That pro white thread.

[Rev. Rye]

The difference is that he'd be in a familiar environment - people DO react differently in different situations.  Remember - in the interaction that cost him his life, he was on the street and clearly didn't understand what was going on. What follows is a not unlikely scenario:

Two cops go to his home and explain why they're there. They tell him that a number plate violation isn't terribly serious, but that he'll need to come along with them sort out the resisting thing. Understanding that he's not in a serious amount of trouble, he goes along quietly. His court appointed lawyer meets with him at the jail and explains his options. At his arraignment the next day, the court sets a modest bail and Mr. Lyoya is released pending a preliminary hearing.

See? Justice is served - Mr. Lyoya is now in the justice system and is going to have to accept whatever penalty society demands for the heinous crimes of 1) having a bad number plate and 2) being afraid of cops. The chief difference between what did happen and what could have happened, is that - in my scenario - Mr. Lyoya's two children still have their father.

Boru

Or you have another Brianna Taylor situation. Your guess is as good as mine.

He didn't understand what was going on? Sounds to me like you are being pretty disrespectful to this man and his intelligence by assuming that. He's not a mentally challenged child, and he confirmed that he could speak English. And I'm pretty sure he knew that he was in the US and was not still in the Congo with Congolese police, unless he was having a PTSD episode.

Intellectually, he might have known that American cops are less bad than Congolese cops, but as someone who deals with anxiety, trauma, and depression, even if you know for a fact that these particular examples are less dangerous than the ones who abused you, it can be hard to shake the association.

If you’re (for example) a woman whose formative years were fraught with abusive men, maybe even to the point where you didn’t even meet one who wasn’t overall negative to you until you were in your teens, and you somehow manage to get a husband/boyfriend/whatever who proves to be the exact opposite of that, it’s not like the fear that he’ll turn out to be just like all the rest of them just goes away.