Police Brutality in New Orleans
There is a case of police Brutality coming out of New Orleans on the news. Like all such videos it shows only a tiny clip, and probably the most inflammatory one at that. As per usual none of the context of the violence is being shown, and this is always a problem, but this time it may not matter, for once.
I am fully behind the police in their efforts to stop crime and keep the population safe. I understand that sometimes they must get rough in the process of keeping honest citizens safe. I am usually disgusted when people allege police brutality because the person making the accusation is usually someone who’s lucky he or she wasn’t killed in the process of being apprehended thanks to how violent he or she was being to the police. These are throw-away cases where the violent means the police used to secure the felon are justified.
Not so in this case.
Bear in mind that I have limited information, but from what I can see the man who was beaten wasn’t being overly aggressive. And while the New Orleans police are justifiably on edge after the violence and looting that followed in the wake of Katrina they do appear to have overreacted. This unarmed man was beaten badly enough to get covered in his own blood and be left laying a puddle of blood. This is wrong. This is excessive.
Rodney King wasn’t beaten this bad and he was high on Angel Dust (PCP) which made him far more dangerous than some graying drunk. Police deal with drunks all the time and are trained to subdue them with a minimum of violence. It really isn’t that hard to subdue a drunk. So why would four or five police need pound on this guy until he was bleeding profusely? It makes no sense. It should never have happened.
It is possible that in a few days information come out that the man pulled a knife or a gun, or some other weapon on the police, and that makes the beating he got fully deserved. But barring any such bombshells I expect the justice to do the right and punish these cops for brutalizing a harmless drunk.
I am fully behind the police in their efforts to stop crime and keep the population safe. I understand that sometimes they must get rough in the process of keeping honest citizens safe. I am usually disgusted when people allege police brutality because the person making the accusation is usually someone who’s lucky he or she wasn’t killed in the process of being apprehended thanks to how violent he or she was being to the police. These are throw-away cases where the violent means the police used to secure the felon are justified.
Not so in this case.
Bear in mind that I have limited information, but from what I can see the man who was beaten wasn’t being overly aggressive. And while the New Orleans police are justifiably on edge after the violence and looting that followed in the wake of Katrina they do appear to have overreacted. This unarmed man was beaten badly enough to get covered in his own blood and be left laying a puddle of blood. This is wrong. This is excessive.
Rodney King wasn’t beaten this bad and he was high on Angel Dust (PCP) which made him far more dangerous than some graying drunk. Police deal with drunks all the time and are trained to subdue them with a minimum of violence. It really isn’t that hard to subdue a drunk. So why would four or five police need pound on this guy until he was bleeding profusely? It makes no sense. It should never have happened.
It is possible that in a few days information come out that the man pulled a knife or a gun, or some other weapon on the police, and that makes the beating he got fully deserved. But barring any such bombshells I expect the justice to do the right and punish these cops for brutalizing a harmless drunk.
posted by Daniel Levesque at
5:42 AM
8 Comments:
Thank you for the extra info Phantom. Assuming no bombshells come out in the wash that justify what the cops did I'll be right there with you.
By
Daniel Levesque, at 9:02 AM
Would you suggest I call for police to sit back and let felons beat them rather than fighting back? Or how about we ban the use of deadly force so poilice can't fight back when some lunatic with a gun is shooting at them. Grow a brain.
By
Daniel Levesque, at 12:06 PM
The more I learn about this case the more I want to see the cops who beat this man tied up and handed over to an angry mob. There is no justification for what they did to an innocent man, unarmed man who didn't even fight back.
By
Daniel Levesque, at 1:01 PM
Daniel: You're right on the money. It's apparent from the video that not only was the man against the wall and secured by two cops when one started punching him in the head, but that the cop on horseback was trying to block the scene from the camera. I can only assume the victim must have said something to piss off the already strained police, for them to overreact this way.
phantom_driver: You might be surpriseded to learn that Ray Nagin was a Republican until a few days before he declared he was running for Mayor. Interesting, huh?
By
catastrophile, at 1:12 PM
(Surpriseded? Wow.)
By
catastrophile, at 1:13 PM
Just saw reciepient on O'Reilly.
Seemed educated, calm, and well spoken.
Unless I'm missing something on the video, these cops should go to jail.
I am pro law enforcement, BTW, but these guys appear to have crossed WAY over the line. (Even roughed up a reporter! Over the line and stupid!)
By
The Conservative UAW Guy, at 6:16 PM
PB, what other circumstances besides the ones I mentioned can you justify police violence? They sometimes must meet violence with violence in the process of stopping criminals. This is what I mean when I say that sometimes the cops have to get rough. As far as this case goes, as I already said, the more I learn the more I think these particular cops need to get as bad as they gave to an innocent man. What happened in NO was wrong.
By
Daniel Levesque, at 7:01 PM
Also, most police brutality cases are nothing more than felons abusing the system to harass the good cops who arrested them.
By
Daniel Levesque, at 7:02 PM
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