Thank you for your response, before i submit a more complete response, let me ask you one more question and followup so I may fully understand your position.
What if she shot the suspect?
If she shot the suspect wounding him, after having been subdued... that's a grey area, where it could be viewed as an excessive use of force in that he was already powerless to resist and was shot anyway, whereas had he been resisting or grabbing for a gun or something like that then it would be justifiable... the type of thing that would be argued in a court of law.
Unfortunately, even as an accidental discharge if the bullet had killed the suspect in that case would have equally been a case of manslaughter.
The distinction to be made is having the gun trained on a suspect being arrested, and pulling your gun on a suspect that was for all intents subdued. In the first case the weapon discharging was evidently an accident, where in the BART shooting all that was left was to place the cuffs on the suspect, but instead shot him.
I would wager that the suspect said something to the effect of 'f-ing pigs' for which the cop would have responded with the taser but pulled out his gun instead. That's entirely possible, but if they really wanted to beat the guy, they should have done like all other cops do, drag him through the station and give him the phonebook treatment.
do you see a difference then between the bart and this officer?
Yes, in the sequence of events. It really isn't much difference than if you or I get into a car accident resulting in a fatality... you have to go to court and defend yourself against a charge of manslaughter (and/or other applicable charges).
I have no argument on the dea agent, the point was to show how a glock operates and the danger of trigger mounted safteys....
I agree that a trigger mounted 'safety' is like a recipe for disaster, this was news to me since the only guns I've ever used had the safeety as a button that when pressed acted as a trigger lock (my experience with guns is admittedly quite limited, even tho I like that they have bullets that will not pass through walls).
The point I ultimately would make is that although it was very likely to be an accident, it was a fatal error, and one that should be answered for. Now, as for the riots afterwards... well, if the people feel that the justice system is failing them, while that means the justice system is failing everyone (including the officers family who will be targets of extremists) at the same time failing the family, the victim, and the entire community. The people that turned this from a protest to a riot are somewhere between scum and the disillusioned youth thinking that broken windows at a mcdonalds sends a good message.
I'm really not hating on cops, they do have a tough job to do and put their lives on the line every day. I am grateful for that, as a realist, I accept that there are many corrupt cops, and so when a cop is witnessed as being part of ANY crime, they should be dealt with strictly and more severely than an average citizen for the same crime, but ONLY because of the responsibilities that come from their job.
One final distinction; I wouldn't argue manslaughter had the suspect been standing and in a position to be actively resisting arrest, then the death would be a 'justifiable homocide' rather, and while still should face questions and a brief paid-leave of absence for the stress caused in that type of situation, but not be at risk of a prison sentance.
My first reaction was that the cop murdered a man, but given all the other circumstance in this case, the charge should be murder (for firing on a detained man) rather than cuffing him, with an opening deal offer to confess to manslaughter, where he needs to see a jail cell... but since the longer he's in jail the higher the odds of him being killed for being a cop... even tho for only two years, it's still to say that he (should be) a typically upstanding citizen himself. Ultimately, for everyone involved, this needs to be settled in a courtroom, or those riots will eventually boil over into a full out revolt.
I feel like there's more I could add in terms of distinctions into my beliefs, but I'll leave it at that.