Cop Fired For Not Shooting Black Man

“To resign and admit I did something wrong here would have ate at me. I think I’m right in what I did. I’ll take it to the grave,” Officer Stephen Mader told the attorney.

Weirton Police Department has extricated a brave and non-violent cop, Officer Stephen Mader from the police service for refusing to shoot a suicidal man earlier this year.

Responding to a distress call on May 6, 2016, Mader had an encounter which proved his exceptionalism as a cop. But unfortunately, he had to rather pay for it bitterly. Officer Mader got to the scene and saw an armed Ronald D. Williams Jr. who at that time was acting suicidal. Williams was suffering from a mental disorder. Mader said, “I told him, ‘Put down the gun,’ and he’s like, ‘Just shoot me.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not going to shoot you brother.’”

He further narrated the incident by saying that “I thought I was going to be able to talk to him and de-escalate it. I knew it was a suicide-by-cop” The 23-year-old Williams waved the gun to make Mader feel threatened just so he could shoot him but the officer didn’t. As Mader was getting the situation under control, a backup team arrived and an officer just shot at Williams, killing him the process. Williams was shot in the head and in the back. He died on the spot.

After they got close to the body, it was realized that his gun wasn’t loaded. Investigations were carried out and like always, the death of Williams was said to be justified. However, according to the Post-Gazette, the investigations had some twists and turns which have made the credibility of the findings questionable.

On Mader’s return to work after some few days off, he was met with the shocking news. The police chief of Weirton, Rob Alexander asked Mader to proceed on leave. Then on the 7^th of June, he received his sack letter and the reason stated was that he failed to eliminate risk by not shooting at Williams.

Speaking to the attorney, Mader said, “To resign and admit I did something wrong here would have ate at me. I think I’m right in what I did. I’ll take it to the grave.”

This is clear evidence of the fact that, in the American police service, you either shoot someone or face the risk of losing your job. Hence, it is no coincidence at all that there are so many recorded cases of police shootings and brutalities against Black people. It seems to be a prescription to be in the service. The police are programmed to kill rather than to protect.

Source: Free thought project