But I never assume the cops are in the wrong unless I'm shown.
I agree. Who should you believe, a bank robber/ hostage taker or law enforcement officer. And just for argument, I like to think most police officers are honorable.
Well, but this guy wasn't a bank robber/hostage taker - he was a hostage (watch the video if you have a few minutes).
I didn't mean to cast any aspersions on him. I'm sure by listening to his testimony that he was as traumatized as he claims, and that he believes everything he's saying. What is missing is the context and the actual visible evidence showing if there is discrepancy between what he perceived and what actually went down.
I can imagine him coming out of the bank, hysterical, not following the police officers' instructions, not walking backwards toward them like they instructed, waving his arms around saying "I'm innocent, I'm a hostage", and screaming and writhing around on the ground like a stuck pig while the officers were trying to secure him. The story could be exactly as he says, with that as context. That visual and/or audio account of what actually transpired would be a helpful background upon which to lay his story. All I'm saying is that without it, it's hard for me to condemn the cops when they are acting under a hostage situation.