Comments on: Anonymous Comic Book Antiheroes Protest BART Rider Slaying

By: Chris Cobb

Chris Cobb — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:47:03 +0000

Hey Sam, did you read my response to your first comment? I noted how the story has been evolving and it probably still is. I clarified re: Scott’s comments and then tried to clarify for you too and went so far as to include quotes from the chief of police on the matter. The story about him has evolved in the press and there may yet be more facts that come out. I mentioned him because his death seems to be part of a pattern.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:08:12 +0000

Why did you fail to mention that Mr. Harding had shot and killed himself in your post? Though there was initial confusion about who actually killed him, your post and comment were both published long after the fact had emerged that Harding had shot himself. Yet you never mentioned it! You clearly were either unaware of that fact or you wanted to create the impression that the police had shot and killed him. Worse, you say in your comment of August 16 that you “clarified the exact circumstance of his killing.” You did no such thing.

By: Chris Cobb

Chris Cobb — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:14:01 +0000

“Police chief Greg Suhr said Harding fired the first shot at two officers on Saturday, who shot back about nine times.
Harding was pronounced dead after the chase in the Bayview-Hunters Point area.
The police chief told reporters the officers were well within their authority when shooting at Harding, who fired while running away.
Police said the 10 shots were exchanged in six seconds.
The officers ‘knew that their lives were in jeopardy and at that point they returned fire,’ Mr Suhr said.”
‘The officers are permitted to fire until they think the threat has ended.’

If you had read more about the shooting you would have learned that while he died from a .380 caliber gun shot to the head he was also struck in the leg by another bullet of which they could not determine the caliber. I’d say with two officers firing 9 shots at him, there is a high probability that one of those 9 bullets struck him. So it turns out they did SHOOT him but they did not KILL him, if that’s what you were trying to get at. It is very unlikely someone would shoot themselves both in the foot and the head at the same time, accidental or not. Nonetheless, it is an evolving story and I agree with you, that words are significant.

Additionally, for many days the reports all said that he had been shot by the police. Not my words, SFWEEKLY’s words and CBS’s words. Also the police have revised the story every few days so the story has been evolving. I would also direct your attention to these other links regarding this case:

This headline here states police shot him:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/07/18/suspect-shot-dead-by-sf-police-was-convicted-child-rapist/

And this about his family’s reaction:
“Kenneth Harding’s family said Monday they were troubled that police first said the 19-year-old was fatally shot by officers then days later said they now believed he killed himself with his own gun.”
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/07/25/family-of-parolee-killed-in-bayview-doubt-sfpd-claims/

SFWEEKLY headline reads “Kenneth Harding Identified as Man Shot and Killed by SFPD”
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/07/man_shot_by_sfpd_was_wanted_in.php

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:07:30 +0000

Chris,

Mr. Harding wasn’t shot by police as you say in your comment above. He shot himself. As SF Gate reported: “The bullet that killed 19-year-old Kenneth Wade Harding on Saturday came from a .380-caliber firearm, authorities announced, and a round of the same caliber was recovered from Harding’s jacket pocket.

San Francisco police officers, by contrast, are armed with .40-caliber ammunition and guns that can’t fire a .380-caliber shot, said John Sanchez, a firearm supervisor with the Police Department crime lab.”

It seems like a rather significant fact here.

By: Chris Cobb

Chris Cobb — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:15:18 +0000

Hi Scott, please note I didn’t actually say that Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. was in the BART or that his shooting was BART related, however I can see that I appear to be implying it. You are also correct – I should have not written that he was shot by BART cops. I should have just written the word police and not BART. Please note I made the correction and clarified the exact circumstance of his killing.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:21:11 +0000

Kenneth Wade Harding Jr wasn’t shot by BART police but by the SFPD. His death wasn’t BART related, but was about fare evasion from MUNI in the Bayview district. Though a homeless man named Charles Hill was shot and killed by BART police at the Civic Center station recently for acting crazy. So don’t act crazy on BART. You may get shot.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17bcbart.html?pagewanted=all