We should all be concerned about the militarization of our peace officers.
The issue here isn’t the means that was used to kill the perpetrator, but rather the military methods that are now being used against US citizens.
Singer confirmed on Twitter that this is indeed the first reported use of lethal robots by American police, although similar tactics have been deployed in Iraq by the United States military.
Via Digital Trends:
Bringing bloody resolution to a standoff with the suspected shooter in Thursday’s horrific sniper attack on police at a Black Lives Matter protest, Dallas Police cornered and killed the suspect in a parking garage with an explosive delivered by a bomb-disposal robot. The AP quotes robotics expert Peter W. Singer at the New America Foundation as saying that, to his knowledge, this is the first instance in the United States of police killing someone with a robot.
In a statement given on Friday, Police Chief David Brown said that the robot was deployed after several hours of failed negotiations and an exchange of fire at the El Centro College parking structure where the suspect was found. “We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” said Brown. “Other options would have exposed our officers to great danger. The suspect is deceased as a result of detonating the bomb.”