At 9:21 PM -0500 7/23/01, Jim Choate wrote:
While it's true the hole would have reduced the cushion impact of breaking the glass it would not have eliminated it.
NATO says it takes a transfer of approx. 85 Joules to kill.
That's ridiculous. There are far too many variables involved in delivering a fatal wound for anyone to be able to reduce it to a single number. 85 Joules delivered where and how? That seems to come to about 62-63 foot pounds, about the muzzle energy of a .22 long rifle out of a 2 inch barrel (65 pounds) and more than the energy of a .32 short-colt (54 pounds). I would say that neither is adequate to reliably do the job, nor is either "sub-lethal".
Figure out the velocity that takes for 15 lbs.. Compare to the velocity possible in this incidence.
Assuming that the protestor can achieve 20 FPS with a 15 pound weight, he's generating 93+ foot pounds at terminus. That's 13 miles per hour. I'd bet he could get closer to 25-30 miles an hour which would be over 300 foot pounds, which puts it around the energy delivered by a 9mm Parabellum. Check my math, I'm not good at it. Now, as I indicated above, just because there is adequate energy to do the job if well placed, doesn't mean there's enough to do the job if it falls on your foot. As well, it may be nominally inadequate, but still be lethal if delivered *just* right. The .22LR has killed a lot of people, and I'd bet the .32 short has done one or two.
In addition the fact that a previous protestor had put a board through the window only goes to demonstrate the high level of emotional disruption these officers were exposed to. Panicking is not justification for making a wrong decision.
Huh? When one is in a panic state, one by definition is not thinking clearly, otherwise one would not be panicking.
Deadly force was not in any way justified.
It most certainly was.