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I think the ATF agents made an intentional tradeoff to maximize the drama and PR effect of their raid at the cost of a greatly increased chance of a gunfight.
I think he fired at officers as a case of mistaken identity. That doesn't change the fact that they appear to have deliberately created a situation that maximized the danger to their target, in exactly the way their agency has a long history of doing. Nor does it change the fact that they appear to have intentionally violated their own policies in a way that minimizes their legal exposure for doing so.
No, the people responsible are the officers who were more interested in headlines than in doing their jobs properly. They created the situation. Their creation of the situation is impossible to justify because it was so obviously excessive and unnecessary. Their actions in the situation are impossible to justify because they deliberately disabled the required tools of accountability. They work for an agency with a long history of these exact behaviors, leading to these exact outcomes.
Suppose a jurisdiction begins using full swat teams to serve speeding tickets. They use unmarked police cars to suddenly box-in the vehicle in question, then multiple plainclothes officers burst out screaming orders while waving badges and pointing machine guns at the vehicle's occupants. Shootings of "suspects" are significantly higher using this method than with the standard method. If this is pointed out, would you argue that it's the suspects' fault for failing to comply? If it turns out that all the officers in a traffic stop that resulted in a shooting left their body cameras behind, would you find that fact suspicious?
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