"I'm trying to achieve greatness on the katana, is that illegal in the United States?" Lewis can be heard asking the deputies.

Truth! 9 out of 10 public katana practitioners (katana-ists?) agree!

My favorite online comment: "This is why you don't tell a retarded child that he can be anything."

This is why cops should not be armed with guns. Clearly this man was suffering a psychotic break, he was incapable of responding rationally.
You want to send unarmed people to reason with an "irrational" man who armed himself with a sword?

Actually, sitting in his police car and letting dude swing the sword around until he's tired and goes to bed, and then arresting him, would work too.
That's one approach to police-work. And the people who called the police because they maybe wanted to use the sidewalk should do what? Cede public and private spaces to the nutters?

But that's besides the fact that the cop is a kitty who can't disarm a fat guy with a sword. #6 | Posted by TFDNihilist
You think you can take on a guy with a sword with your bare hands? Very impressive! Please give it a shot and let us know how it goes. Better yet, film it for us. Either way it turns out, should prove highly educational.

A lot of those do not have an edge. My son has a couple of kitana's and a bastard sword that don't have edges. Admittedly if I didn't know for certain I would be hesitant to try and disarm someone with one and just at a glance you aren't going to know. #8 | Posted by TaoWarrior

True it may not have an edge. But a large piece of metal can still constitute a deadly weapon, even without an edge.

As opposed to killing sick people? Yeah, people can be inconvenienced for a little while. #9 | Posted by truthhurts

OK, you can enjoy that type of society. Some of us don't want to hunker at home because drunk/high nutters want to roam the streets threatening people with Japanese blade-weapons.

Personally, I think the cop did everything completely appropriately, keeping his distance and reasoning with the guy, and I have no problem with how this went down at all. Saved everyone a lot of ongoing expense.

Hell, he probably could have used a shovel to knock the guy over
Ok, but cops in my neck of the woods don't walk around with shovels. Car antennas, maybe.

They insert themselves in dangerous, violent situations
Uhh, that's sort of the job description, Uvalde cops notwithstanding...

and then get freaked out when they have to defend themselves. #13 | POSTED BY TFDNIHILIS
Maybe, for some cops, but it seemed to me that this one did his job just fine. Double-tapped katana-san and done.

We pay cops tons of our tax money every year to do a job, supposedly protecting the helpless
Yeah, but a 300 pound dude charging at someone with a sword isn't my definition of "helpless." And we don't pay those cops to lose a limb or get decapitated in order to protect the well-being of attempted murderers.

and the best they can come up with is shooting you dead? #17 | Posted by TFDNihilist
Yep! That sort of thing sometimes happens when you try to kill someone.

Cops are entitled to defend themselves at least as much as the average person on the street. Someone charges at me with a sword and I'm armed, I'd empty my magazine into him.

No they're not. They take the job knowing the dangers. If their main concern is their own safety, then they should stay home, that's the safest place of all. As Frank Rizzo said after the MOVE disaster... Any cop or firefighter who is afraid to die in the line of duty should quit and become a beautician. #21 | Posted by TFDNihilist

You're mixing and matching concepts.

Yes, cops and firefighters accept an inherent level of risk in their jobs that the average person would not.

But that doesn't mean they are expected to sacrifice their lives to the person who is actively trying to kill them. Otherwise, you can take that philosophy to its extreme and say cops can never use their guns to shoot someone who is trying to kill them since that would be deleterious to the attempted murderer.

Best of luck finding any rational person who will become a cop in that world. Maybe the katana-ist in that video would be up for it, though. Except he's dead. PBUH.

I don't think you understand what a sword can do. #28 | Posted by jpw

Thanks for posting those video links. While I had no doubt that a "blunt" sword could do some damage, had no idea that it could hack like that.

Clearly, while I was studying RedTube you were studying the blade.

Maybe, but I do know that folks have been disarming men with swords for thousands of years.
Yes. But just because something is possible doesn't make it the best practice. And it's not like the attempted murderer gave the cops a chance to withdraw to deploy alternative resources. He went 0 to 60 (10? 15?), charging at them with a raised sword.

Just shooting him dead is lame and lazy. #30 | Posted by TFDNihilist
He's a cop, not a gladiator. His job isn't to provide entertainment value. It's to stop the armed criminal from hurting someone. He performed that job well, putting the criminal out of commission and then rendering aid.

Many brilliant swordsman that were samurai were poked to death by a bunch of illiterate peasants with pointy sticks. #31 | Posted by sitzkrieg

A pointy stick?!?