The Murder Of Dillon Taylor
BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 6 months ago
Dillon Taylor was not armed when a Salt Lake City police officer shot him to death outside a convenience store.
But in that moment on Aug. 11, Officer Bron Cruz had good reason to think Taylor was pulling a gun out of his pants, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill ruled on Tuesday.
Taylor, 20, and the two men he was with matched the descriptions of a 911 caller who said three men had “flashed” a gun. And Cruz saw them “making a scene” on their way to the 7-Eleven near 2100 S. State Street.
Confronted by officers, the two men with Taylor held up their hands, while Taylor alone was “noncompliant.”
Body-cam video shows that Taylor turned toward officers with his hands in his pants before hoisting his shirt — a gesture officers are trained to recognize as a possible weapon-draw.
“Nothing that Mr. Taylor did assisted in de-escalating the situation,” Gill said. “If anything, it escalated things.”
Taylor’s shooting was justified, Gill said, not because he posed an actual threat, but because Cruz reasonably perceived a threat.
I said in comments here that “I don’t trust most LEOs when it comes to muzzle discipline … There are many reasons for my mistrust, one having to do with sympathetic muscle reflexes (see here and here).” I would not have done anything with my hands (as did Taylor), but that doesn’t change the fact that the LEO was too quick to shoot. You be the judge.
Another thing we learn is that even with body cameras, judges most often will side with LEOs. A corrupt system will always be corrupt, regardless of whether people see it in motion pictures.
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On June 4, 2015 at 10:43 am, Blake said:
I cannot justify that shoot, at all. The cop followed with his gun out and was primed to shoot. It was not up to the citizen to de-escalate the situation, it was up to the officer. The cop acted like he was in hot pursuit of a murder suspect, not someone who supposedly “created a scene.”
The cop murdered that young man.
This is one of the things that infuriates me. As someone who has a conceal carry permit, had I done what this officer did, I would be in jail on murder charges.
I’ve never understood why cops are held to a lower standard than I when it comes to justifiable homicide.
On June 4, 2015 at 11:56 am, Archer said:
Agreed. Mr. Taylor was placed in a no-win scenario: keep his hands where they were and get shot for non-compliance, or remove his hands and get shot for “potentially drawing a weapon”. He chose the latter, but the outcome wouldn’t have changed.
Another thing about this that infuriates me is that this will be simultaneously swept under the rug (from a legal standpoint) and used against the CCW community (from a PR standpoint, since cops are so “highly-trained” but things like this still happen). We are also placed in a no-win scenario as a result of this, and we weren’t even involved!
On June 22, 2015 at 1:26 pm, Angry devastated guest said:
Totally agree with you Blake. This is absolutely mind boggling and upsetting when I saw this I could not stop crying for at least an hour and I don’t even know the young man. I was in shock. But to see a human being who was not aggressive at all toward the police being shot down like a dog worse than a dog was absolutely heart wrenching. The district attorney Gill backing this criminal murder he should expect to go to hell with gasoline draws on and the rest of us should expect to be treated no better than poor Dillon Taylor was bcz nothing has changed . His death was in vain and unnecessary. no matter what he did this man was determined to kill him. Go to hell Cruz! may his death be played in your mind over and over until you blow your brains out!! I hope he haunts you in your sleep I hope you never get a day to rest and I hope you die just like he had to die you are horrible person and you are not serving the community you are killing people in the community and hurting his family and his loved ones and hurting our nation you’re an animal. we hate what you did you need to repent before the devil comes and drag your soul to hell.