The Police Aren't Here to Protect You, Uvalde Children, or Presidential Candidates

Cop: Pardon me sir....
Shooter: Points gun
Cop: Ah, I see you're a busy white man, Ill leave you to it.
- Are you willing to get shot for Trump?
  
  Only if it means one of my bones deflects the bullet into him.
  
  If you're a cop you should be willing to take a bullet for any citizen. If you're not, find a better job.
- He probably assumed he knew the guy from a Patriot Front march and didn't realize who the intended target would be.
- Brooklyn 99 lol

to be fair if I was on a ladder and got to the top and there was a dude pointing a gun at me, I could be the most elite warrior there is and still know the best option is retreat.
- Yea, I'm not sure how this cop getting domed before the dude turned back around and fired at Trump would have helped the situation...
  
  I mean, the SS hearing that shot and pivoting that way may have saved Trumps life if the shooter were competent but that’s not the scenario that happened.
  But what cop wants to be the guy domed so maybe the SS saves a fascist
- In medieval times and before, people who went up first on the ladders during an assault either got a huge reward or the right to carry off whatever they found. Fighting up a ladder with no one friendly at the top is hugely dangerous.
  
  Blood sports and spoils would hugely improve polite discourse around any subject IMO.

So, after this incident with Trump, does anybody really think the best solution to political violence is to allow more people at political rallies to carry guns? Sounds stupid, right? Because thats basically the response with every other shooting.
- Wasn't the shooter stopped by people with guns? Sounds like Repub gun regulations working as they're supposed to.
  
  No no, don't downvote this comment people. I too, think more guns should be allowed at Republican rallies. Everyone should be armed there in fact. Then it'll be less suspicious when someone with a rifle climbs a roof in the future.

You apologists are fucking cowards. ACAB!
- They should do better but that doesn't mean we don't need law enforcement.
  
  law enforcement doesn't require the police
  
  prove it.
- Should have rambo'd the shooter from the ladder like a true patriot to save that rapist felon. If you think about it, the cop probably actually did save him because the shooter had to rush to take the shot immediately after and didn't have time to aim properly.

Considering the circumstances I'd argue he's one of the few cops to protect and serve. Really the secret service here who dropped the ball. Coulda let em have a second go.

Local police shouldn't be the ones protecting the presenditial candidates, they should be protecting the crowd. Secret Service is there for the candidate.
- Alright, so what did this cop do to protect the crowd? I do believe at least once person in the crowd died.
  
  He investigated the report that there was a shooter on the roof?
- I think local police are assigned to these events to augment SS in protecting whoever they are protecting.
  
  Bingo. They are not there have a good time. The event paid for police presence for the permit to hold the event and likely required by many laws on crowd size and insurance policy.

One officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder
"only pointing at a cop" is how you know it wasn't a leftist or anarchist.
- Go on, spell it out
  
  It implies respect for cops. That's something the right or conservatives are into.
- That doesn’t make sense for a successful assassination attempt, it would have alerted the SS.

This seems to be the right-wing's main angle of attack on this issue. Seeing how forcefully they're pushing this fact across social media I'm kind of resistant to going along with any narrative they are trying to build from it until more facts come out.
I saw the interview with the guy who said he saw the shooter and he came off as kind of a doofus, he more or less said the extent they went to alert anyone was just pointing. You've got to remember that this was a rally for some deeply stupid people, I'm sure it adds to the security difficulties to have to suss out what's just idiots being idiots and what is useful info.
I think the reality is more simple; people overestimate the abilities of the Secret Service. I am sure they're experts and highly trained, but they're still human, and the mythos around their abilities is likely overblown to an extent. History has shown that if someone is determined enough, they can get close to the president if they want.

"Eh fuck it, let him roll them dice"
– this cop, probably

Officer was actually based. "I don't see nothing wrong here, carry on citizen"
- Are you advocating for murdering political opponents? Sounds like fascism.
  
  I guess only if you'd consider the founders of the US fascist. if one really, truly believes that Trump is really, truly the end of the Republic and the start of a regime of Christian fascism, isn't this the whole reason the founders gave us the second amendment? Sic semper tyrannis, the tree of liberty must be watered and all that?
  Imho, it's a moot point, the Republic is already dead, the people behind P2025 and the support network behind the Christian Fascism movement aren't going to simply vanish in a puff of smoke if Trump loses or something happens to him. They'll just pick someone else and keep coming back until they get the levers of government. I don't think political violence changes anything except how we shamble into fascism.
  
  All rights are won through violence, child.

Tbh, after reading the link, I don't blame anyone with a rifle pointed at them to climb back down, cop or no. The whole situation was handled so poorly tho and is 100% going to increase voilent tensions.
- Fair, but you have a team ready to shoot at anything at a drop of a hat. Find a way to contact them.
  But US cops aren't chosen for their critical thinking.

You can't help a situation if you're dead.
Tactical retreat and getting backup/informing the secret service sniper team was a better play, and safer.
I assume that the message simply took too long to make it through all the interdepartmental channels, and he was able to get shots off.
Realistically, WTF was the cop supposed to do? If he proceeded forward, he'd probably get shot. Without checking in to dispatch to report the presence of the shooter and that he was on scene in the company of a guy with a rifle, then dispatch would have been very slow to respond, if they responded at all.
Talk to the guy? He's clearly deadset on doing something. You don't climb on a roof with a rifle without a plan and the will to execute that plan. Talking to him is going to either agitate him or just get the officer shot.... The chances that the cop could have talked him down, even if the Leo had expert negotiation training, is slim at best.
The standard carry equipment for a police officer is pretty limited. It's not like he has grenades or something, and don't forget, at this point he's on a fucking ladder with a rifle pointed at his dome at point blank range. Calling for someone with the correct equipment and training to get onto the roof to handle the guy, with the correct equipment to do so, and/or, have a fully trained sharpshooter that's already positioned nearby take that shot, is a better way to handle the situation.
Look, I'm not going to defend the police about what happened at Uvalde, or any other school shooting, but in this scenario, given the options, falling back to call reinforcements was the right call.

Maybe this is poorly described and the shooter literally turned and shot as the cop ducked back down the ladder… but that cop should’ve been on radio or firing his sidearm into the dirt or SOMETHING immediately after going back down a step or two. But this reads like he just went back down and wandered off.
They could head off a lot of questions by saying he went down a step and radioed immediately so people think the cop at least tried lol
- The cop had already lost, the shooter had the high ground!
  Seriously though, he was on a ladder - all of your limbs are dedicated to keeping you on the ladder. You have to get off the ladder before you can do anything else, so you either go up the ladder probably getting shot multiple times before you can get to your gun or radio, or go down the ladder where you're not in the line of fire to call for backup, draw your gun, or whatever.
  
  Not really, I’m on a ladder for hours a day frequently, like multiple times a month. You are only required 3 points of contact for OSHA compliance and pretty sure cops can ignore that. If you can’t grab the radio attached to your chest with one hand while on a ladder with three other contacts then you have no business being a cop lol