Dittoing everything already said.
I bet the deputies were yelling “Stop resisting arrest,” as they kicked the guy. Because that’s what they do. They pretend someone is resisting arrest, and that’s what goes in their report.
I am going to say something nice about police here too. My mom lives in a small town USA by herself now my dad passed away. No matter how many times I call them to check up on my mom when there is a big storm, they always did it. Now they would even do it without my calling. To be fair, those cops also do not deal with many crimes in that small town. They are not as stressed like cops in Newark or even New Brunswick where Rutgers is. I think there is something to be said of battle fatigue, and this “us against them” mentality needs to change.
@oldfort Nearly all of the posters have said not all cops are bad, but far too many of them are. Until you have a child/spouse of color you will never understand. Also let me be clear, at this point, we as minorities are too often on the losing end, but it is not strictly limited to us. The new video making its rounds of the guy on the horse is a great example. He is white I believe and clearly surrenders, yet they beat the stew out of him. Frankly, some of it is racism, but most of it is unchecked power, plain and simple. Our police have been over-militarized. Many often view average citizens as a foreign enemy to be destroyed and it has led to many deaths and incarcerations. There is also the story of the basketball player who was arrested recently. Apparently his leg was broken by NYPD. This has to stop. Sorry but with ll of this video evidence, I am not giving them the benefit of the doubt, they’ve lost that benefit.
I will never forget being stopped in high school. I went to a school in an exclusive section of town. A cop stopped me, just to ask why I was driving in his neighborhood which I had to drive thru to get to school. He couldn’t understand why I could possibly attend the school. He eventually stopped interrogating me and sent me on my way. Needless to say, every time a cop gets behind me to this day, I am a bundle of nerves. Ask most people of color, when a cop gets behind us , we say, “oh sh$&, what now”
Even an abusive cop isn’t always abusive. The cop who rescues curly-haired moppets and checks on old people can be the same cop who stops someone for Driving While Black and beats him up.
Excellent cartoon (though it makes me want to weep):
The difference between “justifiable” and “indictable” http://www.timesfreepress.com/cartoons/2015/apr/10/difference/2114/
That’s a good point, CF. I lived in Spain for almost a year in the 70s, during Franco’s rule. The Guardia Civil were feared for their “disappearing” people who voiced any opposition to Franco, and the could be quite brutal. Yet if I, as a teenager, had any problems with men or in fact with anything, they were the ones I turned to. Like too many of our police, they had an authoritarian, disciplinarian attitude. Be submissive, or be hospitalized.
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And another (wish I knew how to post the graphics here, or are we not allowed to do that?):
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/jim-morin/article17967959.html
I installed dashcams in our vehicles to record audio and video interactions during any traffic stops. There are extremes of cops from good to bad. Either the good cops have to police the bad ones or the cameras have to do it. Btw, there is a Texas politician who is proposing limits on recording the police. Why are the politicians trying to take our rights away:
I don’t know if there is any truth to it but I have heard there is sort of a “pact” among officers in some departments when there are multiple officers making an arrest. If one officer uses excessive force, all the officers are expected to “take their shot” so to speak to ensure they are all in it together. That way no one has any incentive to testify against another officer and they all come forth with the same cohesive but fabricated story on why that force was necessary.
This is what immediately entered my mind when I watched that “horse thief” video. Even the officers that arrived last when the man already had 4 officers on top of him made sure they hit or kicked him. It was very purposeful. Very disturbing video.
Yet that politician belongs to the party that supposedly stands for liberty and small government. Hypocrites!
Hondu - Can you say “hypocrites”? I knew you could…
Partyof5, for some reason, I assumed you were a Mom. Are you actually a Dad? It’s black men who have usually been stopped by police for driving through “the wrong” neighborhood. I think virtually every black family has multiple stories of wrongful police stops, to the extent that I don’t know of a single one that hasn’t felt compelled to speak with its sons about how to conduct themselves during such encounters. I know as a child, I overheard gatherings of black males (both relatives and family friends) recount their stories, and talk about the need to “hang your hands out the driver’s side window” so as to avoid being shot. It’s been my experience that most white people believe we are exaggerating, if not out-and-out lying about the whole driving while black phenomenon. As more and more videos surface, showing deadly police encounters with unarmed black motorists, I think that may begin to change.
Hey, Illinois did it. Why can’t Texas?
They DO stand for liberty and small government, but only as it applies to themselves and their compatriots. “Those others”? Well, their rights must be “supervised”.
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@poetsheart- is your avatar a seal point birman? I have 2 birmans - seal point and blue point.
@poetsheart I am a mom… I was just relaying a story about my encounter with cops that I will never forget.
@poetsheart – When I lived in Seattle, a young black woman was pulled over by a cop because she was driving in an upscale neighborhood where, it was assumed, she had no business being. She turned out to be the daughter of Lenny Wilkens, head coach of the then-reigning NBA champion Sonics. She was driving to her home in her upscale neighborhood, which it seems didn’t occur to the cop as a possibility.
Harvestmoon1, no. My cat is a Seal Mitted Ragdoll. They do resemble each other quite a bit in photographs, don’t they? I did very seriously consider Birmans, because they too have a reputation for being sweet tempered and affectionate companions. I ultimately decided on the Ragdoll though, because their rather massive size (for a cat, that is) appealed to my sense of humor. They are also a breed known for having few health issues, and having coats that are easy to maintain (because they are single coated).
My Taemin is 12 wks old in the avatar photo. He turned a year old on March 21st.