Internet Out in Front? Or All Alone?
OK, I am a pathetic loser and was tuned in to sports talk radio all day in my office. That being said, I have heard nothing about this incident on the radio and a quick Google search shows that only sites on the case are all internet sites. Hopefully this will get more attention tomorrow in larger outlets, as it is always scary to see what appears to be a pretty substantial abuse of power. In the video, a Jets fan gets hauled out of the Charger stadium, apparently for too much boisterousness in favor of the visiting team. Watch in particular the Charger fans sticking up for the guy, which is about as good of evidence as I can think of to say there wasn't any legitimate reason for the arrest.
M.G.:
There is a large time lapse between the first cut and second cut in the video. I don't know how the whole thing unfolded, but if the stadium wanted the Jets fan off the premises for whatever reason, then it seems to me that they would be well with in their rights to call the cops to remove him. This is private not public property.
Removing the Chargers fan seems a little much but if the stadium empowered the police, then I don't see whats wrong with the video.
Charging the chargers fan of something would be a gross injustice. I could see the jets fan getting charged with something, but I don't think a conviction is in order.
January 18, 2010, 6:51 pmMidwesterner:
Add the future settlement dollars into the 179 million dollar deficit that San Diego is currently running. It might take a while, but you can bet that the girlfriend getting a witness' phone number (seen after the Jets fan is carted up the aisle) is just the first step in this guy getting a big chunk of change from the city's coffers.
January 18, 2010, 10:33 pmTC:
On the surface it looks pretty rough.
But there really is too much missing to state anything sans, can;'t they sorta tell the guy to chill out a bit, with 10 of them rolling, and the visuals prove they were able to roll, the guy probably would have modified his behavior a bit.
The chargers fan reaction speaks volumes about his observations over the incident.
This scene is probably repeated 100 times each day there is a stadium event held. But those did not get recorded and put up on the net. Not that it I endorse the methods, they seem a bit heavy handed and flat out rude to everybody else around.
January 19, 2010, 5:07 pmbobby b:
If a guy is drunk (don't know if this guy was), and is being loudly, stupidly obnoxious all by his lonesome while surrounded by fans of the other team (definitely in this case), the stadium cops will often "encourage" Boisterousboy to either STFU or move - mostly for his own protection, plus so they don't have to wade in and stop the beatdown later at their own peril - and if the reaction is belligerent and/or combatative, well, that becomes the new offense, and whatever he may have yelled to get the episode rolling no longer really matters.
If the cops in a stadium situation try to reason with drunks too long, they often find themselves surrounded by other drunks screaming at them and getting madder and madder and braver and braver - it's just far, far safer for everyone for the cops to make an assessment, and then act on it in an almost brutal (note the "almost" part) fashion because it's often only fear that keeps 100 other drunks from jumping the cops. Yeah, they come off as uncaring, unreasonable, and dismissive of anyone else's opinions - thugs, in other words - but who wants to jump in and fight with those huge thugs?
January 19, 2010, 10:55 pmDavid K:
The same thing happened to an Eagles fan in the preseason finale at Cowboys Stadium and he ended up being punched in the face by security. Now, some Eagles fans can be fairly *ahem* spirited, so it's hard to tell what led to his being kicked outremoval or if he antagonized them at all before being removed. Still, it was a pretty rough exit and I didn't see any Cowboys fans advocating for him, not that I would expect to since Cowboys-Eagles is a bit more of a rivalry than Chargers-Jets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0wJT1Is_-8 or go to YouTube and search for "Eagles fan punched security".
January 20, 2010, 12:36 amDavid K:
Oops, Season finale. Pardon the error, but it is 2:30 AM. ;-)
January 20, 2010, 12:37 am