A 19-year-old woman was legally filming an arrest—her first amendment right—when she was attacked by a police officer and arrested.
The post WATCH: Raging Cop Attacks Woman, Beats Her Because She Was Filming Him appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A graphic video shows a Texas cop unable to contain his rage and unleashing a fury on an intoxicated woman half his size, throwing her to the ground and strangling her.
The post WATCH: Raging Cop Throws Woman to the Ground and Proceeds to Strangle Her appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Aurora, CO — Saving a person’s life by rushing them to the hospital after they’ve been shot should not be a punishable offense much less get you beaten and kidnapped. However, for OyZhana Williams, who dropped a man at the emergency room who’d just been shot, that is exactly what happened—thanks to Aurora police officers.
Williams, 23, has now filed an excessive force lawsuit against the Aurora police department whose officers, Sergeant Michal Hawkins, Jordan Odneal, and Jose Ortiz, were seen on video allegedly choking, slamming and stomping the innocent woman just before making up bogus charges against her, according to the lawsuit.
On Dec. 22, 2015, Williams took Blake Newton to the hospital after he’d been shot. For this innocent act, she was met by Aurora police officers who told her they were now legally in their right to impound her car as part of their investigation.
As ABC 7 reports, the officers, tasked with investigating the shooting, told Williams that her car would be towed so it could be searched and examined, the lawsuit says. Williams was initially cooperative with the investigation until Sgt. Hawkins demanded Williams “give him the keys to the car,” which police had no legal claim to seize, the suit alleges. While the vehicle the shooting victim was transported in might be considered a secondary crime scene, which police had the right to seize, the keys were not considered evidence, the lawsuit contends.
Williams had committed no crime, nor did she present any threat to the cops. However, this was no protection against her unlawful assault as captured on the University of Colorado Hospital’s surveillance camera.
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READ MORE: Vigilant Citizen Sees Cops Hurting a Compliant Homeless Woman, So She Stepped In to Stop It
According to the lawsuit, Sgt Hawkins became “aggressive during this conversation, pointing his finger in Ms. Williams’ face.” Naturally, this frightened Williams who, at that point, “under duress from Sgt. Hawkins’ threats,” dropped her keys on the ground to comply with the officers and allow them to take them. However, this only served to further infuriate the brutal cops who then attacked the small woman.
Hawkins then grabbed Williams out of the back of the patrol car where she was sitting. For pulling her arms back from her alleged attacker, Hawkins escalated force against Williams. As the video shows, the three Aurora police officers then choked her, slammed her to the ground, and “stomped on” her head, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, during the attack, “Hawkins put his forearm on Ms. Williams’ throat and forced her to bend backwards over the trunk of the car while he choked her with his forearm.” Williams did put her hands up during the melee but this appeared only to be an attempt to stop the officer from strangling her.
As ABC 7 reports, Williams was arrested and charged with assaulting a peace officer. However, the suit alleges the officers involved in the arrest deliberately misled prosecutors by including false information in the probable cause affidavit. As a result, Williams was locked up for several days, including over the Christmas holiday, which caused her to lose her job, the suit says.
All charges were eventually dropped.
For their role in the assault on an innocent woman, none of the officers faced any disciplinary action. When Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz got word of the lawsuit, Hawkins was merely placed on desk duty while the other two officers remain on the streets.
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When the video was released Tuesday night, the Aurora PD released the following statement.
The post on the Aurora Police Department’s page is full of people calling Williams a “money hungry” “dumb” person for filing the suit. They claim that waiting so long to bring the suit somehow implies that the cops who attacked her did nothing wrong. Sadly, that mentality seems to prevail, largely due to ignorance and lack of empathy.
People are unable to empathize with the fact that Williams had done nothing wrong. Her only crime was being upset at cops for wanting to take her vehicle which she needs to get to her job. While the armchair quarter backs denounce the woman as some gold digger, the reality is that it isn’t very easy to walk into a police station where three cops work who just attacked and kidnapped you for no reason and file a complaint.
Furthermore, it’s not exactly a cake walk to obtain surveillance video of your assault — much less an attorney. This woman was beaten, kidnapped, held in a cage for days, and lost her job as a result of this treatment and these apologists claim that because she is just now bringing the lawsuit that she is some money hungry piece of trash. Shameful indeed.
Contradicting the rulings of six others federal courts, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals annihilated free speech rights in upholding a district court decision stating citizens do not have the right to film public officials — politicians, police, and others — in public.
In affirming the decision of the lower court to dismiss, the Eighth Circuit effectively ended free speech activist Matthew Akins’ challenge to the Columbia, Missouri, Police Department, which he accuses of unlawfully stopping and arresting him on multiple occasions — though nearly all charges were later dropped — as he filmed their encounters with the public, in public.
Akins says the spate of arrests and harassment from law enforcement is brazen retaliation for the nature of his activist work — filming officers on the job.
As a journalist and founder of Citizens for Justice in 2011, a group committed to monitoring police for accountability purposes, Akins frequently stopped to record officers’ interactions with the general public — a tactic employed by a plethora of civilian impartial observation groups to stem an epidemic of police violence and veritable impunity in courts, so common to law enforcement officers who misbehave.
Judge Nanette Laughrey penned in the stunning decision Columbia Police officers indeed had probable cause to arrest Akins each time, and — again, contrary to previous rulings from six circuit courts —that “he has no constitutional right to videotape any public proceeding he wishes to.”
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Attorney Stephen Wyse already filed an appeal on Wednesday for the court to rehear the case — originally filed against Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight, two former Boone County assistant prosecuting attorneys, and several members of the Columbia Police Department — as he contended unequivocally, prior,
“You can’t target journalists because you don’t like their reporting.”
READ MORE: Death Blow to Accountabilty: State Bans Public from Seeing Police Body Cam or Dashcam Video
ABC affiliate KMIZ reports,
“Wyse took issue with Laughrey’s decision to stay on the case, despite his request she recuse herself. Laughrey’s husband, Chris Kelly, was the head of a city task force on infrastructure, which could have skewed her decisions in a case against the city, Wyse claimed. While federal law does call for a judge’s recusal, the appeals court said nothing in Akins’ case rose to the level of bias or prejudice against his case.”
While the topic of filming the police — of particular interest to law enforcement accountability activists, First Amendment advocates, and others concerned for decaying free speech rights — appeared in federal court before, Laughrey’s ruling goes against precedence established by the First, Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, which decided the Constitution guarantees the right to film public officials in public settings, as long as recording does not interfere.
In fact, Judge Thomas Ambro wrote the decision for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a similar case comprised of separate instances in which Philadelphia law enforcement actively thwarted the efforts of two citizens, Amanda Geraci and Richard Fields, to film arrests. Both sued for violations of their civil rights, and — like many other litigants — won.
“The First Amendment protects the public’s right of access to information about their officials’ public activities,” Ambro clarified, adding that access “is particularly important because it leads to citizen discourse” on public and private issues — an exalted exercise of that preeminent protection. The government, ruled the judge, is prohibited constitutionally from “limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.”
American law enforcement, on the whole, has not responded hat graciously to civilians whipping out cell phones and video cameras to record encounters in public — though filming police can indeed provide additional pictorial and audio evidence in the event of contention or disputation.
“Bystander videos provide different perspectives than police and dashboard cameras, portraying circumstances and surroundings that police videos often do not capture,” Ambro continued. “Civilian video also fills the gaps created when police choose not to record video or withhold their footage from the public.”
Laughrey, however, broke ranks in a manner which could portend a precarious existence of certain First Amendment rights — rights which had previously been assumed by the public and averred in peer courts.
“The First Amendment is a core American value,” Wyse asserted in a press statement following the decision’s astonishing departure from precedent. “The right to free speech and a free press are central to our liberty and our ability to hold our government accountable. This holding of the 8th Circuit undermines the basic rights of Missourians and the citizens of the six other 8th Circuit states and undermines the First Amendment rights for all Americans.”
Reports indicate Akins — barring an unlikely rehearing in the Eighth Circuit Court — may indeed appeal his case to the Supreme Court. Because multiple federal judges have upheld the right to film police and public officials as a constitutionally-protected activity on multiple occasions, the ramifications of Laughrey’s ruling may not be as far-reaching and detrimental as appears now — but the ultimate litmus test seems inevitably poised for SCOTUS.
In the meantime, irascible law enforcement officers keen to prevent civilians from filming their activities would do well to remember two crucial points: recording public officials keeps them responsible and accountable for their actions — but can also protect them in situations of disputing claims. After all, raw video recordings — not police, officials, or citizens — have no need of mendacity and duplicity.
“We ask much of our police,” Ambro wrote in the July decision. “They can be our shelter from the storm. Yet officers are public officials carrying out public functions, and the First Amendment requires them to bear bystanders recording their actions. This is vital to promote the access that fosters free discussion of governmental actions, especially when that discussion benefits not only citizens but the officers themselves.”
READ MORE: "You"re a Sh*thead" -- Video Catches Cop Verbally Abuse Innocent Man Before Snatching His Phone
Laughrey, unfortunately, did not agree — and now the public has yet another constitutionally-protected right left dangling by a fraying thread.
Merced, CA – Police stormed into a hookah lounge in the early morning hours on Sunday, July 9 in a manner that can be described as nothing short of terroristic. Video captured by a security guard at Chandelier’s Hookah Lounge shows us once again that all too often, cops are the ones who needlessly escalate situations into fear and violence.
The video begins with multiple cops screaming at patrons to back up, right after barging in with riot guns and batons. The crowd of people enjoying a relaxing Saturday night socializing at the hookah lounge are bewildered and frightened by this sudden act of aggression.
One cop fires a rubber projectile at a man who was being pushed backward by another cop, which causes even more panic as people are trying to flee the room. The video cuts to another segment after cops, with tasers drawn and pointed, have managed to put several people on the ground. Others are letting their frustration at this unprovoked violence be known, as we can hear one person shout, “Why the f—k are y’all doing this?!”
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According to the Merced Sun-Star:
“The video was corroborated by multiple witnesses, including one black female UC Merced student. She said police first entered the building with flashlights. They left, and people resumed the event thinking the situation was over. But the police rushed back in with guns and Tasers drawn, causing the confusion and fear.
During all this, one officer slammed the student’s friend to the floor and sat on his neck. As the student began to protest, saying he can’t breathe, an officer shouted, stay back or I’ll shoot.”
Indeed, the assault on innocent patrons begs the question: why did the cops do this?
READ MORE: Chicago Pays $5 Million to Family of Teen Killed by Cops, Still Refuse to Release Dashcam
The Mercer Police Department (MCD) stated they were looking for a suspected burglar in the area, who was not caught. Instead, five people were arrested from a situation entirely created by the cops.
Assuming the MCD statement is true, does the most logical approach to apprehending a burglar involve storming a social club as if it’s a military raid? It’s ludicrous to expect that everyone will immediately become quiet and complacent as armed police storm suddenly into the building.
There is no escaping the fact that cops created this situation, and it will sow more fear, anger and distrust among the community which cops are supposed to “protect and serve.” Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured, from what we know, but that could have easily happened with Tasers, riot guns and the excessive force used.
The department says an investigation is ongoing, but we know there’s a very good chance they will find they did nothing wrong. It’s all too easy to create the narrative that the patrons’ actions justified the violent response, and most media will simply echo this without question.
This kind of disturbing assault on innocent people—who are supposedly protected by constitutional rights—cannot be allowed to be normalized. Please share this video so we can continue to expose the ever-encroaching police state.
Wildwood, PA – A video posted on Facebook of a cop ‘sucker punching’ a man before handcuffing him has caused outrage in the community and prompted an investigation by Cape May County prosecutors.
Citizens Against Abusive Power Systems (CAAPS) uploaded the video Monday afternoon, saying the incident occurred June 18. The officer and the man arrested have not been publicly identified.
Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto told local NBC10 the man was suspected in a “disorderly persons complaint” and says we don’t know what happened beforehand. However, during the video we can plainly see that the man was simply standing there, when the cop suddenly punches the man in the face like a schoolyard bully.
It seems impossible to conclude that this is normal protocol in dealing with a suspect in a minor complaint. Even if the man was belligerent and insulting, cops are supposed to apply de-escalation tactics in order to reduce the likelihood of violence.
The department gave no other details, including what led to the arrest. Meanwhile, this officer is still on duty despite his clear proclivity for violence.
CAAPS is asking that anyone with more information come forward “so we can get this officer off the street.” The non-profit group based in Clifton Heights, PA “investigates, exploits, and fights corruption and abuse, and provides support services to victims of abuse,” according to their homepage.
June 18, wildwood police at Roberts & NJ punch a civilian. Anyone know anything so we can get this officer off the street? pic.twitter.com/2NSh1v7TFZ
— CAAPS Organization (@CAAPSorg) June 19, 2017
As more and more examples of police brutality are exposed – such as suddenly punching a man in the face and knocking him to the ground – it begs the question of what gets these cops into a state of mind where violence is their first response?
READ MORE: Another "Isolated Incident" Caught on Video of Police Beating a Handcuffed Man
A study published June 19 provides scientific evidence that cops with low self-control in their personal lives “are more likely to use deadly force on the job.”
“Researchers measured self-control based on eight indicators including whether the officer had financial problems or had been in a car accident. Each indicator increased the likelihood of an officer’s involvement in a shooting by 21 percent, according to the research…
Officers were more likely to be involved in deadly shootings if they scored lower in self-control based on the following factors: a history of a suspended driver’s license, involvement in a motor vehicle accident, had ever been behind on paying bills, had loans or debts over $1,000, been under any type of court order, been divorced or separated or received a traffic ticket in the past five years.”
This study only looked at deadly shootings. It would be interesting, and likely quite revealing, if we could also analyze the data with respect to all cases of police brutality. Who knows how many of the eight indicators were present in the aforementioned cop who sucker punched a man before handcuffing him?
“What we see in criminology more generally is that a pattern of indicators tends to raise more of a yellow flag but not necessarily a red flag,” said co-author Dr. Alex Piquero. “But police departments can and should develop and employ screening devices to help them identify applicants who may need more additional vetting as well as continue to monitor their officers’ behavior and provide additional screening and training over the course of the officers’ careers. Done well, this should help departments recruit and retain the best officers who can work with the community to keep our cities safe.”
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Sadly, this advice is not likely to be taken seriously by many police departments. While there are ‘good cops’ who do everything they can to de-escalate and avoid violence, far too often we see violent, authoritarian behavior from cops, which results in innocent lives being lost and families shattered.
Los Angeles, CA — Video of a 76-year-old woman being forcefully pulled from her seat and arrested by thuggish deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is rightly infuriating the nation.
Cell phone video, recorded by a quick-thinking friend of the septuagenarian, shows the unnecessarily brutal incident — which only happened because the slight, elderly woman happened to be sitting in the wrong section inside Union Station.
Worse, Tina, the friend, told CBS News, Los Angeles, the woman could not possibly have stood up from her seat to cooperate with authorities without the assistance of her cane — which the feckless deputies refused to hand her.
“Stop!” the elderly woman winces as she desperately pleads with officers on video. “You are hurting me!”
Deputies can be seen yanking the frail woman — whom Tina described as “95 pounds, soaking wet” — from a seat in an area reserved for train passengers who have purchased tickets. Although she did not have a ticket, Tina said her friend frequently sits in that section — and has not previously encountered such trouble for doing so.
As the situation intensifies, the 76-year-old can be heard asking for the cane.
“I will give you your cane once you stand up,” one of the cops says.
Unable physically to comply, the woman retorts,
“No. Give me my cane so I can stand up.”
Repeatedly, she tells the authoritarian agents of the State they’re hurting her — but neither listens — and they persist, until handcuffs can be locked around her wrists.
But their loathsome behavior didn’t end there.
When the woman literally could not stand as ordered by these gun-and-badge-toting brutes, one deputy proceeded to shove her head down — perhaps in an attempt to force cooperation she could not provide.
“Stop!” she demands, discernibly distressed. “STOP!!”
At that point, Tina says she could hear her friend’s head smash into the chair’s hard, wooden armrest.
She screams in pain.
Tina, who did not wish to publicize her last name, explained, as CBS Los Angeles paraphrased, ‘She has a card from a Metro officer, which she thought allowed her to sit in the space. So, when sheriff’s deputies told her to leave, she refused and was subsequently arrested.’
For sitting in the ‘wrong’ spot — in a train station section obviously not lacking in seats for ticketed customers.
No ounce of care was proffered the elderly woman — and that the deputies refused to honor her request to use the cane is not only brazenly disrespectful, it could violate legal protections for people with disabilities.
“It did not need to escalate to that point,” Tina told the station. “It was past excessive in my opinion. She, I’m sure, weighs no more than 95 pounds wet. I was really shocked and traumatized witnessing this.”
But idiocy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continues beyond nearly breaking the woman’s neck or fracturing her skull.
Since released from jail, the septuagenarian still faces potential charges of obstructing an officer — an officer who refused to allow her to use the cane to stand. That factor could have found the woman in compliance with her tormentors’ commands and, instead, simply left a bad taste in her mouth over unnecessary rudeness and roughness — but, without the additional brutalization she experienced when her head slammed into the armrest.
A spokesman for the sheriff’s department told CBS they have yet to watch the video, but will use it to assist in a now-ongoing review to determine whether force was excessive.
While the video taken inside Union Station under dim lighting makes it difficult to ascertain precisely which deputies did what to the elderly woman, when, her repeated wincing and pleas for them to cease the obviate strong-arm treatment.
Let the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department review the violent incident at their leisure for as long as they see fit — the rest of the planet can clearly see vicious maltreatment of an elderly woman who simply sat down in the wrong spot.
Authoritarianism in this Police State spares no one — and apparently manifests as the long arms of absurd laws in the physical bullying an old lady — who only sought a comfortable place to rest her 76-year-old bones.
READ MORE: Citizen Calls Out Traffic Cop for Breaking the Law, Never do Cops Correct Themselves....Until Now
Wilmington, NC — A powerful video, taken by an attorney while being harassed by police, illustrates the power of filming — and why cops will lie through their teeth, apply intimidation tactics, and threaten you to get you to stop it.
Attorney Jesse Bright, who works as an Uber driver in his spare time, was on a round trip drive, bringing a man who works as a pet groomer to pick up his paycheck on Feb 26. During the first Uber stop, police suddenly surrounded the vehicle and forced the passenger to submit to a search because they were near a known “drug house.”
For his safety and to account for the officers’ actions, Bright began filming. When Sergeant Kenneth Becker saw that he was recording, that’s when the lies, threats, and intimidation began.
Officer: Hey bud, turn that off, OK?
Bright: No, I’ll keep recording. Thank you. It’s my right.
Officer: Don’t record me. You got me?
Bright: Look, you’re a police officer on duty. I can record you.
Becker then walks to driver’s side of vehicle to escalate the level of intimidation.
Officer: Be careful because there is a new law. Turn it off or I’ll take you to jail.
Bright: For recording you? What is the law?
Officer: Step out of the car.
Bright: What are you arresting me for? I’m sitting here in my car. I’m just recording in case anything happens. I’m surrounded by five police officers.
Officer: You’re being a jerk.
Bright: I’m scared right now. I’m not being a jerk. I’m recording in case anything happens.
Officer: You better hope we don’t find something in your car?
Bright: You’re not searching my car?
Officer: I’m going to search your car.
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Bright: You’re not searching my car.
To apply yet another level of intimidation on a man for the sole reason that he was asserting his rights, this belligerent cops then calls for a K-9 unit.
Bright: Bring the K-9s. I don’t care. I know my rights.
Officer: I hope so. I know what the law is.
Bright: I know the law. I’m an attorney, so I would hope I know what the law is.
Officer: And an Uber driver?
The cops couldn’t believe that an attorney could also work in his spare time to earn extra money.
For the next several minutes, the cops teamed up on Bright and continued their intimidation. However, Bright did not back down.
While the video was rolling, Bright held all the power and the cops knew this — thus, the reason for them trying to force him to stop filming. Finally, the cops, without Bright’s consent, intimidated him to the point where he was unlawfully coerced into conceding to a search. According to Bright, they falsely claimed their K9 alerted to the car and proceeded to get back at him for asserting his right and embarrassing them. The video also confirms this as the dog never stopped or ‘alerted’ to anything.
As the Free Thought Project has pointed out many times before, cops falsely claim their dogs alert to substances all the time. After they claimed the dog ‘alerted’, the belligerent cop then made a snide remark about the false alert.
“Funny how he’s real interested in your car, huh?” says the cop as the dog seems to only be interested in the toy his handler has.
“How’s that funny?” asks Bright as he points out this unprofessional officer’s conduct.
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On Wednesday, Bright sent an email to WECT, explaining the situation.
At that time, the K-9 unit arrived at scene. I repeatedly asked the Sergeant and the K-9 what the dog’s indicator was, to indicate that he smelled narcotics in the vehicle. They refused to tell me. The K-9 lead the dog around my car 1 time, in which the dog did nothing but sniff the vehicle. He didn’t seem to make any indication at all towards the vehicle, besides sniffing in the places that the K-9 told him to sniff. After the sniff was done, the Sgt immediately went into my vehicle without my permission, and did a full search, checking all areas of the car, and pulling everything out of the center console and glove box. During the search, I was told I had to let them search my body as well, which they did. He found absolutely nothing illegal in my vehicle, or my person, and eventually walked back to his car. Another officer told me that me and my Uber passenger were free to go.
Chief Ralph Evangelous issued the following statement Wednesday in response to the videos:
“Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right. As a matter of fact we invite citizens to do so when they believe it is necessary. We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction.”
However, as the video below shows, his officers apparently do not feel the same way.
The office then released another statement noting that the lying and bullying cops were wrong, but will not be punished and, instead, received ‘counseling’ — for being utterly derelict and oppressive.
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According to WECT, Lt. Jerry Brewer with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said there is no internal investigation in that department because their deputy did not violate anything.
Sheriff McMahon has viewed the Uber driver’s video and believes it is clear that Officers were incorrect in stating that it was illegal to record the encounter. Not only does the Sheriff agree that it is legal to record encounters, he invites citizens to do so. As a result, the Deputy involved has been counseled.
Additionally, in keeping with Sheriff McMahon’s practice of openness and transparency with the citizens that we serve, he has instructed his Staff to ensure that each Deputy has been provided with information about the citizen’s right to record encounters with law enforcement officers.
And just like that, cops can be filmed in a blatant act of intimidation and oppression, caught lying through their teeth — and nothing happens. Sadly, people still wonder why there are protests. Had Bright not pulled out his camera and filmed, this situation could have gone far worse.
“He’s not gonna die.”
Those were the tragically unprophetic words of the person who filmed Los Angeles cops gunning down a 50-year-old homeless man on Saturday, March 4.
The local ABC7 station reports that an altercation broke out at midday at an intersection in downtown LA, with two “gentlemen, angry and antagonizing each other down the street,” according to a nearby business owner.
The homeless man was carrying a large pipe, and someone called 911. Two LAPD cops showed up, and, according to police reports, tried to subdue the man with a Taser, although the video shows no evidence of that. Perhaps they attempted to tase him before the video started.
As the video begins, the people recording see it as a comical situation. Indeed, the homeless man appears to be physically unfit and not much of a threat to the armed officers. The two officers have weapons drawn, apparently telling him to drop the pipe.
“Ninja man with a ninja stick. He’s not gonna die,’ said the person recording as a woman laughs.
The man walks a short distance away, and the turns around. He seems to view it as a game, ducking and weaving a bit as the cops stand about 15 feet away with guns pointed.
He then approaches the cops in a bumbling manner, and one cop opens fire twice, striking the man who falls to the ground. 30 seconds later, one cop approaches the man, who is unmoving on the ground, and handcuffs him.
The cops made no effort to aid the man as he lay unmoving on the ground after being struck. The man was transported to a hospital, where he died.
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While the man did indeed approach cops with what could be considered a “weapon,” it’s hard to believe the cops couldn’t tackle this man or keep their distance until other cops arrived. As we have seen time and time again, American cops are all too eager to resort to deadly force.
ABC7 reports that LAPD Central Division officers are equipped with bodycams, but they were not turned on at the time. Detectives will review the bystander footage and dashcam video, but it is likely the cops will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
LADP cops have a history of killing homeless or mentally ill people and not facing any consequences. In Dec. 2016, it was announced that three cops who killed an unarmed homeless man on Skid Row, sparking protests, will face no charges.
In Dec. 2015, cops shot and killed a mentally ill man in his hospital room. Just one day before, LAPD cops shot a man in the back at point blank range, killing him. In Aug. 2016, video emerged of LAPD officers laughing and smiling as a man in custody died in front of them at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Chicago, IL — Poor impulse control can be chalked up as one of the reasons so many officers snap and escalate to violence when it is entirely unnecessary. This lack of self-control has been caught on camera time and again. A Chicago police officer is the latest law enforcement officer to make waves on social media after he was caught throwing hot coffee into the face of an innocent motorcyclist.
A video uploaded to Facebook on Sunday has begun to go viral after is showed a Chicago cop walking into the street and lob his piping hot cup of coffee into the face of a motorcyclist. The man on the bike goes by Elijah Bling on Facebook and the officer’s crime was captured on his helmet cam.
As the video begins, a group of bikers is traveling through downtown Chicago. Some of the bikers are revving their engines and popping wheelies. However, Elijah appears to be driving perfectly safe. As the group begins to near the cop, the officer targets Elijah and releases the coffee.
According to Elijah, he did not have his face protector down so the coffee spilled right into his eyes and nearly caused a serious accident.
We were riding in downtown Chicago with my group Chicago United Riders. Pulling up on the street, I saw the officer walking up to us, so I waved at him and said “Okay we will keep it down” and that’s when he threw his extra large full cup of hot coffee on my face.
My lid was up so it splashed inside my helmet and my eyes. He knew he was wrong but didn’t give a damn. I seen it in his eyes, he had the “I got you” look.
But that’s fine. If I were a new rider, I would’ve crashed and probably got run over by everyone. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, the cop basically targeted a bystander. If I were to do this to a motorcycle cop, I would’ve been charged with attempted murder.
“I got you on camera, bro,” said Elijah after the cop assaulted him. “Yeah, I got you.” And just like that, a police officer assaulted a man and got away with it.
READ MORE: Shocking Report Shows Most Chicago PD Dashcams are Being "Intentionally Sabotaged"
Even if Elijah had been driving erratically, the officer’s response was entirely unwarranted and very dangerous. Not to mention, the cop was also jaywalking.
Oddly enough, cops attempting to cause massive and deadly motorcycle crashes has been caught on camera before.
In March of last year, Fort Worth police confirmed that one of their officers was under investigation after a video was uploaded to Facebook showing him pepper spray innocent people as they drove by on motorcycles. In August, the Department quietly released a statement noting that they will not discipline the officer involved.
After Fort Worth police officer William Figueroa was seen shooting out pepper spray into the faces of motorcyclists as they drove by on a busy highway, he was placed on paid vacation pending an internal investigation. The investigation wrapped up in June. However, investigators left it up to Figueroa’s bosses to decide what, if any, punishment he would receive. He received nothing.
New York, NY – Video footage has emerged of NYPD Sgt. Eliezer Pabon suddenly shoving a handcuffed 14-year-old boy against a plate glass window, which shattered and almost killed him. Javier Payne had to undergo 4 hours of surgery to remove shards of glass from his lung and near his heart.
After finding Sgt. Pabon guilty of excessive use of force, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Trials Nancy Ryan docked the Bronx cop a mere five days of vacation. The punishment was far less than the 30 days lost vacation the NYPD suggested when it filed administrative charges against Pabon.
The lame excuse for discipline is even more outrageous when compared to a punishment handed down to another Bronx officer, Joseph Spina, who was docked eight vacation days for saying he wouldn’t have voted for mayor Bill de Blasio. That incident was caught on film when Spina gave a driver a summons.
With the two punishments, New York City’s police accountability system is showing just how flawed and subjective it can be.
“Javier and his mother are outraged,” said Scott Rynecki, the family’s attorney. “You penalize one police officer for merely stating something verbally and you give him eight vacation days and another one who has been found guilty by a tribunal of using excessive force and nearly killing this young man — you’re giving him five days. What’s the public to think — that it’s worse for a cop to complain about his bosses than it is to lay his hands on people and use excessive force?”
The family filed a lawsuit against the NYPD after viewing the video, which Rynecki says warrants a re-opening of the case.
“There’s no question the video shows there was an assault,” said Rynecki. “There was absolutely no justification for the sergeant to lay his hands on that handcuffed 14-year-old boy. It’s mind-boggling that the D.A. (Johnson) did not even present the evidence to a grand jury.”
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson did not present Javier’s case to a grand jury because, according to the file, there was a crack in the window. This allowed Johnson to clear Pabon of criminal wrongdoing.
But it should be common knowledge, especially to cops, that shoving people into glass windows can cause serious injury or death. Pabon’s behavior in the video is not indicative of a person in control of his emotions.
Javier was a 14-year-old, 89-pound kid at the time, and was already handcuffed. Javier was allegedly “mouthing off” to Pabon after he was arrested for punching a man in the face, but that is no excuse for Pabon’s ruthless actions.
If you can’t stop from getting violently angry at a restrained kid being belligerent, you have no business being a police officer “to protect and serve.”
Sgt. Pabon will be going on trial in an administrative hearing next month, but a lawyer for the Sergeants Benevolent Association expects says they “remain confident that Sgt. Pabon will be cleared of any wrongdoing after a full and fair examination of all of the relevant facts in a court of law.”
Evansville, IN — Three Evansville, Indiana, police officers won’t face any charges for beating a handcuffed man and lying about it in official reports — even though body cam footage proves their blatant lies.
Nick Henderson, Mark DeCamps, and Marcus Craig said they confronted 36-year-old Mark Healy during an investigation of a garage burglary — but Healy, they claimed, resisted to the point a physical confrontation ensued. Healy then tried to flee — and stabbed one of the officers with a syringe of liquid methamphetamine — but the trio managed to restrain the man and place him under arrest.
As Radley Balko reports for the Washington Post, those officers filed that report with Sergeant Kyle Kassel three hours afterward, who reviewed the information and deemed the use of force justified.
And that account stood, according to local media citing the police use-of-force report — until the Evansville Courier & Press obtained body camera footage of the incident disputing nearly every facet of the story. Balko explains:
“In the footage, Healy doesn’t resist at all. And the officer who was stuck by the syringe wasn’t stabbed by Healy, he was pricked by the needle while Healy was handcuffed. Contrary to department procedure, the officer failed to ask Healy if he had anything in his pockets before searching him. As you can see in the video, as one of the officers searches Healy, he pricks himself on the syringe. He then calls Healy a ‘motherf—–’ and strikes him. As Healy lays on the ground, Henderson and another officer then spend about three minutes beating him, yelling at him and threatening to kill him. The third officer just watches.”
Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin reacted appropriately after viewing the footage, accusing the cops of multiple department violations, including official misconduct and excessive force. Bolin immediately suspended the three officers involved and the sergeant who signed off on their report. Further, he recommended Henderson, DeCamps, and Craig be fired and Kassel be demoted.
But the cops beat the handcuffed man on October 29 — and they’re still on paid vacation otherwise known as administrative leave six weeks later.
Indiana State Police investigated the incident and sent Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nicholas Hermann — and last Thursday, Hermann dropped the ball, announcing no charges would be filed against any of the officers.
“During the news conference,” the Courier & Press reports, “Hermann explained at length his reasoning behind the decision — without outright saying he wasn’t pressing charges until several minutes in. He said his office could not prove Henderson purposefully struck Healy in a malicious manner. According to talks with Henderson and his attorney, Hermann said the officer struck the suspect with his elbow after pricking his hand on a needle that was in Healy’s pocket.
“He said there was no evidence Healy was ever punched. Hermann played a statement Healy gave to police immediately after the incident in which he said there were ‘no punches thrown.’”
Whether or not punches, specifically, were thrown, Healy clearly was thrust to the ground after the officer exploded at having stuck his finger on the syringe. In fact, Hermann’s analysis of the body cam footage is disingenuous at best, as it ignores the officers attacked the man while he was in handcuffs, and fails to address that the cop who poked himself on the syringe did not follow proper search procedure.
But it gets worse.
Despite flagrant lies in the use-of-force report, the Courier & Press explains:
“Hermann was also asked about possible perjury charges related to a section of the report that states Henderson, Craig and DeCamps were all working to handcuff Healy while he struggled to get away. That section directly contradicts the video, which shows one officer handcuffing Healy without incident.
“Hermann acknowledged the contradiction but characterized it as a ‘discrepancy’ during the news conference, citing the three hours between the incident and the time the report was filed as a possible cause. He also speculated the officers who wrote and signed the probable cause affidavit under penalty of perjury, Craig and DeCamps, may not have watched the body camera footage before writing the affidavit.
“Because of this, Hermann said it would be difficult to prove the officers intended to give false information.”
Balko cautions the hasty charging of perjury would be remiss as actual discrepancies on police reports aren’t uncommon — eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable — and the trauma of an incident and memory colored by self-interest can worsen that effect. He continues:
“But these aren’t discrepancies. They’re lies. The police claimed Healy resisted. He didn’t. They claimed he broke free and tried to flee. He didn’t. They claimed Henderson was struck by the syringe as Healy attempted to flee. He wasn’t. He was struck while searching Healy, while Healy was stationary and handcuffed.”
Balko points out that, under Indiana law, “A person who makes a false, material statement under oath or affirmation, knowing the statement to be false or not believing it to be true commits perjury.”
Henderson, DeCamps, Craig, and Kassel, all indisputably — even to the casual observer — committed perjury.
Hermann went out of his way to, in essence, nullify the law in order to clear the four lying cops of all wrongdoing. By his particular interpretation of the law — or, more accurately, his gymnastics routine to thwart it — the officers would have had to view the body cam footage prior to writing their report in order to have committed perjury.
As Balko notes, Evansville police procedure dictates officers must write reports prior to viewing any video of an incident — by definition that would mean Hermann’s strictures effectively render the law moot. Further,
“Hermann’s interpretation would seem to suggest that no Evansville officer could ever be charged with perjury for mischaracterizing a use-of-force incident in a police report. And this case only underscores the point. If this isn’t perjury, there is no perjury.”
Hermann asserted, “I have to show that they knowingly or intentionally lied for some reason. It’s common that they not watch the video prior to writing supplements. That’s an issue that we get all the time. And if we start going after police officers because there’s a line in a probable cause affidavit that contradicts what we see in the video, quite frankly we wouldn’t have any more Evansville police officers.”
Evansville Police Department officials dispute Hermann’s creatively-interpreted narrative of the beating — as well as the suggestion there exists a stunningly high number of discrepancies between reports and video footage.
But, for now, it seems Henderson, DeCamps, Craig, and Kassel, to varying degrees, will get away scot free for beating a handcuffed man and arrogantly lying about it in official reports. Following is the body cam video that should have given Healy a shot at justice — instead it serves as further reminder of the definitive American Police State:
Kingston, NY — Filming the police has proven to be an essential part of exposing police corruption. Without direct evidence of their crimes, captured on video, the public would never believe the commoner over the state. Charlie Balakubak, of Kingston, New York, just recently illustrated the power of filming when his dashcam captured a police officer nearly hit him — and then charge Balakubak with a crime that the cop committed!
Balakubak’s run-in with the police was almost literal last September when a cop crossed a double yellow line and swerved at him head on. Narrowly escaping a deadly collision, Balakubak honked at the offending officer and simply carried on.
However, this cop was either out for revenge, or entirely delusional — so he pulled Balakubak over and accused Balakubak of a crime that the cop just committed.
Knowing he’d done nothing wrong and, in fact, had video of the officer breaking the law, Balakubak was confident during the stop. In spite of telling the officer he had video of him breaking the law, Balakubak was still issued a citation for the cop’s crime.
The Free Thought Project spoke with Balakubak, who explained how the video of the incident quickly helped him out.
“The incident occurred at 7:30 PM, I had the video up by 11 PM that night. Shortly after, I sent an email to the chief of police. 9 AM the following morning,” explains Balakubak, “I spoke with the chief who said they were reviewing that video. I then called the District Attorney and left a message for them. They never returned the call. At 3 PM, I sent the link to two of the TV stations locally as well as to two newspapers locally.”
According to Balakubak, the video worked!
“At 4:30 that day, I received a call from the Deputy Chief with an apology and letting me know that the officer was being reprimanded and that the ticket would be dismissed. On Friday the 7th, I received a letter from the city explaining that the ticket was dismissed. The letter came from the city lawyer who is also an ADA, which would explain why the DA’s office never returned my call.
“The chief in Kingston is a good guy, unfortunately, they are tasked with having to rely on some whose integrity is less than honorable. In the video, you’ll hear me ask how that moron Strand is. Strand was the supervisor that showed up at the stop that night after Mills took my information. In the extended video, I give it to him as well. They both were responsible for the ticket I received. They must have taken a gamble that I either didn’t have a camera OR that it was not working, then decided to write the ticket.The whole stop took about 30 minutes to complete.”
Had video not existed showing this officer break the law, no one would have ever believed Balakubak, and he knew this as he’s been through it before.
“A very similar incident occurred in 2008 with the Saugerties NY police,” he told the Free Thought Project. “They, however, weren’t going to be one-upped by a peasant. They tried everything they could to get me to plead guilty, which I did not. Video evidence in that case also exonerated me but, the Judge in his dismissal letter did his best to convict me anyway by describing my actions as reprehensible. I sued in State Supreme court on civil rights violations and won that case. I even drafted all my accusatory instruments to get into State Supreme court.”
As Balakubak tells the Free Thought Project, he’s not anti-cop, only anti-corrupt cop.
“They seem to forget that, once the officer crosses the line from LEO to LEA (law enforcement abuser) their actions are criminal, and at that point they can no longer expect courtesy. Furthermore, I am a Oath of Service bearer which requires me to support and defend the constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Ulster County NY is very corrupt, as are some of the towns that reside in it. Judges, Mayors, Police and more seemed to be immune to prosecution, conviction or even being arrested in this area, even though they are out of control. One mayor here died about 15 years ago because of cocaine abuse. That was covered up and an autopsy report was never disclosed to the public.”
Below is a brief video showing the power of lying cops and the power of citizens with cameras to expose them. Please share this article and video with others so that they may see the power we, as a people, still have.
