-year-old black man he fatally wounded. “This is the second-worst thing that’s ever happened to me or the first that ever happened to me in my life. I had cancer a number of years ago. I didn’t think I was going to get there… I’d rate this as number one on my list of things in my life that I regret.”
Asked by Matt Lauer how he could make the fundamental mistake of grabbing his gun instead of the taser, Bates replied, “This has happened a number of times around the country. I have read about it in the past. I thought to myself after reading several cases, I don’t understand how this can happen.”
He added: “You must believe me, it can happen to anyone.”
A couple of things got my attention during this interview.
First why in the hell did this guy feel the need to drag his entire family onto TV with him? He looks more like a politician accused of having an affair, rather than a man who accidentally shot a man to death.
Second he at first suggests that this might be the "second" worst thing that has happened to HIM. He corrects it almost immediately and decides it's the first worst thing that has happened. But he continues to make this all about him, instead of about the victim of his incompetence.
And thirdly when Matt Lauer asks Bates to stand up and demonstrate where the taser was in relation to his gun, and the fact that the taser was on his chest while his gun was on his hip, makes the prosecution's job much, much easier.
And his declaimer at the end that this can "happen to anyone," which I would contend is flatly untrue with adequate training, does not do a lot to help his case,
I think this guy is in big trouble, and I think deservedly so.
"It can happen to anyone"
ReplyDeleteBut has it? Every single thing I've heard about this guy, the police dept, and this event stinks of coverup and lies.
Mildred
I wonder if this was Eric Harris' worse or second worse day of his life.
DeleteG, you are so right! The interview was all about him: poor cancer survivor; here's my wonderful family with me; "the second worst thing that's ever happened to HIM"; and then the "it could happen to anyone". No it couldn't. It could only happen to an incompetent, hellbent on playing cop, "shoot the Blahs", idiot.
ReplyDelete73 years old playing cop. What's the normal retirement age of real cops? I would guess much lower than 73. The only thing I can applaud Tulsa for is for immediately charging him with anything.
I hope he is convicted for this but based on the racists Tulsa jury pool, I have serious doubts.
Most police officers don't get anywhere near the retirement age before they leave the force.
DeleteNo, sir, you survived your cancer. That was an unfortunate thing that happened to YOU.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing that's ever happened to YOU is that you KILLED an unarmed man. And that is the worst thing that ever happened to HIM, since he won't be "surviving" a disease, but has stopped breathing and will be buried six feet underground, forever.
They need to do psychological profiles of these pretend police, as well as the police themselves, so they don't see themselves as the most important person in the terrible tragedies that unfold.
It wouldn't have happened to a well-trained officer. This man needs to take the punishment and go to jail. He can think, then, that that's the worst thing that's ever happened to HIM.
Or, the worst thing that happened to the man he killed is that this Rambo/Nugent/wannabe SURVIVED his cancer. Harrumph.
DeleteWild Tortoise
The man has an idiot for a lawyer, I hope the prosecutor uses his own words to hang him
ReplyDeleteHe added: “You must believe me, it can happen to anyone.”
Where's the list of times it happened to make it so "common" for a 73 year old to mistake one weapon for another? He donated thousands to get the sheriff re elected, and from what I've read he's "politically connected" my eyes tell me he's white and my eyes tell me the victim is black. He's giving a blanket apology on national television. How about walking to the parent's house, knocking on the door and apologizing eyeball to eyeball. He's sorry he got caught on film. THAT'S all he's sorry for.
As a cancer survivor, I'm appalled and at a loss he's intimating some kind of connection between racism, playing cop, and having cancer. One you're taught, one you pay to play and the other is a nasty disease any innocent person can get. Put him away and toss the keys.
Cancer didn't teach him the value of life?
DeleteI'd like to know when it became "normal" to interview someone who just killed someone ---on morning television, no less? Aren't they messing up the jury pool? Letting him plead his case to the public? Ridiculous . . . .
ReplyDeleteMatt Lauer. No principles, not for a long, long, time.
Delete4:15, I actually think Lauer helped the victim, maybe not on purpose though. I also remember the good old days where nothing was talked about, much less interviews of the defendant, anywhere in the media so as not to poison the case. I have no idea when the media became a part of our judicial system.
DeleteGeorge Zimmerman/
Deletedowl
O J remember???
DeleteMurdered the wife he so loved & a very good man..
The media, pigs, & $$$$$$$$!!!
Whoever the lawyer is that advised him to make public video-taped statements while he is subject to indictment on criminal charges and liable in civil court for wrongful death (by the victim's family) charges should have his or her license revoked (for stupidity or malpractice: take your pick). And this cop wannabe, arrogant enough to think he could just charm everyone into thinking, 'aw shucks, the poor ol' guy has suffered enough already,' has just proven that a fool and his money are soon parted. Everything he has done to date, and I mean everything, has only helped him dig himself into a pit from which he will not escape, and heap upon himself a civil damages award from which he also will not escape. Both will be deserved. His stupidity and arrogance will work to the benefit of the victim's family, but never be sufficient to compensate them for the loss of their family member who was their father, son, and brother. Bates will wish he had never heard the phrase, 'fuck your breath'. And if it was spoken by him at the scene, the family deserves an award for punitive damages.
ReplyDeleteI am an old woman and I can not recall a period in my life where the regard for human life was so low. Not all lives, of course: no, 'only' the lives of the poor, people of color, the sick, the elderly, women, immigrants, gays, intellectuals, and religious minorities. IOW, those who make up the vast majority of lives in America. We are now regarded as worthless, parasitic, something to be jeered at, a subspecies deserving of treatment worse than animals – and all at the hand of those who claim to be 'christian', something that is beyond appalling.
Thank you for this comment. There were a lot of African Americans killed, casually, in the 50’s and 60’s--but the denial of women's rights then has turned into full scale war. And yes, at the hands of "Christians." Jesus wept.
DeleteMy thoughts exactly as to the need to put his entire family on national television, all dressed up and looking so pretty. Like the chick in the back row in her white suit? With perfect makeup and hair to boot. What the hell? Ready for her closeup on national television???? Like he (the old coot who can't tell the difference between a Taser and a gun) and all of his womenfolk are the victims????? What the flipping hell?
ReplyDeleteThough, to be sure, bet they start a crowdsourcing, go fund me site (or whatever the heck it's called ) and make nearly $1 million cool dollars, playing that victim card for all it's worth. Just like the discriminatin'-hatin-on-te-gays pizza shop owners did.
I simply cannot believe Matt Lauer and the Today show people did this. Why give this man a forum???
The stupid Barney Fife killed the victim with his personal snub nosed .357. He was not allowed to use it during his duties. Only the approved 9mm or S&W40.
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck was an old untrained geezer doing in a high stress undercover situation!?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage2/sources-supervisors-told-to-falsify-reserve-deputy-s-training-records/article_a6330f10-a9fb-51e3-ab5e-4d97b03c6c04.html
His douche Sheriff buddy of 40yrs. should be shit canned NOW.
I give zero fucks about his cancer scare.
The idiot is "the police department" that allowed this old guy to play cop. This department not only put civilians at risk but every cop within his orb....
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of the comments yet, but as someone who shot several guns/pistols/revolvers, I have a question: doesn't a tazer look and feel quite a bit different than a service gun a cop has (besides the fact that they keep the tazers in a different place than there guns...)???
ReplyDeleteNext time take a fucking few minutes and read the comments. I hate lame assed people who have to state "They haven't read the comments yet" WTF, are you damn lazy like Palin or what?
DeleteWell in defense of 3:58 there were 11 comments posted first! Some had more than two sentences!!
DeleteHow long should they spend?!!
The tazers I've seen look similar to a 1911 .45. The LE types I've seen outiftted with tazers wear them mid torso. I think they do that so there's a obvious difference at to where they are and which one is lethal. Cept'n for this asshat.
DeleteVernD
Geez, 3:58. Calm down . So sorry they didn't follow your rules. With that attitude , you should apply for a job at ESPN.
DeleteI wish the media and others wouldn't try cases like this on TV and in the newspapers. That's why we have courts, attorneys, and juries.
ReplyDeleteTalk about contaminating a jury pool.
He just wrote the grieving family a big fat check by demonstrating how far apart the Taser & gun were.
ReplyDeleteNow the only thing remaining is for Fox to figure out how to blame Obama for this. At least after next year, they'll be blaming Hillary for everything instead.
We're lucky that Bates is so arrogant, and I can only imagine he overruled a lawyer of his to do it, because it's ill-advised.
ReplyDeleteBut NBC is lucky getting anything telling out of the guy giving it to Ken doll-Lauer to do. He had an entire primetime hour to trip up Larry Craig in the autumn of 2007 and failed. The question isn't 'are you gay' which can be construed as a characterization; the question is 'have you ever had sex with other men,' which is yes or no.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101602494.html
Researched it for an alibi. Today show should never have given this guy tv time. Never!
ReplyDeleteAlso
ReplyDelete"Whether a Tulsa County reserve deputy’s training records even exist — let alone whether they can be found — might be irrelevant due to an exemption Sheriff Stanley Glanz could have granted his friend, a Sheriff’s Office official said Thursday night."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage1/sheriff-s-spokesman-parts-of-reserve-deputy-s-training-requirements/article_f64077e4-13e8-57b0-9a1c-a88b72fb0226.html
"First, Clark said, the Sheriff’s Office would have to determine who trained Bates so they could be asked for the records. Clark said often those records are kept only by the trainee and the trainer. (OH REALLY?! ANYONE ELSE SEE ANY POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS KIND OF POLICY?!)
Secondly, the records, if they exist, were created before the Sheriff’s Office began filing records digitally, he said. That means it would take an unknown amount of time to find the paper records documenting Bates’ training — if they remain on file at the Sheriff’s Office. (UH HUH.)
Thirdly, Clark said, it’s unclear how much of the supervised training Bates theoretically was required to have actually happened. That’s because Glanz can, as sheriff, waive any portion of Sheriff’s Office policy. (BECUASE 5 CARS and BFF!)
“The policies within our organization are signed off by the sheriff, but there are also policies that give the sheriff the ability to waive any policy within our organization. That’s part of being a Sheriff’s Office,” Clark said. (IN OKLAHOMA MAYBE SO, BUT MY STATE HAS LAWS FOR THINGS LIKE THIS.)
Since Bates graduated from the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training in 1963 before spending one year as a Tulsa police officer, they said it’s possible that Glanz required him to have very little time with a supervisor as he was training to be an advanced reserve deputy." (BECAUSE ONCE A COP ALWAYS A COP!)
Oh yeah.
Did Mr. Bates not say that the person who could certify his training is now in jail for murder? Excuse me? He has a "piece of paper" that says he fulfilled the training. The witness who says he doesn't have the training is also in jail for murder.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of department does that sheriff run in Tulsa anyhow?
What a disgusting spectacle, Barney Fife all dressed up with his womenfolk gathered around him nodding solemnly. The second worst thing, no the first worst thing, I had cancer but luckily I survived --- oy, does this guy have no idea how badly he came off there? I was thinking his attorney should be shot, but this fool is so full of himself he probably overruled him. The sheriff's office has some big time liability in all this, and I hope someone gets fired and the whole place turned upside down (Fuck your breath? They didn't know he was shot??). But Mr. Pay-to-Play-Cop and his famously deep pockets are destined to take a real big, well-deserved hit.
ReplyDeleteIndiegogo quickly shut down the fund for Robert Bates. Poor, poor Robert Bates won't get rich(er) from killing someone. He and his family can really feel sorry for themselves now. Bates' attorney is probably just as disappointed as he is about the fund shutting down.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/04/66156-indiegogo-quickly-shuts-down-campaign-for-oklahoma-deputy-involved-in-fatal-shooting-video/
A rich old white man wanted to play cops and robbers.
ReplyDeleteNow a 44-year-old, unarmed black man is dead.
So wrong.
When I first saw the headline here, that this Bates idiot was being interviewed on national television, I was annoyed. But now I think it was a good thing because it showed what a complete jerk he is and how he should never have been allowed to go along with real policemen. Of course, the Tulsa policeman who pressed on the victim's back and ignored his physical condition is even more of a jerk. I hope that the two of them have been arrested and charged with the murder of the fleeing, unarmed man. Who wouldn't flee when some of the most dangerous murderers out there are policemen who are supposed to "protect and serve" the general population?
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Matt didn't ask him if he felt competent to be a reserve officer on "active duty" at age 73? Didn't ask any questions about his training. Didn't ask about how much money and goods he's donated to the police force?
ReplyDeleteEven though this was a puff piece it did not offer the media damage control I'm sure this guy was hoping for.
Plus, this had not business being on TV on any show.
What next? Dr. Phil?