Stop me if you’ve heard this story before, or a few hundred times before. The NYPD did a stop and frisk on a young black man, as they do hundreds of thousands of times every year (almost always black, even though whites use and sell drugs at about the same rate as blacks), beat the hell out of him with nightsticks and kicks, then appear to have lied on the police report. A nearby surveillance camera caught them at it.
The cops claim that he had bags of crack and pot in his hand and that he punched one of the officers, but the video shows nothing of the sort. You can view the full video here, which I can’t embed, but you can view part of the beatdown below:
One officer even walks up to the guy long after he’s handcuffed and laying on the ground and kicks him again. The video shows that he had nothing in his hand, which means the police now have to explain where the drugs they booked into evidence came from. The DA dropped the charges against the victim and is investigating the cops. Chances are nothing will happen to the officers, but at least there’s an investigation now. The officers remain on “modified duty” during that investigation.
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Marcus Ranum
May 11, 2012 at 9:27 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The drugs came from the Drug Fairy, of course. Whenever your teeth get knocked out by a cop, if you leave them under your pillow (or on the sidewalk near your face) the Drug Fairy will come by and drop little baggies of drugs on you. Sometimes the Saturday Night Special Fairy comes along, too, and then it’s really bad news.
Why are we citizens not pressing for legislation requiring constant monitoring of all police, at all times? It’s only reasonable – since society is trusting them to potentially use force “on our behalf” we have every right to verify that their actions are appropriate. Public service should be, um, public. These fuckers completely obliterate any trust the civilian population might have in police. I’m deeply privileged and probably a member of the 1% and I don’t trust cops any farther than I can comfortably spit a live rat. I can’t imagine the level of trust in the minority communities. Instead of militarizing the police forces, we should be breaking them down and reconstructing them to be accountable to the people they allegedly serve.
Artor
May 11, 2012 at 10:04 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Eloquently put Marcus. Incidentally, I had a pet rat while in high school. One night, it escaped it’s cage, but couldn’t get out of my room, or back in to where it’s water was. I woke up with my rat perched on my chin, his little claws pulling my lip down, and he was lapping up spit from my gums. From this incident, I know that I can spit a live rat about two feet. I still don’t trust cops that far.
wscott
May 11, 2012 at 10:28 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That’s BS. Disproportionately black, yeah. But it’s not like they never stop & frisk white people. None of which excuses the beating, but the situation’s bad enough without unnecessary hyperbole.
TGAP Dad
May 11, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What was the device the cop was brandishing at the photographer? A taser? A gun? Isn’t that assault with a deadly weapon?
Mike in Cairns
May 11, 2012 at 10:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Like TGAP Dad at 4, I found myself wondering about the device (capsicum spray cannister or taser?) being pointed at the camera operator. Assuming there was good reason for asking the operator to move back (I don’t think there was), is there really justification for an immediate threat of force in that situation rather than just a simple request?
Is America a Police state? - Page 40 - Religious Education Forum
May 11, 2012 at 9:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] charges against the young man and is at least looking at the cops. More (including video) here: NYPD Beats Down Black Man, Officers Lie on Reports | Dispatches from the Culture Wars NY1 Exclusive: Video May Back Claims Bronx Teen's Arrest Was Unfounded – NY1.com wa:do [...]