What I learned Today
Today, I learned about the first police operation involving an armed robot. In 2016, during a black lives matter protest, Micah Johnson killed multiple police officers and civilians. Law enforcement chased Johnson to the top of an office building, where Johnson would stand his final ground. An expert negotiator talked to Johnson for multiple hours to try and get him to put his weapon down and come out peacefully. Johnson refused and said that the only message he wanted to give the world was one with ‘guns.’ The negotiator tells Johnson that he will send him a telephone on a robot. Johnson then agrees that the robot may enter; as the robot enters with the explosive, it denotes taking the life of Johnson, further saving the potential loss of more dynamism from the attacker. This is a case where lethal robots have shown a necessity, although deadly robots should not use them regularly.
