Thursday, May 21, 2009

We're the Only Ones Haunting Your Dreams Enough





Birmingham police beating video

Hey, what's the problem? Those looked like "distraction blows" to me.

Nice comments from the authority-worshipers.

[Via too many of you to list]

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

David,

I like your term "authority-worshipers". You have a gift.

Scott
Phx, AZ

AvgJoe said...

How many citizens did these cops beat over the years and how many other cops covered for them is a huge question.
Lets use the cops and government lawyer's (not all but most) reasoning. People who get speeding tickets who say they were not speeding as the officer stated. Keep in mind many states have laws that if the officer by looking at a car thinks its speeding its speeding, no radar needed. The people in the system see it as, how many times did that person get away with speeding and didn't get a ticket. So they deserve this ticket for all the times they got away with it.
Same demeanor here, how many times did they commit felony beatings against citizens being the judge, jury and enforcer?
And yes the punk should have been hung after being found guilty because 20 years for putting all the lives in danger that he did should have warranted a public hanging. If we are going to be a country of laws. Then that is what we should be and no one gets a pass for attacking the very foundation of being a country of laws.

idahobob said...

IMHO these steroid fed, over-inflated, Jack Booted Thugs....and yes!!....PIGS!!!!
Should not only be fired, but they should be looking at Aggravated Assault with Intent to Commit Murder charges from an aggressive DA, that is wanting the max...5 to ten years, NO frigin' deals.
This shit has to stop. If the "legal system" won't do it, it is our responsibility, as citizens to do it.

Bob
III

bud said...

NOt only are they completely non-professional, they're idiots.

They had to know that the patrol car video camera was pointed right at them.

HUbris, anyone?

RickR said...

And the really horrible part, what kind of injuries from being crashed/flipped/ejected did the asswipes-in-blue just make a ton worse by flopping on the prone/still guy in the ditch. Any busted ribs driven into vital organs while the badged-bacon-badasses were flopping around on him like fish? Not to mention the baton-o-rama that a couple of them started. And the ones not smart enough to pull out a weapon, or ass-dive on top of him, resorted to the thing they do best, swinging fists. Just like the out-of-control animals they are supposed to protect us from.

Admittedly the guy did wrong, but 25 wrongs in a row from the blue-bullies do not make a right.

I don't hate LEO's, I have some in my family, but when thugs hide their actions behind the badge, it makes me more upset than the crooks. These guys are supposed to know better.

Ned said...

Wow. The comments were more telling than the story.

Funny thing - people think that civilization had progressed. But now I know why people watched and cheered while people were broken on the wheel, and "witches" were burned.

Apparently all it takes is an allegation of wrongdoing by a perp, and the cretinous sheeple will call for more wrongdoing by their masters.

It's likely that some of the idiots making pro-brutality comments will suffer beatings by their masters in the future.

Joel said...

They had to know that the patrol car video camera was pointed right at them.

HUbris, anyone?
Probably more like adrenalin. I gather this chase went on for some twenty minutes, which would get you worked up. Then there was the incident toward the end (the beginning of this short clip), where the guy swerves and very nearly creams the cop who's throwing spike strips or whatever the hell he was throwing - no way all those already hopped-up cops were going to let him walk to the squad under his own power after that. Thugs in a gang stick together; that's why people form gangs.

I'd at least consider cutting them some slack under the circumstances, even for taking swings at an obviously unconscious man (because as I said by that time those guys had to be leaving puddles of adrenaline everywhere they went), except for what happened after that: The video ends because the cop returning to the car turned it off, and apparently a shit-ton of supervisors tried to sweep the incident under the rug. No-no: It ain't the crime that gets you, it's the cover-up.

straightarrow said...

I would cut them some slack too. I would only put them in "punk city" in prison for 15 to 20 years. That's all the slack they earned.

I will hope everyday that each of those commenters who supported this criminal gang in blue receives like treatment and soon.

Anonymous said...

And we ALL know that this is the first beating of a suspect not defending himself that has ever occurred from these esteemed gentleman sworn to ....?

Submit or die?
Oh, there's a choice?

Joe G said...

After the rollover and ejection from the vehicle, he looked pretty "distracted" already... to me.

Defender said...

I was immediately reminded of SOLDIERS on a BATTLEFIELD moving in on an ENEMY position.
Imagine that you're the driver. It's a year in the future. After the national registration/confiscation party, they've come to your house for your unregistered guns, but you weren't there. You near home, see the cop cars and U-turn. The chase is on.
This is the MINIMUM we'd face, never having harmed or even threatened anyone, here in the Federal Imperial Republic of CuzWeSaySo.

Toastrider said...

*just shakes his head*

Matt Murphy was on the radio this morning, trying to run interference for these guys (which is astonishing for a so-called libertarian).

There are two problems here. First is the excessive force used by the cops to restrain a suspect that is unconscious. The officers' lawyer insists they 'followed procedure'. Which, to me, is a very small step from 'I was just following orders'. Since when does procedure call for repeated baton strikes on an unmoving body?

I can sympathize, to an extent. Adrenaline was running high; an officer had been hit by this thug (and no mistake, this asswipe was a career criminal, the kind that if he'd been ventilated by a citizen, nobody would've cared) and said thug had led the cops on a high speed chase culminating in the crackup near the Riverchase Galleria (a large shopping center). It could've gone so wrong, in so many ways.

So maybe I can forgive emotions running high and hot that day.

But the second problem, the unforgivable part, is where the police /clearly/ tried to bury it, editing the tape before turning it over to the District Attorney. No, no, no. When you hide your deeds, it's like painting it on in neon colors 'I'M DOIN' A BAD THING'.

I do not expect mediocre behavior from law enforcement. I expect SUPERIOR behavior, bordering on FLAWLESS if they can swing it. And as Codrea has noted, this sort of thing is the result of mediocre training and discipline.

Disappointed? Yeah, that's me.

straightarrow said...

No, not only no but HELL NO! This sort of thing is not(NOT) the result of mediocre training and discipline.

This sort of thing is the result of recruiting the morally handicapped with stunted characters and granting immunity as often as possible. The flaw is in the people committing these acts, the people condoning them, and the people who recruit monsters with this result in mind.

Anonymous said...

Several of my colleagues work in the prison system. One of them saw this video and mentioned: "lock them up and stick them in with the general population...see how they like getting beat..."

Personally, seems like a good idea for these animals. Let's do the responsible thing and stick them in the "zoo" where people can come and see - but see them safely behind bars. I'm sure the local wildlife would love them...

cranky said...

High-speed chases very often result in beatings. Or shootings of unarmed suspects.

I agree with those who point to the adrenaline issue. Those cops were very likely unable to control themselves, or even see straight.

Some jurisdictions have banned chases because of this.

Have to praise the Birmingham PD for letting these guys go -- I guess they don't have a union.

Police beatings should be one-strike-and-you're-out offenses.

I agree with Joel: The worst part of this is that they tried to destroy evidence. For that, they should face charges.

cranky said...

I agree with Toastrider, too (props).