Unpopular opinion: The female officer in MN made a terrible mistake, and she should be held to account for it because mistakes like this are very serious. That should only be done according to the law, however. (The unpopular bit is the "mistake" part, btw.)
You can say that police shouldn't make mistakes, and I can say back to you, "I agree, but that's nice." Police are humans. They sometimes do make mistakes. They should be held accountable when it happens. If there's no process for that, then there's a problem. But there is.
Chris Rock famously made a remark that police can't make mistakes for the same reason airline pilots can't make mistakes, but pilots do too sometimes. Life contains tragedies. Errors occur. This is literally mathematical fact. Also, runways don't fight pilots (but wind does).
For those interested, the relevant mathematics is sometimes referred to as "the infinite monkey theorem," which states that the probability of something with nonzero probability occurring at least once approaches one (certainty) as trials increase toward infinity.
As for cops, I give them rather a lot of leeway in sticky, ugly, and rough situations. True to my otherwise libertarian impulses on the issue, I give them very little leeway in more quotidian situations. This, unlike much that passes under the term, is called "nuance."
In the present situation, giving the officer in question "leeway" doesn't translate into "excuse." It's merely enough to understand that these things sometimes happen and accountability is necessary. It is an absolute injunction against these riots and other idiocy.
Again, if you come at me with "these things SHOULDN'T happen," I'll just reply with "That's nice; fantasy worlds are cool." You're right, of course, but it's not at all clear what practical anything that adds. Take real steps to lower the odds in the future; it's all one can do.
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