yes, the brother definitely could've complied. should he have? sure.

that does NOT excuse what the officers did.

the officers were the professionals in this situation. they were trained to handle this situation and had several options. they chose the wrong option. and b/c they're held to a higher standard, they're wrong act trumps the brother's wrong act. and that should be the focus here.

the lesson about obeying cops - teach that to your kids based on this. good idea. but it's not something that needs to be a broader conversation based on this. we don't need to teach our young Black men that they need to comply w/cops based on this. i mean, we as parents of kids do need to warn our kids. but the public conversation needs to focus on the cops and their wrong. b/c their wrong trumps the brother's wrong.