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1) complying is difficult when the civilian is being given a rapidfire stream of conflicting orders from one or more screaming and non rational cops.
From what I heard in the video, he was given very clear instructions to show his hands, for roughly a minute or so, maybe less, before he complied. No conflict there. He was then asked to exit the car, multiple times, and he did not. At some point he said he would not exit the vehicle. I'm sure there was a point where they were ordering him to show his hands and exit the vehicle, but to paint a picture of constant chaotic orders is misleading. It just didn't happen that way, chronologically.
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2) complying becomes triply difficult when, in addition to the above, the civilian is thinking that this is very possibly going to be his last moment on planet earth because a non rational cop or cops is/are pointing loaded guns at his head. This difficulty in compliance and/or decision making is very difficult to appreciate unless you yourself have been in this exact situation. Unless it is something that you encounter frequently in one's life, the stress of imminent death tends to produce unexpected responses in otherwise quite rational civiliians. This is a known and much studied stress response. And trained cops should account for it when dealing with civilians that they are pointing guns at. But, the problem is (among many problems), cops nearly never do.
The reason why I routinely emphasize the point about the need to comply even when no offense has been committed, and to not reflexively overstate the danger the police pose to the average citizen, black or otherwise, is to try to mitigate and reverse the seemingly increasingly irrational fear of dealing with police officers in general, and especially when clearly complying. If this driver was in fear for his life, and I believe he was, don't think for a second that media narrative didn't play into and exacerbate his fear. I've been harping on this since forever, and this is *exactly* why. If he wasn't acting on irrational fear, he would have complied and we wouldn't have known the traffic stop ever happened.
Another poster asked the question about what the cops had to fear. The answer is, for their lives, for their families, all the same things that the driver did, I'd imagine. They're people, like you and me and the driver. I don't know if it's customary to drive a relatively long time before pulling over in a well lit place, and if police expect that. My suspicion is that it's not typical, and when I get pulled over, typically on the freeway, I head for the first exit. I never stop on the side of the highway, but I've pointed to the exit sign so they know my intention. I always, at every step, signal my intention. Then I show my hands without being told, and whatever they ask of me, I do, respectfully. And I'm certain that the difference between life and death for me in those instances has zero to do with my skin color.
Had a cop lit me up at night, and I drove a mile or so before pulling over, then took a long time to show my hands, then refused to get out of the vehicle, you can be sure I'd be prepared for pepper spray. Doesn't matter what my reasons were or what a dick the cop was; it's a reasonable expectation given the series of events.
The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W