Politics and Police Shootings: Today's News for July 19th

One would not think that a police shooting would be subject to the political biases of the "cold civil war", as Carl Bernstein called it. Sadly, one would be wrong:

Fox News:

Australian woman shot after Minnesota cops heard loud sound, officials say

The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Australian woman Justine Damond heard a loud sound near his squad car before firing the fatal shot, according to information released Tuesday by investigators.

Damond approached the driver’s side window of the police vehicle immediately after the two responding police officers heard a loud sound.

The officer in the passenger seat, Mohamed Noor, fired his weapons through the open driver’s side window, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The officer driving the car, Matthew Harrity, interviewed with the BCA, but Noor declined to be interviewed.

...Harrity said he was startled by a loud noise just before Damond approached the driver’s side window. That’s when Noor fired his gun, according to Harrity.

If that is the reason Noor eventually provides for the shooting, consider that a moment: "I heard a loud noise, so I drew my gun and shot her." Note that it wasn't, "I was startled by a loud noise and the gun in my hand accidentally discharged." Noor had to actually draw the gun. Unless he is a quick draw artist, then it sounds like he heard a loud noise and immediately decided to shoot the 40 year old woman approaching the car.

In summary, the view from the right seems to be at least an attempt to explain what happened from the cops' perspective.

The view from the Left is the shooting cop isn't talking:

CNN:

New details emerge in officer-involved shooting in Minnesota

The mayor of Minneapolis said she wants to hear from the officer who fatally shot Justine Ruszczyk.

But so far, officer Mohamed Noor has exercised his constitutional right to not speak to state investigators, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Tuesday.

And, it's not clear if or when he will.

Note how CNN has gone to using Justine's maiden name (Ruszczyk), although she had already started using her fiance's last name (Damond). While the maiden name is technically her legal name, she was only a month away from her wedding when she died. If she was transsexual and was using the name "Justin" instead of "Justine", any wagers that CNN would have honored that choice?  

In CNN's defense, they did elaborate on the story which Fox used as their lead:

According to the BCA, Harrity was driving and Noor was in the passenger seat as they drove through the alley looking for a suspect. The squad lights on their vehicle were off.

Harrity told investigators that as they drove down the alley, he was startled by a loud sound near the squad car. Immediately afterward, Ruszczyk approached the driver's side window and Noor fired his weapon, striking Ruszczyk through the driver's side window, Harrity told the BCA.

There are still a lot of questions here. For example, how much time elapsed between the "loud sound" and the shooting? Was Noor looking at Damond when the "loud sound" occurred?

This shooting was sad. But the fact that our media sources use it to push their own agendas is even more sad.

In other news...

Bloomberg:

Finally, a Poll Trump Will Like: Clinton Even More Unpopular

For a president with historically low poll numbers, Donald Trump can at least find solace in this: Hillary Clinton is doing worse.

Trump’s 2016 Democratic rival is viewed favorably by just 39 percent of Americans in the latest Bloomberg National Poll, two points lower than the president. It’s the second-lowest score for Clinton since the poll started tracking her in September 2009.

The former secretary of state has always been a polarizing figure, but this survey shows she’s even lost popularity among those who voted for her in November.

More than a fifth of Clinton voters say they have an unfavorable view of her. By comparison, just 8 percent of likely Clinton voters felt that way in the final Bloomberg poll before the election, and just 6 percent of Trump’s voters now say they view him unfavorably.

“There’s growing discontent with Hillary Clinton even as she has largely stayed out of the spotlight,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, who oversaw the survey. "It’s not a pox on the Democratic house because numbers for other Democrats are good."

The former first lady and New York senator has made a few speeches and occasionally tweaks Trump on Twitter, but has mostly kept out of sight since a defeat in November that shocked the political establishment and surprised markets.

In follow-up interviews with poll participants, Clinton voters denied that their negative feelings about her had anything to do with her losing the election and, therefore, helping Trump move into the White House.

Instead, their comments often reflected the ongoing angst among Democrats about how best to position themselves against Trump and Republicans in 2018 and beyond. Many said they wished Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont had won the Democratic nomination, or that they never liked Clinton and only voted for her because she was the lesser of two bad choices.

As bad as Trump is, the alternative was worse. Even Democrats realize that now.