Character mistake: When the T-1000 comes from the checkerboard floor and turns into the security guard at the mental hospital, the guard has just gotten a cup of coffee. On the side of the cup he has Jack, Jack, Ace, Ace. He looks at the bottom and says he's got a full house, but the card value on bottom of cup is Queen, which leaves him with only two pair.
Character mistake: Sarah Connor breaks Dr. Silberman's arm while informing him, "There are 215 bones in the human body. That's one." There are 206 bones in the human body.
Character mistake: In the alternate ending on the DVD edition Sarah says that Michael Jackson turned 40 on the supposed day of the war. Michael Jackson's birthday is August 29 1958, so he would have been 39.
Answer: He didn't steal his clothes, but copied them. He can only copy things that he physically touches. He had to touch the cop to take on his look. Also since the cop was a witness to this ruthless killing machine, it needed to kill him to protect itself from being discovered too soon. The Terminator is an infiltration unit on an assassination mission to kill John Connor. As advanced as it is, it needs as little attention drawn to it as possible. Having the entire police force chasing him down would not be ideal for his goal to get Connor and would inevitably slow him down and risk allowing Connor a better chance of escape. The T 1000 also is an emotionless machine programmed by other machines that are intent on killing off all humans in the future. It doesn't value human life, and if anything has been programmed to regard them as a pest to be dealt with. The cop was a means to an ends and an obstacle to take out. As well, the cop did also posses a weapon, and was the T-1000's quickest way to get his hands on a gun.
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