Comments on: No excessive force in Fong Lee shooting, jury rules

By: fantasy

fantasy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:07:40 +0000

REALIST:
your man was arrest? they will reopen fong’s case

By: Realist

Realist — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:10:29 +0000

There are claims that the gun was planted or a “throw-down” gun, but these claims have no merit.

Many people try to point out the lack of fingerprints, blood, or other residue on the gun linking it to Fong, as if it were some kind of conspiracy. But the people saying this aren’t revealing anything except that they know nothing about forensics. There is a simple explanation for all of this. First, the fingerprints. It is common knowledge in investigative fields that you can NOT lift latent prints from a heavily textured surface. Guess what? The grip of a gun is a HEAVLIY TEXTURED SURFACE, so it is perfectly reasonable that no prints were found. It is simply not possible. Also, the lack of blood can be explained simply by the fact that blood doesn’t spurt everywhere immediately after someone is shot. Unless a major artery is hit, there simply isn’t going to be a lot of blood everywhere, except for where bullets entered and possibly exited the body. People who work in investigations know this, whereas the conspiracy theoroists clearly do not.

Also, people like to point out that it is not clearly visible whether or not Fong had a gun in the surveillance video. They say that since the officer’s gun is visible, why isn’t Fong’s gun visible? Once again, this is easily explainable. Minneapolis Police carry large duty weapons, which are NOT meant to be concealed. Fong’s gun however, a SMALL .380 caliber pistol, is TINY in comparison and extremely easy to conceal. It is perfectly reasonable that a large duty gun would be visible in a grainy surveillance video, but a small pistol designed for concealment would not.

Another issue people complain about is the number of shots used to take down Fong. People who complain about this clearly have ZERO knowledge of handgun ballistic/effectiveness and the law regarding use of deadly force. First, police officers and private citizens with carry permits are taught that if their life, or the life of another is threatened, to shoot and continue shooting at center mass until the threat is gone. Even if the suspect has fallen the the ground but still has control of a weapon or is trying to reach a weapon, deadly force is still allowed under law, and rightfully so. A suspect with a handgun, or even reaching for a handgun, is clearly a deadly threat.

Second, handguns are notoriously poor “fight stoppers.” There are numerous records of suspects who have been shot MANY more times than Fong was, and lived to tell the tale. You will also notice I said they are trained to shoot at CENTER MASS (the chest.) Some people have said he should have tried shooting Fong in the leg, which is ridiculous Hollywood non-sense. Shooting at a narrow target like a leg is incredibly difficult, even if the target is immobile and and at close range. People who suggest that watch too many movies, and clearly have never shot a gun, especially under stressful conditions.

There is so much more I could add, but I think this is more than enough for now. Until people understand what I have written here, they really aren’t informed enough to participate in a debate like this.

By: unknown

unknown — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:36:57 +0000

if the guy was running away on his bicycle why would the officer have any belief that Fong was a threat to him? is someone was running away from me i would maybe just maybe think that he was scared of me, maybe. i wouldn’t shoot nobody running away from me either. i could see if Fong had a gun drawn, then that would be a good reason to shoot him, but dang to shoot him in the back when the guy is trying to run away, thats awful. RIP Fong, and to that officer and the jury, God will give you the final judgement!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:22:26 +0000

Well, congratulations to the MPD and officer Anderson. They have managed to murder an citizen and get away with it. I hope that Anderson gets more awards and go on killing the citizens of this nation. Am I surprised that the Lee family would not win? NO. Are you kidding? This case only proves that our own legal system and our officers are corrupt. I guess we better start watching our backs then because who knows where Anderson may be around the corner.

By: V8L

V8L — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:01:51 +0000

1. The video from the surveillance cameras shown that Fong Lee has NO gun…
- Should you believe the video or the cop?

2. That gun has NO finger prints of Fong Lee…
- Fong Lee wipe out all his finger prints before he died?

3. All-white jury…
- If you think its ok then why not all-Hmong jury?

WARNING!
The world is whatching YOU!

By: LOG

LOG — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:28:58 +0000

Yeah White people. Gotta stick together. Maybe Andersen should run for Grand Wizard of the Minnesota KKK branch.

By: Kalia Her

Kalia Her — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:33:28 +0000

Yes, let’s give a medal to a racist white male with a gun who just shot an Asian guy. Good job America!

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:27:31 +0000

Nihilix, please read my first sentence again and take me up on it.
No, I’m not a cop. I agree some are over the top, but in todays environment, they literally have to use excessive force to take someone down that’s not compliant. Situational control in the least amount of time is what’s desired. Take a look at the Rodney King case. I lived in LA when that went down and went to school with a woman with intimate knowledge of the entire ordeal. What you saw on the idiot box was not the entire video, only of King getting kicked and tasered. Sadly, a civilian board (people who have never been in a squad car) had ordered the LAPD to stop using a choke hold to subdue out of control suspects. They were told to taser them three times and if that didn’t work, use batons etc. until the suspect could be cuffed. But you never heard that in the media either. Same thing is going on here. The rubes out there demanding Dolans resignation are just that, rubes. Dolan would not be making the statements he is if there was still controversy over this.

By: Freedom Lover

Freedom Lover — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:43:58 +0000

The term “railroaded” comes to mind. I cannot believe in this age where DNA/forensic evidence (so often touted by police as needing additional funding and that it is the ‘difference maker’ in so many crimes) fails to link Lee to the gun. If 13 vehicles and cash can go missing from the MN Gang Task Force, it is no stretch of the imagination that a small handgun could end up missing. This whole thing does not smell right, and the fact that it all began with apparently no probable cause is the worst part. It wasn’t, “Oh there’s Fong Lee, known gang member, let’s follow him,” it was, “oh, there is a group of kids on bikes that happen to be Hmong. They MUST be up to something.” Race relations and the MPD take yet another hit, as does the credibility of cops, prosecutors, and judges state-wide. Does anyone still trust the police? They seem like thugs with badges.

By: nihilix

nihilix — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:49:32 +0000

Rick – are you a cop? Because I don’t think their worst nightmare is drawing their weapon – Id’ say it’s having one drawn on them. Let’s look at reality of racial profiling, which study after study shows exists. And let’s look at the reality of the gun in the video – wait, no gun in the hand, or the fleeing suspect shot in the back, or the fact that you think people are garbage.

And let’s look at how often cops do time for excessive force. What time? Seems like someone somewhere would. White cops just shot a black undercover offduty in NYC. Asian cop got shot in same situation here in town. And the gun, which on first report was one seized by the second team of officers on the site? With no physical evidence linking kid to gun?