AP Exclusive: Witness to Paris officer's death regrets video

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By RAPHAEL SATTER

PARIS (AP) — The man whose amateur video of a Paris police officer's cold-blooded murder shocked the world now regrets sharing the footage online, saying he never expected it to be broadcast so widely.

Engineer Jordi Mir told The Associated Press he posted the video out of fear and a "stupid reflex" fostered by years on social media.

"I was completely panicked," he said in an exclusive interview across from the Parisian boulevard where the officer was shot to death by terrorists Wednesday morning.

The short film immediately became the most arresting image of France's three-day-long drama, which began with a mass killing at the headquarters of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and ended Friday with the death of four hostages and the three terrorists in two separate shootouts.

FULL story at link.



In this image made from amateur video recorded on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 by Jordi Mir, masked gunman get into a car moments after shooting a police officer outside the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Paris residents captured chilling video images of two masked gunmen shooting a police officer after an attack at a French satirical newspaper. In the video, the gunmen armed with assault rifles are seen running up to an injured police officer, who lies squirming on the ground. The police officer raises his hands up before one of the assailants shoots him in the head at a close range. (AP Photo/Jordi Mir) NO SALES


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150111/eu--france-attacks-video-23ed0b9648.html

[Fred Sanders]

1. The gunman is the terrorist, the policeman is the Muslim.

[Agschmid]

2. I'm glad it was posted.

I understand the concern for the family of the person who lost their life, but this really puts it to the rest of the world what these terrorists are capable of.

[Duckhunter935]

3. I too am sorry for the family

but that image shows how far out these terrorists are and I hope cause a big backlash. It might in the long run be a greater good.

[misterhighwasted]

4. The video simply confirms the cold brutality of the terror group

It wasn't scripted sensationalism. It was simply reality.
A horrific truth shown to the world.
It was necessary

[Nye Bevan]

5. As long as this video has a warning attached to it,

it is a good thing that it was publicized.

[Lint Head]

6. He has a right to feel regret but the greater good is

more important than anyone's personal feelings. The ability of the world to see the brutality of these radical murderers created a worldwide backlash. I don't want to see a beheading or shooting, especially of my own relative, but I can sacrifice that fear if it is a part of taking down the cowards who do these kinds of things. Censorship is what these killers wanted and I do not want to accommodate their desires.

[freshwest]

7. If his regrets are for the family, that's honorable. If's recieved death threats for posting it...

That's a bad thing, but I can understand his fears. There is a great risk from using it, being doxxed, with people's lives and those of their family put in danger in real time.

The ones who have promoted these killings for their own purposes, are very saavy at social media and will act upon what they see, in fact Blue Tires posted a thread linked to Scahill's report of AQ statements applauding the killing and showing how very closely they watch and read all that is said.

A number of people have been terrorized by means of social media. I wish this man well and hope he does not become a victim for doing it, as he said he was panicked. In a way it was a good thing, the image was blurred at youtube and in other coverage to not offend the grieving family.

Although for their sake, it is possible to say it should not have been done. I'm hoping they did not see it, they had enough to deal with from the real life effects of this on their loved one.

The problem with censoring such things is two fold. First, they can cause the innocent to be hurt more by viewing these images, which I spoke to here.

Second, we don't trust the official or corporate version of events and need to know to not be swayed by those who have the information and dole it out to inflame or withhold it to push the idea that nothing happened.

It's why cams on cops is a good thing for all concerned, although I don't agree that they should be viewed by all. There is a project in Seattle to have locals go over hours of these videos and it violates the privacy of those stopped when nothing of interest occured.

There have also been dash cams that exonerated cops and helped catch perps. This one and some others made in Paris at the time most likely assisted in catching the killers.

I somehow feel his apology leads to more questions than it puts to rest. JMHO.