Just Stop Please Stop

[Content Note: Police brutality; death.]

"Maryland man fatally shot by police 'after imitating gun with fingers':

A man was shot dead after pointing his finger as if it was a gun at a police officer who was chasing him for trying to obtain cough syrup with a fake prescription, police in Maryland said on Thursday.

Baltimore County police said the man, who has not yet been publicly named, was shot three times in Reisterstown after "reaching around to the small of his back and abruptly whipping his hand around and pointing it toward the officer, as if with a weapon".

Police said in a statement that the shooting on Wednesday was recorded on surveillance footage from a nearby business, which shows that after falling to the ground he "refuses to comply and keeps reaching into his waistband, as if for a weapon".

The man was being pursued for attempting to use a fake prescription at a pharmacy, according to police, who said the officer responded to a call from a pharmacist and chased the man across the street.

Not only has the man's name not been released; neither has his race.

I know we're fighting a totally terrific war on drugs and all, but does that really necessitate chasing a man and using deadly force because he tried to get cough syrup with a fake prescription?

It's not just the number of police killings to which I object; it's many of the methods of policing that precede them.