The New York Police Department has not yet made a decision as to whether or not it will discipline the cop who without warning tackled and arrested tennis James Blake, an innocent man minding his own business on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk. Sure seemed like a case of racial profiling. Well get this…the cop is now suing the NYPD and James Blake for emotional distress!!! My word, this maniac cop must have some brass ones.
I would think suing the department will destroy any career he has left. If supervisors told him that Blake was the guy and to arrest him, then I can see why he would feel he was scapegoated.
Suing Blake, who did absolutely nothing wrong, is the epitome of a frivolous lawsuit and only serves to discredit him, IMO.
Perhaps the lawsuit is a play for leverage; an attempt to get the most “favorable discipline” possible. If the NYPD unconditionally fires him, he’ll have a hard time getting another public agency job in any metropolitan city in New York State. Not impossible, but who would hire him with that baggage?
The suit is stupid. However I don’t believe this was racial profiling because the article said that Blake closely resembled photos of the suspect, who reportedly was armed. The arrest was excessive but did you watch the video? A bunch of people just walked on by like nothing was going on…very strange.
I’ve seen the photo of the actual suspect and my opinion is that the only commonality is that Blake and the perp were both light-skinned, shaved head Black males. I found the police commissioner’s comment at the time…“they could have been brothers”…utterly laughable. As I learned way back in my graduate school studies, when it comes to eyewitness identifications, most White folks’ I.D. of Black suspects is quite faulty. There are substantive studies on this subject.
Moreover, an important point is the maniac cop’s overall flawed tactics. The suspect was wanted for a NON-VIOLENT crime; financial fraud or some such. From what we know thus far, the maniac cop violated some departmental procedure. Just think what would have happened if Blake thought he was being robbed/assaulted and decided to fight back?
@LakeWashington , I also remember seeing the pictures and thinking there is no way they “could have been brothers” or any kind of relation. I am absolutely shocked that he is victimizing James Blake a second time. I can’t imagine the range of emotions I would have felt to hear that news from my attacker. Sigh…