Bill Maher expressed skepticism at arguments that training police to shoot people in the legs or ankles wouldn’t work on Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time.”
In a discussion on the Walter Scott killing, which Maher blamed in part on “gun culture,” he remarked, “also, why do cops always have to empty the whole clip?”
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat pointed out that while the shooting of Scott wasn’t justified, “the reason that cops are supposed to empty the clip is that you’re supposed to shoot to — in police training you’re supposed to shoot to take down the person coming at you. This is why people say ‘oh, cops should be trained to shoot somebody in the ankle,’ and so on. That doesn’t work,” Maher then responded, “really?” He continued, “I think that would work on me. I think if you get shot in the leg it works. What bullsh*t is that?”
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