Video of arrest sparks investigations

[CinaC]

is the lack of any outcry from the pigs in the media over the FBI shooting a white kid in the face while same kid was following FBI instructions at gunpoint.

There may not have been a national media outcry, but it was a pretty big story here in Baltimore for a few weeks.

[LeslieBScott]

A black kid going postal (sorry Jellybean) on some cops = NO NEWS

A cop using justified force to subdue a violent (albeit handcuffed) black kid = racism/hate crime = BIG NEWS

As it was said above, I don't think a valid opinion can be drawn until we find out what happened before the film starts (you know, the part that got edited out by the perp's friend and/or news service), and what he said to the cop prior to his "attitude adjustment". (Could it possibly have been a believable threat?)

[Frank Booth]

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[Bill R]

I agree with Frank. Unless there is something hidden by the camera angle that would justify hitting the restrained prisoner the officer was wrong. What happened prior to the beginning of the tape may help understand the frustration of the officer but it does not make it justifiable. Unless the officer has other issues he should receive some sort of departmental punishment but not be fired.

[FLLawdog]

Maybe I've missed it, but how did the officer get the gash?

There's plenty of ways to get of revenge, though. The pen and good testimony is one way. Knocking the hell out of a handcuffed prisoner isn't.

I hope the gas station video shows more and will be less apt to be edited than the good samaritan's.

[FLLawdog]

Now I see where an Islamic activist group is calling for the Officer's head. Of course it was all racially motivated by "independant" eyewitness accounts .

The kid was deemed "developmentally handicapped". I've seen varying degrees of this, but does he know right from wrong? What was said to prompt the arrest on him? I wasn't there, but I'm sure race was the last thing on the officers' minds.

[Zamboni]

You notice how the media has also spun it as a group of white cops abusing this kid even though it can be clearly seen that some of the other cops tried to restrain the cop who hit the kid.

[555]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that somewhere in recent history it became trendy to hate police or at least be unduly suspicious of them. The media just spins their story in favor of the victim because the public is interested in a story that validates what they already believe. If it were a story about a black kid punching an officer would it even be a story?

[SB]

Oh dear. I've restrained from making comment on this until I saw the video earlier today.
As most have said, we don't know what happened prior to the video rolling so cannot comment with any authority BUT, from my POV, that punch was too far. Unless there was something going on with the legs we couldn't see, I just cannot see how you could justify that particular action (and even if there was a bit of kicking, a punch to the back of the head was probably not the best way forward)
I have been there, wound up to breaking point and wanting to smash the susp's face in. We are human but we are also trained to deal with these situations.
In this situation, the media are of course going to scream racism. 4 or 5 years ago a black lad was stabbed by a gang of white youths in S London. We (the entire Met Police) were branded 'Institutionally racist' by the government enquiry which was set up to find out why we didn't solve the murder. What was missed everytime by the media was that the first person to go to the lads aid was an off duty (white) PC who was out with his wife. He gave first aid and called 999.
To cap it all, the kids friend who was with him is suing the police alledging that we caused PTSD!!

[Babylon]

i'd agree with the soho bandit...i had a incident recently where a prisoner i was transporting(who at a asian festival had been goading officers by screaming"i smell bacon...anyone smell stinking f**king bacon"..so i obliged and arrested him after a warning where i was told"**** off racist pig"section 5 all the way as personally i dont do breach of peace arrests anymore)and i ad to listen in a open van to him call me every name under the sun for 25 minutes and there is only so much you can take...but i didnt do anything to him...as at the end of the day you lower yourself to their level.Essentially we have to remember that we dont know the full story and we're seeing 30 seconds on the news of a story...lets sit and wait to see a full investigation..and not judge until we know the full story

[Joseph]

There is a black mayor in Inglewood and he's already convicted them hims self.

[Mike Tx]

msnbc say the cops slamed his head into the hood. I suppose they think we are all blind as well as stupid. I think the cops should slam the mayors head into the hood of the car.

[Snoopy1]

Saw the mayor's interview on TV earlier. The mayor, a former prosecutor and federal judge, said the officer should be prosecuted for assault and that he was a disgrace and embarrassment to an otherwise excellent department. He kept emphasizing that this was HIS opinion. He also said he didn't care what happened before the video was made; once the boy was handcuffed and there was no chance he could escape he should have been put in the car and locked up.

One account kept referring to the officer as a Los Angeles officer. Inglewood is an independent city but some of the publicity will probably rub off on LAPD because it is so close and a lot of people probably never heard of Inglewood.

I saw one report that the officer was already under investigation for another incident a few weeks ago, but I don't recall the details.

[Padres19]

I hate the way the media is making this kid some kind of folk hero, taking one for the cause or something.
Based on the video shown (probably more there than meets the eye) it doesn't look to good. No way I can support the punch, no matter what this alleged thug said or did. Punching a resistant offender, maybe (and that's a stretch). Punching someone on the trunk of a car with an officer pinning him down? Nope.
Thankfully the tape shows the two-striper grabbing him before he could deliver blow #2.
Of course if this cop doesn't face a state investigation the feds will certainly look at civil rights violations.
Like I said in a different post, I've only seen one report that pointed out the injury to the officer.
I hate that people think we're paid to get spit on, kicked, punched and sometimes killed. Oh yeah, and we can't have emotions and we're supposed to always be right. All this for anywhere between $13 and $50,000 a year.

[Branden Whitney]

The kid was deemed "developmentally handicapped". I've seen varying degrees of this, but does he know right from wrong? What was said to prompt the arrest on him? I wasn't there, but I'm sure race was the last thing on the officers' minds.

Is that what they call resisting and assulting an officer now? I was watching CNN, and they said they think they know what happened before the tape. The officer (the one who punched him) was giving the punks father a ticket for something. The kid got out of the car, and began attacking the officer. My theory, is that the cut over his eye happened here. But he ends up winning the fight, and thinking the kid calmed down, lets go of him to open the police car door. With him still not handcuffed. This was Round 2. From what the first officer said when he was on the scene, the Lt. stated this, that the officer was on the ground getting beat. Finally they pull him off. Once again who knows how much of this was true. Yet it is the cop facing charges, that makes sence.

But from the looks of it, the Mayor must really want to be in office for a few more terms. Maybe run for the house or something.

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that somewhere in recent history it became trendy to hate police or at least be unduly suspicious of them. The media just spins their story in favor of the victim because the public is interested in a story that validates what they already believe. If it were a story about a black kid punching an officer would it even be a story?

Ever since gangsta rap started it is almost a way to be cool. Now, police are thought as the bad guys.

Here is an examle of how a white cop arresting a black criminal is always taken as a race issue. My mother worked ot Dillards, a very popular department store. And on the verge of closing the store, one black woman comes out of a dressing room, wearing very nice clothes all the clothes she came in in are up and down the room. One of the workers calls the police (Toledo Ohio Police guard the mall) and say there is a shop lifter. One officer comes and chases here out the store. He ends up pushing her into a wall as a group of people are leaving the mall. Many of them black, right as he is cuffing her she yells "ABUSE! ABUSE!" at the crowd. By now the cop is outnumbered by around twenty people, my mother, who knew the cop was in severe danger not being able to take on that many, calls and asks for backup. She probaly saved his life, because four officers arrived and the crowd that had circled him quickly left. Isnt it sad how that woman was willing to get him beat to death by a mob of angry people?

[ 07-10-2002: Message edited by: Branden Whitney ]