The Other McCain

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Florida Man Shot to Death After Attacking Cops at His Niece’s Wedding Reception

Posted on | April 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Florida Man Shot to Death After Attacking Cops at His Niece’s Wedding Reception

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” as they say. When your wedding reception turns into a brawl and somebody calls 911? That’s not good. Then the bride’s uncle punches the cops and gets shot to death?

Daniel Patrick Knight, 39, had a criminal record dating back as far as 1998, when he was 15. According to the Florida Department of Corrections website, in 2006 Knight was sentenced to state prison for the charges of: Robbery, Grand Theft Motor Vehicle, Burglary, Trafficking in Stolen Property, Burglary of a Dwelling, Fleeing and Attempting to Elude a Police Officer and Felony Driving While License Suspended. He was released from state prison in 2013. After he was shot to death at the February 19 wedding reception for his niece, the family claimed police were lying about what preceded the shooting:

Daniel Knight’s family held a news conference in Lakeland on Tuesday night alongside representatives from Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc.
The 39-year-old’s family said Knight was not belligerent or violent during the reception at the Winter Park Events Center on Saturday.
“He was never harmful, he was never aggressive,” said Knight’s niece, Janisha Knight, the bride.
Winter Park police released the 911 call that led to police responding to the venue, in which the caller said a man was “grabbing people by the neck” and “shoving people to the floor.”
In audio released Monday, the caller said, “He’s grabbing an older woman and shoving her.” He was described as “violent” and “very drunk.”

Well, not only was there audio of the 911 call, but there was also (a) surveillance video of the scene and (b) police bodycam video. Police this week released the videos that completely confirm their account:

 

If you watch the whole video, you’ll see that the officer who was knocked unconscious by Knight repeatedly tells backup officers, “He knocked me out.” Knight then attacked the second officer, knocking him to the ground, and continued punching the second officer until the cop shot him. All of this happens very quickly after the first two cops arrived on the confusing scene, and you see the cops trying to defuse the situation — “step back” — and figure out what’s happening. “Move out of the way,” the cop tells Knight’s sister, who is interfering with the officers’ attempt to arrest Knight. When the cop tries to physically move her, Knight says, “Don’t you snatch my [obscenity] sister.” Twenty-three seconds later, while other guests are trying to restrain him, Knight punches the cop. About 10 seconds later, after the second cop deploys his taser (which had no effect), Knight gets fatally shot by the second cop.

This was entirely justified, and no grand jury in America would indict a cop for this incident. While it is likely that Winter Garden will end up paying Knight’s family to settle the inevitable wrongful death lawsuit, such settlements — which have become routine in such cases — don’t change the legal facts. It is always a crime to attack a cop. Danny Knight was probably facing no more than a misdemeanor drunk-and-disorderly charge that night, and if he would have cooperated peacefully, it’s unlikely he would have spent more than 12 hours in the county jail. When he punched the cop, however, that was almost certainly a felony, which would have sent him back to prison. From there on out, Knight’s actions can only be understood as a “suicide-by-cop.”

A civilized society must have rules, and these rules must be enforced. When a wedding reception turns into a drunken brawl, this is not the fault of police. When the police show up to arrest the disruptive guest, interfering with the police is not going to make the situation better.

Could anything have prevented this? I don’t know. Maybe don’t invite your jailbird uncle to the wedding? Or maybe do something to keep your jailbird uncle from getting so drunk at the reception? Or here’s a completely wild idea: Teach your kids to have respect for the police.

That cop has a pistol on his hip for a reason, you know.

The police officer is a representative of the community, sworn to uphold the law, and authorized to use force in the pursuit of that duty.

Disrespect for the police is disrespect for the law, and disrespect for the law should be offensive to every law-abiding citizen. We live in a representative form of government, and thus have the power to change our laws, and to choose those responsible for the job of law enforcement. However, when law enforcement officers show up to the scene of a reported crime — even a misdemeanor, like drunk-and-disorderly — the citizen has a duty to comply with the officer’s lawful orders.

When a cop tells you to “step back,” that’s not merely a suggestion.

If you punched a cop and got shot to death, don’t expect me to join any “social justice” protests in your memory. That’s your fault.




 

Category: Crime, Florida

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