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On Sunday, an unarmed 20-year-old Black man was shot and killed by a local police officer during a traffic stop outside Minneapolis.
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The officer and police chief both called this an error: The officer meant to reach for her taser, but pulled out the gun and fired a single bullet instead. They called this "an accidental discharge."
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After the fact, it's easy to say, we shouldn't have done something--that it was a mistake. The problem is some mistakes are minor, and some are life-changing, or in this case, life-extinguishing.
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The officer involved resigned from the force and has been charged with manslaughter. The fact that she made a mistake doesn't change the outcome. Why was she even reaching for a taser anyway? Was that necessary?