A German Cop Killed With His Own Weapon: Looking Back at the Michael Brown Case

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Michael Brown

Just days ago a German police officer was shot and killed while on duty in the small town of  Völklingen (Saarland). He and his partner were called to the scene of a robbery in progress at a local gas station. The suspect attempted to flee but was chased down by the two officers. During the ensuing struggle, the suspect managed to grab an officer's gun and fired several shots at him, killing him in the process. The suspect was also shot and wounded and taken into custody. As the media usually does in Germany, the suspect was only partially identified as an 18-year-old "German with Turkish citizenship".

Of course, this latest tragedy raises once again the question of Europe's catastrophic immigration and asylum policy that has allowed millions of young men from the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and other places, with the resultant explosion in crime, terrorism, the loss of innocent lives, and now a German police officer. Not knowing the exact background of the suspect, I will leave it at that.

However, this incident brings to mind the case of a police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 that led to riots in St Louis and constant news coverage around the country. I am referring to the case of Michael Brown, a black teenager shot and killed by a white police officer, Darren Wilson.

To recount, the events are now pretty clear even though at the time, activists tried to paint it as an unjustified shooting of Brown while he had his hands up and was supposedly in the act of surrendering-the so-called "hands up, don't shoot" claim. Brown had just previously been involved in shoplifting in a convenience store and, fitting the description of the suspect, was stopped by Wilson a few minutes later. Brown then attempted to grab Wilson's weapon while he was still in the car. A struggle ensued inside and outside the car. Brown then charged Wilson, who had his gun out. The officer, knowing that Brown was attempting to take his weapon, fired, and Brown was killed. While many thought that the shooting was unjustified, several (black) witnesses backed up Wilson's version of the events, and he was cleared.. 

As a retired DEA agent, I can tell you that when you are holding someone at gunpoint and he tries to charge you, there is a legitimate reason to believe your life is in danger if that suspect takes your weapon.

Looking now at the case of the officer killed in Völklingen, Germany, I need not go into further detail.  

The case has shocked Germany, a nation that is now experiencing the violent crime we used to associate with America, as opposed to a relatively safe Europe. Unfortunately, those days are over, at least in Western Europe, still bringing more and more questionable people into their countries while the Eastern European members of the European Union are resisting the EU's attempts to force them to take in their "fair share" of migrants and so-called asylum-seekers.

I don't know what the rules of engagement are for German and other European cops. Shockingly, many of England's cops still go unarmed, with specialized armed units trained to respond to serious attacks. It's insane. Unless Europe wakes up, they are going to see many more of its officers shot and killed by these violent people it has allowed in. Hopefully, the rules of engagement will be examined, and if, needed, adjusted to fit the new reality.