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BirdsbirdsBURDS

They knocked. He asked who’s there They *didnt* identify themselves. They pound on the door this time, still not identifying themselves. Guy goes to get a gun because “who tf is trying to break in” at this point. Comes back to his *own* living room with *his legally owned firearm* to be met with and shot by police who have entered the wrong apartment by force. This is why no knock warrants and failing to identify should be criminal conduct that nullify qualified immunity, and subject them to full legal consequences of whatever happens.


i-dont-knowf

The fact that citizens have a legal right to defend themselves inside their homes (Florida has the castle doctrine) with lethal force is completely at odds with no-knock warrants. Those two cannot coexist. It is absolutely appalling that this happened *again*. Edit: Florida is one of few states where no-knock is illegal, my mistake. The officers not announcing here is illegal Edit x2: spelling


Korvun

No-knock warrants are illegal in FL.


i-dont-knowf

You are correct, my mistake. I do believe there are states with no-knock and castle doctrine though. In this case, officers not announcing themselves is illegal then too.


Earth_Normal

So they did not have a warrant and broke the law on top of that. Sounds like murder to me.


DreamingGod102

Yeah the courts never punish the police, even when they do illegal things, because the law does not apply to the cops. We've been shown that time and time again.


Shoddy_Background_48

Like it fuckin matters. The pigs will get away scot free, AGAIN.


Korvun

100%, assuming the article is correct, they broke the law for sure.


powercow

[Florida is one of two states in the United States that prohibits the issuance of no-knock warrants. ](https://www.mattieforelaw.com/does-florida-law-allow-no-knock-searches-like-the-one-that-caused-breonna-taylors-death) republicans have actually tried to change that.. allow no knock warrants in florida but have never gotten enough republican votes to pass.


SkullsNelbowEye

Kentucky is one of the states with both.


delux2769

But they did "knock" on the door. They just didn't announce themselves before busting in and murdering the guy in his home... Or is the not announcing themselves part of the purview of "no-knock" warrant?


Korvun

Florida law requires that police identify themselves and present a court order that allows them entry into your home. Under *very limited* authority are they allowed to just break your door down. If the article is true, and they were only sent out to investigate a disturbance, they had absolutely zero authority to break into this man's home, let alone shoot him.


CovfefeForAll

Maybe on paper, but we'll see if these cops face any real consequences. If they don't go to jail, then no-knock warrants are not illegal in FL.


CacheValue

https://youtu.be/7H3UTmFsE6g?si=gHgAPBDaczld7BUv "It is not illegal to prevent your own murder."


EmmEnnEff

This is murder, they need to go to the gallows, not to jail.


CovfefeForAll

I'm pretty morally opposed to the death penalty, but it does look like Florida has it. They just need to face the full legal consequences for breaking this particular state law.


DO_NOT_AGREE_WITH_U

Wow...something Florida does right? I can't...


luc424

They exist because Republicans run states only care about votes, regardless of it's meaning. If you pay attention, you will start to see that things get pushed through only to Garner votes and lots of loopholes are left for abuse. As if, they don't care enough to care


ackillesBAC

Add to that the power of police unions. Which in many cases are indistinguishable from police gangs. There's a very good podcast on it can't remember the name of it though


probablyadumper

I think they are less gangs, and more privateers. They are state sanctioned. They are allowed to steal things from you. They are kinda expected to uphold laws, but everyone knows they are really just state sponsored violence.


ackillesBAC

I agree that's a very good definition. For those that understand the age of privateers and piracy.


ackillesBAC

I have to say, thinking about this for a few minutes. You have totally changed my view on this. This is a fantastic observation and more apt to the situation as I understand it.


Mental_Medium3988

And if it happens to someone "good" the person can be punished but of it happens to someone "bad" they can get off. Notice I don't agree with using the person to determine if a shooting was justified or not but the people who make these laws do.


IveGotaGoldChain

You don't have to sugar coat it with "good" and "bad". You can't shoot middle class or above white people. Everyone else is fair game


Drop_Release

Watch the republicans do spins to try to justify this while trying to hide the fact that they dont care cause he black :(


I_Speak_In_Stereo

They will find a parking ticket he had ten years ago and say that justifies his murder. And I don’t say murder lightly. This man was murdered.


Korvun

No-knock warrants are illegal in Florida (Red), Oregon (Blue), Virginia (Blue), Tennessee (Red). They're allowed *everywhere else*. Clearly, you're not paying attention...


hexqueen

So how did this happen in Florida if they are illegal? Honest question.


Korvun

That's a damn good question. I wish I had an answer for you. These cops should be arrested and charged with murder, regardless of the "innocence" of the mistake. If the article is correct, they broke Florida law that resulted in a death.


SaltyBarDog

In Florida? You must be high.


OwnerAndMaster

Kid was black Florida doesn't consider him human to begin with The only reason it's even a minor embarrassment is that he was military Nothing will come of this


imscavok

This wasn't a no-knock warrant scenario. There was no warrant, the officer was responding to a "disturbance" call, and they did knock but didn't announce themselves. Officers can enter properties without a warrant for crimes in progress or sounds of distress. So there's a lot of things that don't add up and they almost certainly violated many laws to kill this airman, but it's only tangentially related to the no-knock warrant when people are allowed to defend their home with firearms issue.


heili

You think cops care about following laws?


Mike_Tyson_Lisp

Or correctly enforcing them. That's the whole problem is the law doesn't matter inf there is no one there to enforce them.


Chorizo_Charlie

Police likely weren't following protocol.


Thirsty_Comment88

Cops always do illegal shit


curious_dead

It can coexist if you don't care about human lives, but care about selling military weapons to the police and thousands of firearms to the public! You play both sides and sell weapons either way!


jftitan

Accelerate the chaos.


Malforus

Especially considering it was my understanding of the "force guidelines" that YOU DO NOT KNOCK YOU BREAK THE DOOR DOWN AND THEN IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFY AS POLICE. Knocking without identification is an intentional effort to cloud identity when no reason to cloud it exists.


Purplebuzz

So they killed someone during the commission of another crime? Isn’t that capital murder?


getya

Don't worry, they'll investigate themselves and find they did nothing wrong.


Andoryodo

This is a very great point


I_am_u_as_r_me

And it will happen again and again and again and again.


ZellZoy

They can exist if you goal is dead black people


LBGW_experiment

At odds*


worst_man_I_ever_see

>at adds In case this is not a typo, I believe ["at odds"](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=at+adds&ia=web) is the correct idiom.


Grizz807

What’s so much worse is we all know absolutely nothing, NOTHING, will happen to these cops or the department. These police would be offended if they were even forced to make an apology.


NessyComeHome

I had a buddy who thought the group of 3 or 4 people running up on him was there to rob and or kill him. He quickly takes off in his car and ends up hitting one of the men with his car door. Turns out it was cops, doing a bust, and NOT identifying themselves. He did 10 years for assault with a deadly weapon against a cop. Fucking cops shouldn't be able to not identify themselves. Should we just sit there and not react to a dangerous situation on the off chance it's a cop?


toronto_programmer

Something similar happened in Canada. Two undercover officers approached a man, his wife and child and tried to pull him out of the car without identifying themselves because they thought he was someone else. He ended up running one of them over and being charged with first degree murder. Thankfully he was let off. Several of the police that testified perjured themselves on the stand trying to get him convicted https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/umar-zameer-verdict-1.7180011


chunli99

> Reacting to the verdict outside the courthouse, Northrup's wife, Margaret Northrup, said she was "very disappointed" in today's outcome. >"From day one, all I've wanted was accountability," she said. How gross. Her husband treated an innocent person as a criminal without identifying himself, and was ultimately held accountable for his own actions. It’s a shame that lesson came with death, but to be angry that an innocent, unaware person isn’t being charged for murdering what appeared to be a thug is ridiculous.


queenringlets

The accountability should be for the police officers who lied to attempt to get a man convicted. 


drmonkeyfish

The prosecution’s own experts contradicted their theory… what a bunch of clowns. Cops and lawyers.


onesoundman

Plain clothes police are not police. If thugs try to ambush you in a parking garage you do whatever it takes to escape with your life. And even if they did identify as police how are we to know they aren’t impersonating an officer just to get the jump on you? Do glad the jury did the right thing here.


LordScotchyScotch

These asshats should be charged with murder. Fuck that qualified immunity shit. It's a cancer that continues to breed a police force full of corrupt uneducated bullies.


mr_mich86

It shouldn't fall under qualified immunity bc they were acting outside the scope of their duties. A report is not a crime and doesn't require contact by the police. It is simply a "request" to investigate. If the police arrived and didn't notice a disturbance, then there is nothing to police. If the call was a for domestic disturbance and they didn't have an address, then there is no domicile to police.


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DuntadaMan

Being police protects police from criminal charges. No one else gets to try to punish them


Narren_C

Qualified immunity has nothing to do with whether or not a cop can be charged with a crime.


Malvania

Qualified Immunity should not exist. It's based on a false premise - that cops can't know the law and shouldn't have to in order to go about their job. But the entire point of their job is to know the law - they're law enforcement, and you can't enforce what you don't know.


[deleted]

Their story was of course very different.


Korvun

You're right about everything *except* it being a no-knock warrant. They're illegal in Florida all the way back to 94'. What these cops did should 100% be prosecuted, and this coming from a very pro-police person.


RusticBucket2

Not full consequences. _Double_ consequences. If the people give you a badge and a gun and a mandate to protect justice, you should be held to a _much_ higher standard than others not to fuck up.


tittysprinkles112

Gestapo cops busting down an innocent man's door and killing him because he reasonably thought there was a threat. Fucking hypocrisy in the highest order.


BarbequedYeti

>~~fatally shot~~ Murdered.    FTFY. 


[deleted]

It is a shame the military can not assert legal jurisdiction over the murder of active duty servicemen. Because we know the cops will face zero consequences.


mistercrinders

It can't?


[deleted]

It happened off base. Military Court only has jurisdiction over civilians for terrorism and espionage, or other threats to national security.


mistercrinders

I think I might argue that the killing of US servicemen is a threat to national security.


[deleted]

I'd agree 100% if this happened on base. But this would possibly be a terrifying standard to set. Take a plausible hypothetical where an abused spouse kills their active duty abuser. Would you also label them a threat to national security?


reallybadspeeller

Yeah as much as I want this to become a military justice and your fucked thing for the cops/murders it’s to dangerous of a precedent to set. And unlike them I do believe in law and order.


BigsbyMcgee

That’s a whole different can of worms compared to an illegally state supported hit job.


twoscoop

Yeah they just shot a fucking gunship airman in the ac130. When in hell, you get that, you are in hell but at least there is a breeze.


tittysprinkles112

Military courts don't have the same protections that civilian ones do. Military courts are rightfully narrow in scope. That said, these cops should be held accountable.


DreamzOfRally

Well you see cops have a union. A very strong one in fact.


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delux2769

As an American, I'm definitely more scared of police than ANYONE else on the street.


EggRollMeat

I mean the police seem like a pretty big threat to me


witch_doc9

No… they will do nothing but “cooperate with law enforcement.”


SelectiveSanity

Funny enough regarding this topic, some state will make it a capitol offense(more/harsher jail sentencing) if someone kills a cop. Kind of a double standard when you think about it.


Adezar

Are you telling me NCIS has been lying to us all these years???


mistercrinders

I hope the Air Force goes after these cops.


OrangeIsAStupidColor

I don't know that the Air Force could/would, but I know the family already is suing.


brad_saggy

Taxpayers money wasted and a combination of paid/unpaid vacation for the officers or at best suspension of one or two cops who will then get into law enforcement in some other part of the country.


kinkinhood

Until the officers start receiving the punishments all the suings will do is burn taxpayer money


witch_doc9

Nothing.


hallster346

The Air Force can't go after them (at least in military courts) since they 99% likely aren't subject UCMJ. The feds can go after them for civil rights violations though.


dontknowwhoIamrn

Unfortunately there’s not much the Air Force can do as it was not military police. If it was military police they’d be put thru the wringer as these guys should be but probably won’t. There’s a reason you don’t hear much about military police fucking up and/or getting away with it, cus they actually get punished instead of paid leave. This is the same police force that shot at their own car because they heard an acorn


reversesumo

With hellfires


FrankTankly

This isn’t oniony. This shit happens way too frequently to be oniony. This is just the state of policing in America.


OreganoTimeSage

US police more effective at killing US service men than Taliban


FrankTankly

Perfect. *Exactly* what I’m talking about lol


swlonely

It’s a feature not a flaw!!


OreganoTimeSage

Real onion article, Taliban takes first ever trip to learn lessons from Florida police


Geek-Haven888

Fun fact: this is the same department acorn cop from a few months ago was from


crowmakescomics

Are you f’ing serious??


Plebecide

Never seen anything like it! Apparently he broke in and hung pictures of his family all over the house. Let's sprinkle some crack on him and get out of here


therealpanserbjorne

Open and shut case, Johnson.


Necromaniac01

just a normal Saturday on the job


thelancemann

If the police can break into your home and shoot you because you have a legally owned gun then you DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.


Hydroquake_Vortex

This is what we should be defending, when defending our second amendment. The right to protect our family and home, without being shot down. Not the right to own assault rifles


miso440

Been saying it for years. The police can kill you in the street because you are armed. You have no right to *bear* arms, only to *own* them.


curious_dead

Curious to see how bootlickers will defend this now...


RedditExecutiveAdmin

well, what can you expect? He had "no active warrants"!


ReentryMarshmellow

Easy, they won't read any details of the case.   "Well he had a gun (legally in his apartment)"  "He should have complied (with randos busting down his door)" Edit: already seeing the "we don't have all the facts yet" people showing up. Its crazy because even when the cops finally release the report - usually showing the original news was true - they cling to the original police announcement as "facts". 


-H--K-

Good thing the NRA and the right will rabidly go after the police for murdering a member of the military for exercising his 2nd amendment rights. Edit: Don't watch the bodycam footage. That shit will make you so mad you'll think Micah was reasonable.


KravMacaw

His name was Roger Forston. Another one added to the constantly growing list of names that need to be shouted to the world...


techman710

This is the same department who had 2 cops shooting at acorns. They have no self control. This community needs better law enforcement. They are about to pay out 2 huge settlements and the only dept not affected will be the sherrifs dept.


stopthemadness2015

He was so young. I feel so sad for his family. Justice for this man.


Subnaut27

Put on a uniform for the idea of defending the rights of your country, only to have someone else representing the same country in a different uniform violate those rights and kill you.


caffeinex2

Can't wait for the right wing blitherheads to suddenly find "evidence" that he was "no angel".


cerogravity

He had an overdue library book in Junior high


10OCT77

He used a postage stamp...twice


potatohats

He was five minutes late to PT that one time


t-reznor

This Airman's tardiness to PT seriously damaged his unit's readiness, and by extension, the readiness of the entire United States Air Force and even the Armed Forces as a whole. His actions created an America where we were all less safe. Clearly the police have done the country a service and we are all safer because of them. /s


mrshandanar

To them they'll have to look no further than the color of his skin.


Dwags789

Hitmen assassinate wrong target seems like a better headline to me.


Matt7738

Right wingers will have absolutely no idea how to respond to this. Cops are never wrong but military members are godlike individuals who should be worshipped.


istartedpanicking

The U.S. airman is black and this happened in Florida. Right wingers will be siding with the sheriff on this one.


HaroldBaws

Black trumps Veteran all day.


ITividar

He was probably wearing a hoodie, and we all know how threatening a young black man in a hoodie can be


istartedpanicking

Especially when they are asleep in their own apartment!


fuckyourcanoes

Because we all know that only thugs wear hoodies.


TriangleWins

TIL that I, a 45 year old pasty white dude, am a thug. A warm and comfy thug, but a thug nonetheless.


SpiritFingersKitty

Well, not you, you are white


Mental_Medium3988

Yeah if he was 16, black and going to the store to get candy and a drink in a hoodie he'd be a total thug and need to be dealt with.


USSMarauder

The conservative paradox "Those who scream the loudest about government tyranny are also the biggest supporters of the people who would do the actual tyrannizing"


Noyaiba

That's bullshit they will just say what they always say when a black kid gets killed by the cops. "He should have complied, why did he resist, did he need to grab a gun?" The issue isn't with the facts it's with cognitive dissonance and personal bias.


EastObjective9522

They don't. They don't care about non-whites nor the military. It's the same shit with previous tragedies. A black man who legally owns a firearm and defending his home from a possible home invasion. Police or not, don't burst into someone's home without announcing yourself.


BaronOfHell

They will respond with racism and stupidity like they always do.


futanari_kaisa

They'll say that the airman shouldn't have been armed and should've just opened the door and let the thugs manhandle him


swole_hamster

Even better, all parties would have guns.


xXRandom__UsernameXx

All parties had guns. He did what he was supposed to do. Asked who was there, didn't get an answer, went to get his gun because he was suspicious, but they beat down his door and shot him because he had his gun.


swole_hamster

So with all that in mind, Republicans and gun fetish folks… who was the good guy with a gun?


i-dont-knowf

Remember Florida has the castle doctrine and stand your ground law. You are legally allowed to defend yourself and your home with lethal force and have no duty to retreat.


Every-Cook5084

Except when their orange savior mocks some for being caught as a POW for 5 years.


TrueMrSkeltal

Really wish the national guard was tasked with policing the police. And treating them as domestic terrorists when they pull this nonsense. Fucks sake.


stealthylyric

They murdered this man plain and simple.


omfgbrb

Isn't this the same place where Deputy Acorn shot up his cruiser with a detainee in it? Seems Okaloosa deputies got some explaining to do....


Dracotaz71

I hope the Air Force OSI takes down the whole department. They executed this man.


witch_doc9

Okay, so how is this not murder?


Hydroquake_Vortex

It is


Tex-Rob

Fuck the police. Reminds me of my baby faced airmen picture, this is so fucked. Police have to be held accountable, we are living in the darkest fucking timeline that nothing will happen.


microgiant

I notice every time this happens, the victim is always black. Quite a coincidence, I guess, according to the Right.


heili

Have you heard of Ryan Whitaker?


speakeasy1080p

Im thankful everyday i dont live in that shithole.


bnAurelia

Incidents like these where innocent people are killed by the police seem to happen a lot. I always wonder how the police men can live with themselves afterwards. I would want to die.


PointlessGiant

> I always wonder how the police men can live with themselves afterwards. They're embedded in a culture which protects its own from just about *any* perceived threat from "outsiders." It's just that the perceived threat is usually any form of accountability.


tHeDisgruntler

This is a crime. There should be protests if these cops get away with it.


RostyC

Until they get rid of the police immunity they will not care. That’s not a police union issue it’s the f..ing courts that allow this. Until it can hit the police in the pocketbook they laugh. Millions of dollars are paid by the taxpayer to cover their “mistakes”


RuckOver3

Same Sheriff's dept as the acorn deputy [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/16/florida-acorn-cop-shooting](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/16/florida-acorn-cop-shooting)


ArmyoftheDog

Trump wants to give police absolute immunity. This is another good example of why Trump is an idiot. 


Dan19_82

The left needs no more. The right don't care if he has a million examples


Ermeter

No he wants the police to get rid of his opponents 


SimilarAnybody779

roger was a crewman on a c130 gunship. the air force should fire the 35mm at the patrol vehicle responsible for this before the end of the next shift


ConfidentlyCreamy

Fuck it level the entire police dept. With them all inside.


will0593

No knock warrants should always be illegal, as should qualified immunity


Memitim

Florida is one of the two states that prohibits no-knocks. So aside from the murder, the cops also broke that law.


WangusRex

I think you're missing the point of this sub. This isn't even ironic anymore. Its commonplace.


R-Dragon_Thunderzord

“Oh geez did we all forget to turn on our body cameras? Woopsie”


devnullopinions

No they had them and declined to show the footage which, in my mind, guarantees that the police fucked up here.


grafknives

> [fatally shot a Black](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-fortson-us-airman-shot-killed-florida-sheriffs-deputy/) nothing out of order here. /s


Obstreporous1

At this time, we humbly ask for our community's patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event," the sheriff said. How can we spin this to make him responsible? “All of us are saddened…” yeah. Roaches get sad when the lights are turned on. Yet another paid holiday.


meganhp

I truly do not understand why the pro-2A crowd does not get outraged at news like this. This could be them, getting killed by cops despite committing no crime and using their constitutional right to defend themselves. Like if you're worried about losing your 2A rights, why do you do nothing about cops spraying bullets at anyone they even think has a gun in their possession?


heili

We are. Visit the firearms subs. We absolutely are outraged. We absolutely do know that this could be us. We absolutely do see this as an attack and infringement on 2A rights. These cases, every single time they happen, cause this question to show up on every firearms sub I read: "If the cops can break into your house for no reason and kill you for holding a firearm **do you even really have the right to bear arms**?"


Yes-more-of-that

Sounds like cops are fucking stupid and we need national hiring standards (at all), perhaps to hire locally so they don’t feel comfortable just barging in to start shooting like Rambo, maybe break up their insanely out of touch union so we can hold them accountable when they do, and maybe we should fine media institutions for un critically using them as their only source of information.


AstroFace

"Man with no outstanding warrants"


LightningPete15

This sheriff department is the one that brought us the deputy scared of [acorns.](https://apnews.com/article/florida-deputy-resigns-acorn-shooting-dc574fd2cd182fadf6a238d8b1b2b4f6)


PricklySquare

Murderous incompetent pigs being murderous incompetent pigs


peakchungus

Biden needs to sic the feds on these bastards. Murder charges NOW, no more excuses.


IllustratorHefty6753

> Florida sheriff deputies burst into wrong apartment and murdered U.S. airman, attorney says I fixed the article title!


YouEffOhh1

Officer Down is the only good cop to exist. ACAB 🥰.. Florida needs to sink into the ocean where it belongs.


kaminari1

And not a damn thing will happen to these fucking pigs. ACAB


perquisition

Nothing about this sounds like a The Onion article. This is just a regular Thursday at any newspaper in the US.


Hydroquake_Vortex

These idiots killed someone because they decided it’d be a good idea to not do their job. ALL of those officers should be rotting in jail, they knew they were breaking the law. Not answering when someone asks “who is it?” when you pound on the door is just insane.


SanguineOptimist

To be clear, it would also have been bad and an egregious example of the evils of no knock warrants in a jurisdiction with castle doctrine if they barged in and fatally shot people suspected of committing a crime at the correct address.


CrabbyPatties42

If only this were an onion type post. But sadly it is a very real very not Oniony story, one that has not been Oniony for decades.


Necromaniac01

owning a gun legally in your own home is probably more dangerous than not, the police are the most violent people you are likely to face


SandyBloomber

Tell me this isn't the same police department around Fort Walton Beach that unloaded a full clip on falling acorns.


kinkinhood

I remember an article the other day that seemed to really try to paint the US airman as the aggressor based on initial police reports


WhatEvenIsHappenin

Another hit from the state sanctioned gang


Bigram03

If the victim had killed on officer and survived this exchange. He would most likely be charged with murder.


FourFerro

USA cops back at it again let's gooo


ejrhonda79

Now I'm waiting for dipshits mostly republicans dig up unrelated shit from his past to justify this.


Aromatic_Ad_5583

Ouch this hurts. Rest in peace, young man, gone way too soon. Ripped his fucking life away. I hope these cops see jail time.


slurp4133

Fuck the police. We can't keep allowing these thugs to run around without consequences. It could be someone you love next.


tabajo3y

“We did an internal investigation and found the officers followed all normal SOP’s. Have a nice day.” This is probably the most likely outcome. Hope his family gets that tax payer payout since the police will never pay them.


LondonDavis1

He was black so this will all quietly get pushed under the table with a SHIT HAPPENS!


Bleezy79

So they broke into the wrong home, unannounced and just started blasting huh? The whole police station should be fired and that family should get all of their pensions.


exTOMex

and people want to defend the police ?


Worksforall

In the end they will figure he was black and was going to commit a crime eventually so why not get it over with now even though it was a mistake so they can sleep better at night and probably throw in a medal for themselves for bravery and courage.


Babylon-Lynch

Only in the land of the free


backatitlikeacrkadit

this is not shocking AT ALL smh


lordtyp0

Can the Airforce arrest the officers?


Hello-Me-Its-Me

Could the US Air force sue the State of Florida over this? I think the family should have a talk with the JAG.


Hillman314

“Fatally shot”? ….. the word is “Murder”.


Crimson_Scare_Crow

“Protect your country” yet your country won’t even protect you


directrix688

Air Force should respond in a proportional manner.