The State Protects Its Own
It is simply appalling that the officer in this video was acquitted by a judge of assault. It is clear from the video that he punched a woman who did absolutely nothing wrong (he thought she was the one who had thrown the liquid at him in the early frames). But even if she had been absolutely guilty of splashing him with a few drops of beer, his reaction is STILL assault.
This quote is particularly amazing:
Josey testified that the woman refused to drop a bottle of beer she had been holding. He said that he went to knock the bottle from her hand and was “shocked” to see her go down when his hand hit her face. She was originally charged with disorderly conduct but the charges were later dropped.
This is an outright lie. Watch the video. There is absolutely no time for the officer to have ordered the woman to have dropped the beer. Nor would that have been a legal order. Nor is there any evidence of him waiting for her response. He was pissed off that someone "dissed" him and he lashed out like a violent jerk in a biker bar.
I shudder to think how many people in the past were prosecuted and went to jail on the BS word of police officers. Without video, this woman probably would have been successfully prosecuted and convicted. Even with video, the police officer can't be successfully prosecuted. Though I must give Philly a few point here -- a lot of jurisdictions would not have even prosecuted or fired him.
tjic:
Once you take the "red pill" and see that the cops are just an armed gang of thugs, slowly but surely your entire perspective shifts.
They do this stuff ALL THE TIME, and they get away with it all the time.
I remember as a kid reading in history books how there used to be a feudal elite who were above the law, and I remember thinking how much better we had it now that we had democracy and the rule of law, not men.
Much later in life I realized that I had been wrong: we still have a feudal class, but now the same entity that runs the police and controls the economy and extorts campaign contributions from industry ALSO runs the public schools that inculcate lies into kids' heads that "the system is legitimate and fair".
The government is NEITHER legitimate nor fair. It's a big mafia family, but far far more effective, and thousands of times vaster in scope.
February 27, 2013, 8:46 amperlhaqr:
Yep.
tjic++
To all of this.
Or, to be rather more pithy about it: "Fuck the police."
February 27, 2013, 10:23 amnehemiah:
I really hesitate to react to video clips that show a few frames. Would have been nice to see a few more minutes before the incident. This cop acted like a thug.
However, there appear to be 12 to 20 officers visible at different points in the video and they seem to be trying to contain a public demonstration of some sort. So what is that 5% to 8% bad apple factor? I'd willingly concede that type of malignancy in law enforcement or almost any profession.
I wonder if anyone might have been hurt or property damaged if all the officers had been removed?
February 27, 2013, 2:15 pmbigmaq1980:
Agree on hesitation before reacting...
Not sure I'd count even 5% as acceptable...I understand the pressures and risks police face and they largely do a good job of restraining themselves, given what they deal with.
Often, it may come down to a snap decision / judgement call they have to make (e.g. the xxxx looked like a gun in the dark alley) and one could give them the benefit of the doubt.
However, if this is over "spilled beer", there really is no excuse and therefore no slack.
If it was a domestic abuse case with the same footage and similar rationale, I doubt he'd get acquitted.
February 27, 2013, 3:14 pmFelineCannonball:
What's happening in LA with the random people in SUVs they shot up during the big manhunt?
February 27, 2013, 8:20 pmmarco73:
You really have to understand cop mentality. Someone in the crowd dissed this cop's "authority", so someone had to pay.
February 28, 2013, 5:25 amYou should hear cops talk about how they really "slammed" someone, or put someone in the hospital with a beat down. This cop isn't embarrassed: he's proud of showing someone how tough he is.
And acquited by a judge in Philly? You have heard how the Philly courts are so corrupt that the state is looking at completely shutting down the traffic courts.
obloodyhell:
And these bozos are the ones libtards want to be the only ones allowed to carry guns.
Wait... WHAT?
February 28, 2013, 11:51 pmobloodyhell:
I will state that, if a cop ever did that to me (beat the crap out of me just because he could), he would not survive it for long if the courts did not provide justice.
And they could try all they want, it would just be another "unsolved murder" some years later.
That kind of POS needs to be removed from the gene pool.
February 28, 2013, 11:53 pmobloodyhell:
}}} I understand the pressures and risks police face and they largely do a good job of restraining themselves, given what they deal with.
SOME do. Many don't.
There was a time when the classic "neighborhood cop on the beat" was a practical, realistic view. When the "Andy Taylor's" were not uncommon.
Nowadays, it's more like 60-30. A lot of cops get off on throwing their weight around, and if you attract their ire -- just or not -- they think they have the right, not JUST the power, to teach you one hell of a lesson.
That's one reason they're so adamant about making sure you don't photograph them in the act, despite the fact that they have no right to not be filmed.
February 28, 2013, 11:57 pmDave:
Sorry guys....the knee-jerk "fuck the police" attitude is getting old. While I KNOW there are jack-ass police officers out there, the situation here looks to me to be right there on the edge of acceptable use of force. That woman is CLEARLY (upon several viewings of the first several seconds) throwing an unknown substance onto those police officers, watch her left arm go back and forth in a "dousing" motion with what appears to be a vessel of some sort. If as a police officer charged with maintaining order at an obviously energized demonstration, somebody throwing a liquid substance onto myself and my fellow officers has gone WAAAYYY over the line. I have no idea what the liquid is (gasoline, lye, bleach, acid, feces, blood, etc etc etc...all of which have been used as weapons in these types of scenarios), or what the intent of the attacker is. Neutralizing a smaller adversary with a single blow is DRAMATICALLY more safe and effective given all the unknowns than attempting to wrestle or otherwise take the time to put your hands on this person who may be contaminated or take the unknown substance from them before you know what it is, thereby putting yourself unnecessarily at risk.
Yes it looks dramatic and violent.....but her bloody nose and pride will heal....and those officers will go home.... and be able to come back and protect the public that is obviously quite ignorant of exactly what these men and women face every day to maintain some sense of order....whether you think it's for your benefit or the benefit of some shadow entity pulling all the strings...that order is necessary for the majority of us to enjoy a somewhat quiet life.
Think about this....if you were watching the fireworks on the 4th of July....with your children...and some "person" started throwing a potentially dangerous substance on you and your kids....what would you do.....
March 3, 2013, 11:20 amToad Floater:
At the 2 sec to 3 sec mark, on the left side of the image, a short-pants wearing person obviously sends an arc of liquid towards the crowd (you don't see the full image of this person). The cops and the lady all got splashed and all turned at the same moment. The cop, it seems, thought the lady did the splashing.
March 3, 2013, 8:01 pmRichard Baker:
Dave, if to you beating a women is justified without any immediate physical threat, you shouldn't be trusted with any authority. I'm sure the city will settle a tort lawsuit for the actions of another uncontrollable rouge cop at the cost of the
March 3, 2013, 8:10 pmtaxpayers. If this abuse continues to be recorded the public's tolerance for this will end and legislation will be passed that will make an assault on a citizen without cause a mandatory criminal offense . In a small Midwest town I lived in, any officer that acted like this would have been fired. The difference, the police were part of the community not above it. Regardless of what you learned in junior college, respect is earned not granted to any police officer by the public..
Voolfie:
Every day this sort of thing (minus the firing & prosecution, of course) is becoming more and more frequent. Ever wonder why the police will take or smash a camera in the hands of a "civilian"? Eventually, when our economy heads south in a big way (5 - 10 years), there will be open warfare between police and certain segments of the population. Then we'll see the DHS (with their armed drones) become an occupation force. Any bets? Get your ammo now, friends.
March 4, 2013, 8:32 am