Earlier quoted context omitted.
He was in the process of attempted breaking and entering on someone's house. Everyone is glossing right over that fact. This is not some innocent man who was randomly beat up by the police. He was committing a violent crime and it sounds like reasonable force was used to stop it and protect the other citizens who were endangered. Read the other responses I've left for more. I'm actually quite critical of the police i…
No, he wasn't. He was banging on their front door, admittedly hard, but that doesn't constitute breaking and entering anywhere , as he neither broke nor entered, nor was attempting to do so. If you want to break and enter, you use a window, not the frigging front door. Also, if it were breaking and entering, they would have charged him with that. Instead, it's " Suspicion of intoxication", "Resisting Arrest" and "Ass…
Well, breaking and entering isn't actually a defined crime in Califorinia. Burglary is, and while Murdock certainly couldn't have been guilty of that based on the reports, he could potentially have been guilty of attempted burglary (which is also a crime, though iffy in this case), or trespass, or probably a number of other crimes.
> Also, if it were breaking and entering, they would have charged him with that.
Police don't really "charge" anyone of anything. That's the prosecutor's job.
> From the neighbour's account in the autopsy report, it sounds more like they were concerned for him than scared.
You are misreading the report. The incident reported to the coroner's office was not the banging that got Murdock arrested. The neighbor reported that Murdock came by to apologize on the day he hung himself. He was arrested on Dec 26 and Dec 27. The knock the neighbor reported was Dec 28. (I have no idea if this was the same neighbor or not.)