Comment by blackflame7000
5 years ago
The reason a prosecutor makes an example of someone is so that they serve as a deterrent to others. It's not because they desire to make an example of everyone.
The problem is that you disguise widely complicit violations of societal order by comparing them to single instances of pilfering. Looting doesn't justify deadly force, but a riotous and unlawful mob certainly can.
A protest against a citizen who had his life taken without due process of law is getting out of hand.
Doing the same on a much larger scale is not going to improve any situation whatsoever. It will be the exact opposite of a deterrent to others.
I don't follow the logic that a crime against property should become a capital crime just because it is down by a large(unorganised) group of people. Furthermore, the constitution guarantees a fair right to a jury trial, no matter how egregious, and police or the national guard shooting to kill looters goes against that.
Should drug smugglers be shot too? They are also going against societal order.
A rebellion is different, if you have to deploy the military because people have overpowered the police then it is no longer just a normal crime scene. Normally people would just disperse when that happens, but if they tried to attack the military in the same way they attack the police then what would you expect?