Earlier this month in England, a black man was shot dead by police due to threatening them with an imitation firelighter. The firelighter itself was a life sized replica of a 9MM Beretta, and was a novelty item.
At the time and location of the killing, their was (and remains) heightened racial tension, the ethnic minorities feeling that the police are biased against them. Looting and rioting have occurred recently.
The police have said that the action taken was equal to the percieved threat.
This is where it gets complicated. While the police were certainly out of hand by ending the man's life (would it really have been that hard to shoot him in the shoulder of the gun arm?), it must be said that waiting to get shot to prove that the firearm is real is certainly not a viable option. If anyone here said that they would not shoot if they genuinely thought someone was bringing a weapon to bear on them is either lying or needs to see a shrink.
Does anyone here believe it possible for the violence and retaliatory police response to be "diluted", or will this violence and counter violence eventually come to a head and end in serious rioting and bloodshed?