We can now add desk drawer rollers to items that police will kill you for holding.

San Diego, CA — On the morning of August 23, 2022, something snapped inside 48-year-old Scholar Wang. The man with no criminal history allegedly assaulted his two aunts who lived with him, before barricading himself in the bathroom after police showed up.

Wang certainly deserved to be held to account for the non-life-threatening injuries, including head lacerations, and wrist and forearm fractures, he allegedly caused his two aunts, ages 73 and 79. Unfortunately, however, he would never get his day in court or the help he needed to get better thanks to a dozen of San Diego’s finest who showed up and killed him.

On that fateful morning, Wang’s aunts left the home after being assaulted and went to a neighbor’s home where they called police. When officers showed up, they engaged in a standoff with the 48-year-old, who was not a threat to the dozen or so officers wearing bullet proof vests, armed with shotguns, rifles, pistols, and a K-9.

Police, however, would claim otherwise and said that the “metal bar” Wang was holding indeed posed a threat to officers after he barricaded himself in the bathroom. Instead of barging in to the bathroom and taking the man down with tasers or brute force, a two-hour long standoff ensued as police yelled for Wang to come out.

“We need you to come out with nothing in your hands and your hands up,” an officer can be heard saying in the recording. “If you do not comply with our commands, we’re going to send a police dog and you will be bit. We do not want to do that.

“We do not want to hurt you,” the officer says. “We want to do this safely.”

Wang did not comply and officers eventually enter the home through a back door and corner Wang in the bathroom where he had set up a makeshift barricade with house furniture. The “metal bar” Wang was holding appeared to come from this furniture and looked to be the roller bar for a desk drawer — hardly a deadly threat against officers in body armor.

As the video shows, officers remove all the furniture before kicking in the door to the bathroom. Though we do not see Wang, we can see this flimsy desk drawer roller protruding from the bathroom. The officer who kicked in the door doesn’t appear to be afraid of the bar at all and stands there for several moment before taking a few steps back.

Police had two hours to figure out a plan and apparently they didn’t use any of that time to do so. Instead of simply grabbing a riot shield or a bullet proof shield to protect themselves from the flimsy metal stick, and charging in, pressing Wang up against the wall and handcuffing him, they resorted to deadly force.

At this point, police send in the K-9 who belonged to officer Mitchel Tani, a 9-year veteran of the force. When the K-9 enters the bathroom, Wang retreats to the shower where the K-9 has him cornered. In a likely attempt to stave off the K-9’s attack, Wang swung the desk roller at the dog.

When Wang raised the roller above his head a final time, officer Tani put several rounds in him, executing Wang in the shower.

In their incident video, police claim Wang raised the bar over his head in an attempt to strike officers. This would have been impossible, however, as he was in the shower and cornered by the K-9.

Tani has since been placed on paid leave as the county sheriff’s department investigates. The video below is a perfect illustration of why police should not be the ones responding to incidents involving mental health. 

Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist