Watch the video here.
Pamela Geller has more details here, including this useful summation of events:
1. He was in a 120 mile per hour wild police chase.
2. He told the 911 dispatcher that he was armed and would use the weapon.
3. When stopped, he ran, then turned.
4. It’s dark. Is that a pistol in his hand?
5. He gets into a shooting stance. (Does anyone really think the police will spend much time wondering if that thing in his hand, which they cannot see clearly, is a pistol?)
6. Cops open fire.
Jihad Watch reader Dominic calls this “a clear case of suicide by cop by a teen who could easily pass for Hispanic/Latino” — in other words, the idea that this shooting was motivated in any way by “ethnic prejudice” against Muslims is ridiculous, and even more so when you see Arian’s threatening behavior in the video above. Dominic adds: “He called 911, claimed to have a gun which he planned to use against cops. Video clearly shows him aiming something at cops MANY times before cops kill him. Nonetheless, Islamist shakedown artists pressured the LAPD into a ‘fence-mending’ meeting when NO mending is needed.”
And indeed, Los Angeles Muslims are playing the victimhood card to the hilt in this case, and the clear evidence of the video above is not deterring them. Nor does the LAPD seem to have anyone with the guts to stand up and say, “Stop this nonsense. Watch the video. The young man was clearly threatening police officers. They responded appropriately.”
“LAPD meets Muslim community in Granada Hills to discuss police shooting death of Abdul Arian, 19,” by Bob Strauss for the Los Angeles Daily News, April 20:
Los Angeles Police Department officials met with members of the Muslim community on Friday to mend some fences in the wake of the fatal police shooting of a local 19-year-old Afghan-American.
The commanding officer of Devonshire Division and the department’s inspector general appeared at the Islamic Center of Northridge’s mosque in Granada Hills.
About 50 members of the congregation stayed following afternoon prayers to hear Devonshire Captain Kris Pitcher explain what he could about the incident.
On April 11, Abdul Arian, a Winnetka resident, led LAPD officers on a chase after a traffic stop in Northridge, ending on the freeway. He was shot and killed by officers after he gestured and pointed at them with an object in his hand, though no gun was found.
But since not many concrete facts are available until exhaustive investigations inside and out of LAPD are completed, Pitcher mainly tried to mend fences with the Valley Muslim community, many members of which believe ethnic prejudice was a factor in Arian’s death.
“It’s not the police department against anybody, it’s the police department working with each one of you,” said Pitcher, who appeared in casual civilian clothing.
“Are you always right? No,” Pitcher continued. “Am I always right? Absolutely not. But you know what? We’re humans, we’re fallible, we make mistakes, we get by and we try to live together in peace and in harmony.”
Pitcher was accompanied by the department’s inspector general, Alexander R. Bustamante, and his assistant Django Sibley. They said the IG’s office is conducting its own independent investigation of the incident, and will turn over their facts to the Police Commission. The data will be released publicly after the case is adjudicated.
So, until then, not many specifics. Pitcher did reveal that the eight officers involved in the shooting were removed from the field immediately afterward and underwent psychological assessment and some updated training, and were scheduled to return to duty Friday night.
A spokesman for the mosque said the police representatives were invited to help counterbalance some of the anger in the community that has been evident on comment sections of websites, at protest demonstrations and at Arian’s funeral Tuesday.
“The main reason we invited them here was to cut through the fog of misconceptions about LAPD acting beyond their scope,” said Mahmood Payind, a member of the non-profit religious corporation’s board. “We say that they’re law enforcement and they enforced the law. The community should not just jump to conclusions and be emotional. We should be rational; that’s what Islam says. Islam is about peace, not about making chaos.”
Congregants weren’t necessarily satisfied by the Q&A session, but they seemed to appreciate the department’s effort.
“I didn’t get my questions answered in a black-and-white manner,” said Porter Ranch resident Syed Khalil. “They gave rather unclear answers, which I understand has to do with their policy.
“But it’s very helpful that they came here,” added Khalil, an energy company executive who immigrated from India 25 years ago. “The moment you come down, it’s like giving importance to the community, because we are a minority. A minority always has a complex, so at least their appearance makes us feel like we’re being treated as equal partners in society.”
“I let them know as much as I could now, and as the investigation unfolds I’m sure the chief’s office will be releasing more facts,” Pitcher said after the meeting. “This was a great opportunity to come out and to open the process up for transparency.”
Capitulating to a Big Lie is not transparency.