Cops with Machine Guns: The Killing of Michael Nida

August 02, 2012 from Reason.tv

In October 2011, the police-related shooting death of unarmed man, Michael Nida, 31, raised serious questions about the state of policing in the city of Downey, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Why? Because the father of four who worked in construction was shot with an MP5 submachine gun, the same weapon used by the US Navy Seals.

(more) (less)

In This Video

Michael Nida

Michael Nida, a 31-year-old Latino, was shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday, October 22 in Downey, California. Nida was unarmed at the time. The case has aroused particular controversy because the officer was armed with a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun rather th... Explore this topic

Downey Police Department

The Downey Police Department is the local law enforcement agency serving the city of Downey, California. Explore this topic

Downey, California

Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, 21 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where pop singer Karen Carpenter lived and died. As of the 2010 c... Explore this topic

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States, "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank. In many other countries, "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". In many ot... Explore this topic

Law enforcement in the United States

Law enforcement in the United States is one of three major components of the criminal justice system of the United States, along with courts and corrections. Although there exists an inherent interrelatedness between the different groups that make up the criminal justice syste... Explore this topic

Heckler & Koch MP5

The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar. There are over 100 variants of the MP5, including a semi-automatic version. The MP... Explore this topic

Shooting

Shooting is the act or process of firing firearms or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets, and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman. Shooting can take place in a shooting range ... Explore this topic

Police

The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to ex... Explore this topic

Submachine gun

A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I. The zenith of its use was World War II when millions of weapons of ... Explore this topic

Armoured personnel carrier

An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield. APCs are sometimes known to troops as 'battle taxis' or 'battle buses'. The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe defines Armoured personnel carriers as "an... Explore this topic

Also See

Michael Nida

Downey Police Department

Downey, California

Watch Next

18:36

Armed Police in Schools: Protecting Children or Criminalizing Students?

Democracy Now! | Jan 16

As the National Rifle Association pushes for armed guards in every school, we host a debate over what type of security measures should be taken in ...