Joe Biden again suggested police officers be trained to de-escalate situations involving dangerous suspects by shooting them in the leg.
The Democratic presidential nominee repeated the controversial contention during a Thursday town hall moderated by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulus.
Rather than shoot to kill in self-defense, Biden proposed wounding them instead.
“Most cops don’t like bad cops,” he said. “You can ban chokeholds, but beyond that you have to teach them how to de-escalate circumstances.”
“So instead of anybody coming at you and the first thing you do is shoot to kill, you shoot them in the leg,” Biden concluded.
.@JoeBiden says police should try shooting dangerous criminals “in the leg” pic.twitter.com/u3phk3MHSq
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 16, 2020
Response To Biden Proposing Cops Shoot Dangerous Suspects In The Leg
Social media’s response to Biden’s proposal indicates disagreement on the part of many who saw the town hall comments.
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich tweeted that the idea proves “he has zero idea how police training or responding to a violent threat works.”
Biden just suggested police shoot people in the leg, proving he has zero idea how police training or responding to a violent threat works.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) October 16, 2020
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino also opined on Biden’s comments.
“Spoken like a true moron who has never spent a moment in law enforcement,” he tweeted.
Spoken like a true moron who has never spent a moment in law enforcement. ???? https://t.co/vkQfFqsXP8
— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) October 16, 2020
Conservative filmmaker Caleb Hull posted a video of Biden’s comments alongside a clip showing police officers actually trying to deal with a dangerous suspect.
The scene shows an enraged man who charges them, is seemingly incapacitated when one officer shoots him, but eventually regroups and gets a chokehold on another officer and grabs his gun.
Here’s Joe Biden saying cops should just shoot charging attackers in the leg to stop them without killing them.
vs.
The reality of what happens when someone charges a cop with a weapon. pic.twitter.com/1OknQRQSFU
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) October 16, 2020
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Biden Is Serious About This Solution
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time Biden has suggested police officers be trained to shoot suspects in the leg.
He made the same contention during a meeting with African-American community leaders at the Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware, this past June.
“The idea that instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there’s an unarmed person, coming at him with a knife or something, to shoot him in the leg instead of in the heart,” Biden said.
Joe Biden says he wants cops who have someone running at them with a knife to “shoot them in the leg.” pic.twitter.com/uhtj8gQa6l
— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) June 1, 2020
Critics picked him apart at the time as well.
Dana Loesch, a former spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, said Biden “clearly has zero experience with firearms, firearm law, or self-defense — you don’t shoot unless lethal force is absolutely justified.”
Biden clearly has zero experience with firearms, firearm law, or self defense — you don’t shoot unless lethal force is absolutely justified. His “shoot to wound” rhetoric is irresponsible, not unlike when he told people to just fire shotguns from their balconies. https://t.co/qyZsv4XcIG
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) June 1, 2020
Rob Pincus, who has trained police officers throughout the United States and Europe, explained to the Washington Free Beacon why the ‘shoot them in the leg’ tactic is dangerous.
“Legs move. It’s much harder to hit a smaller moving target than it is to hit the chest,” Pincus stated.
“From a technical shooting skill standpoint, from a technical legal standpoint, it’s not where we want to go at all.”
In that same response at Thursday’s ABC town hall, Biden also reiterated another proposal to have psychiatrists and/or psychologists accompany police officers on dangerous calls.
He’s made this suggestion before as well.
BIDEN: If a police officer “goes on a 911 call, it’s better if he or she has with them a psychologist or psychiatrist.”
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 6, 2020
At the first presidential debate, President Trump was able to stump Biden when he asked him to name one law enforcement group that supports his campaign.
Trump presses Biden to name a single law enforcement agency who supports him
Biden can’t name a single one and says he doesn’t have time to talk about it
Democrat Chris Wallace interrupts to stop the embarrassing moment for Biden pic.twitter.com/zYFrx2s0SS
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 30, 2020
Biden would later admit that he had “support from police my whole career up until this year.”
Perhaps his “shoot them in the leg” proposal is one reason why law enforcement doesn’t take Biden seriously.
