A Texas broadcaster's decision to publish a bystander's video capturing Texas deputies shooting a man with his hands raised has prompted an FBI investigation into the death of a 41-year-old San Antonio man whose killing has been viewed around the world.

"Experienced civil rights investigators from the FBI will thoroughly review the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting," the FBI said in a statement Tuesday. "Our focus is to determine whether a civil rights violation took place as a result of a deputy willfully engaging in the use of excessive or unjustified force."

The Friday shooting, which was first published Monday by KSAT in San Antonio, has also prompted Bexar County officials in Texas to beef up the use of body and dash cameras. The Bexar County deputies involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras and are on paid administrative leave.

Clearly, tensions across the nation are running hot between police and the public. A Harris County Texas officer, Darren Goforth, was shot and killed for apparently no reason Friday while filling up his vehicle with gas in Houston. A suspect, Shannon Miles, is accused of capital murder and faces the death penalty.

But are these police-public tensions caused by today's YouTube society, where both police and the public feel the need to film one another?

There's been a rash of cop killings lately, and there's been plenty of officer-involved shootings captured on film as well. As a testament to the tensions between police and the public, a Birmingham, Alabama, officer who was pistol whipped by an attacker last month was also virtually berated on social media, with photos of the officer lying face down on the pavement.

"Officers are second-guessing every move because they're afraid they're going to be judged, by the media and by the public," Birmingham police Sgt. Heath Boackle, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said.

Regardless, the latest San Antonio episode leaves the question of whether the killing of Gilbert Flores in San Antonio would have been swept under the rug absent the video. Would the FBI be involved? These are fascinating questions in the digital age, when authorities for the first time have a Big Brother—the public at large—armed with mobile phones watching over them.

Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau was outraged that a Texas TV station paid $100 for the video and published it, prompting a media frenzy and threats against the officers. She said Monday that it was "unethical and sad" that the station posted the unedited footage. Station KSAT said it published it "for viewers to make their own decision on whether to click on a link to see the video."

What do you think?

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