Our laws DO NOT allow civilians to confront police. The ONLY recourse, or defense ANY of us have are the courts.

Alton Sterling was reportedly threatening a 911 caller with a gun. Responding Officers strongly suspected he was armed. They ordered him to the ground. He ILLEGALLY refused to comply with Police commands.

He was justifiably tased after refusing to comply, but the taser failed. THAT was a critical failure here. Had that worked, Mr Sterling would’ve been packaged and shipped to a holding cell.

He struggled/fought with arresting officers (“resisting arrest,” “ felony assault on a police officer” & in many locales, “attempted murder,” given a struggling/grappling suspect is “presumed to be going for the cop’s gun”). In this case, Mr Sterling was ILLEGALLY armed.

SAME scenario in the Philando Castile case. According to Diamond Reynolds, Mr Castile told cops he was legally armed (he had no valid permit). Officer Jeronimo Yanez DEMANDED that Mr Castile keep his hands in plain sight. That order carries the backing of the U.S. Government that demands submission to its laws and law enforcement personnel. Again, according to Diamond Reynolds’ account, Mr Castile went to retrieve his ID…officer Yanez claims he saw Mr Castile go for his gun.

Again, civilians have no recognized right to refuse to comply with police commands…yes, even commands we believe are “illegal/unwarranted.” IF a cop arrests someone inappropriately the courts will often reward that plaintiff with compensation. Any “resisting arrest” (even stepping away from the arresting officer), or “assault of a police officer” (ie. Pushing an Officer’s hands away as he looks to handcuff a suspect), tends to eliminate the plaintiff’s claims, because the testimony of someone “in the commission of a crime,” cannot be viewed as a reliable.

We need to ratchet up penalties for even “minor resisting arrest,” like stepping away from arresting officers, if only to educate the public and assure a “complete and docile compliance” with law enforcement at the expense of severe penalties, perhaps even making such people ineligible for any locsl, state or federal government benefits (ie. Food Stamps, EITC, Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, etc) for a given period depending upon the severity and repeat status of the infraction.