Police brutality?

[Taste of Death]

Yeah, he deserved the beating, right? And, the gang family all deserved to die. At least, one is a great example of "resisting arrest"

did they "deserve to die" , your words not mine

what would you do or suggest?

the guy on the horse, who knows why the officers reacted like they did, the fact that they did does not make it right
it would be good to understand the causes of the reaction to either be able to address it or understand the mechanisms by which its provoked.

Anyone who runs from a cop is going to get their ass kicked. Not because they deserved it but because cops don't like to be defied. Either keep on running or don't run in the first place. The guy on the horse knew what was coming.

[Steve James]

did they "deserve to die" , your words not mine

Well, if you attacked an officer like that, what would you expect? If others who resisted arrest got what they should have gotten, then the crew in the parking lot deserved at least the same. Don't you think? Oops, I see. We have to know the context Still, imho, the guy who stole the horse deserved to be taken down, but I don't think the kicks to the groin and head were necessary. Now, after the ... 8th or 9th officer jumped on him, I think the context is so clear that Stevie Wonder could see it. But, the camera was far away. He might have been struggling to get their weapons --after he laid face down with his hands outstretched.

Btw, why did these White people act the way they did?

[Steve James]

Shit yeah. They'd tell you straight up, "If you run, I'm gonna beat your ass if I catch you." Where I grew up, running away from the cops was a way of life, a sport. We didn't even have to be doing anything. It was just a matter of being where we weren't supposed to --even the Supreme Court building, when we were little. As teenagers, it was hanging out in the stairways of buildings or on the roofs. Sometimes, it was just to smoke cigarettes and drink beer. The cops wouldn't shoot though. They'd throw their clubs, which make a distinctive sound on the cinderblock walls of project stairways . Anyway, a youth died recently just a few blocks away from my house trying to jump between roofs. http://7online.com/news/teen-dies-after ... nx/615909/
Yeah, it's stupid, but not necessarily moreso than the jackass movies.

[Steve James]

Afa motivation (or context), apparently, Scott didn't run because of a warrant. It seems he just didn't want to go to jail.

Walter Scott, the 50-year-old South Carolina man who was shot and killed by now-former North Charleston, S.C., Police Officer Michael Slager, was indeed behind on his child support, but there was no actual warrant issued for his arrest, the Associated Press reports.

According to the report, counting court fees, Scott owed more than $7,800 (almost $7,500 in child support alone—though CNN reports that Scott owed more than $18,000 in back child support payments), with court documents showing that he last paid in the summer of 2012. AP discovered that there was no bench warrant for his arrest.

Family members have said that Scott may have been attempting to run from Slager during Saturday’s traffic stop because he was afraid of going back to jail over child support. The father of four had been in jail three times before over the issue, AP notes. In 2008 he was sentenced to six months in jail for falling behind by $6,800 after a traffic stop that led to charges on an open-container violation and driving while under suspension.

He was arrested again in 2011, spending a night in jail for owing $7,500. Most recently, in 2012, he spent another night in jail for being $3,500 behind.

[windwalker]

edited: no longer interesting
soon it will play itself out.

later

[Steve James]

Well, the Scott story won't away for one reason, and it has nothing to do with the context of the incident. The story is the police lie and the inaccuracy of the official police report. The word of a LEO is considered overwhelmingly more valid than that of a civilian, especially in court. If we can't trust the officer's account, how can we really trust the system at all? But, does that mean that now we'll have to take the criminal's word for what happened? That's not about race because it will affect community-police relations everywhere.

[grzegorz]

edited: no longer interesting
soon it will play itself out.

later

I find it interesting that if the cop is black (like other police officers) you seemed to want to hear criticism yet for me if all the people involved in any of these incidents were all the same race, I believe, the public should be outraged. I am sure if this kind of thing happened in any country and everyone was white or Indian the public would be upset.

In Mexico there is a case of 44 students being captured by the police, on their way to a protest, and then handed to gangsters to be executed. Mexico is outraged and they should be, even if race has nothing to do with it.

[windwalker]

edited: no longer interesting
soon it will play itself out.

later

I find it interesting that if the cop is black (like other police officers) you seemed to want to hear criticism yet for me if all the people involved in any of these incidents were all the same race, I believe, the public should be outraged. I am sure if this kind of thing happened in any country and everyone was white or Indian the public would be upset.

In Mexico there is a case of 44 students being captured by the police, on their way to a protest, and then handed to gangsters to be executed. Mexico is outraged and they should be, even if race has nothing to do with it.

actually not the case "g"

my point which has always been so, maybe not so clear, was that a lot things
are media driven and are reported IMO quite differently according to the actors involved.
I find it interesting that others dont seem to notice this.

As far as the "public" being outraged, our country does many things around the world in our name, and yet
many here "meaning john q public" dont seem to care or know about it. I'm sure you've had conversations about what others think of
the US outside the US. Usually a comparison is made between what we do "the US" and what they do. Often times I've found that there is not really
that much different, only one is more obvious and open about it.
just my experience, YMMV

my last response to any comments on this thread.

[grzegorz]

Fair enough. But my opinion isn't anymore media driven than yours is.

Someone tried to argue that on the Russians thread but even there the fact is the average person doesn't care. In all te political discussions I am not repeating things I heard anywhere else, like you I am doing my own research and actively seeking out information. As far as other US problems if people really want to discuss those I am more than happy to comment on those subjects too. No, it won't change the world but I don't believe that other problems gives us the right to ignore a problem, I call that apathy.

In China too they'll say the US would have pulled a Tiananmen Square too, perhaps but that doesn't change anything it's an argument used to try to end critical thinking, the same with other problems we have to deal with. I say then let's deal with and discuss them.

[windwalker]

Fair enough. But my opinion isn't anymore media driven than yours is.

really my last post.

I dont think its fair to say either one of "us" is media driven, only that we and others care enough to have an opinion
and seek answers, understandings or share view points of why things the way they are.
Often it would seem that due to life experiences we may appear to have
very different view points, more so when expressed this medium.

I would venture that most if not all here "rsf" are good people
seeking understanding and commenting on things that this country is going through and things that happen.

These recent threads have caused me to think about my own biases that come from many long yrs in the military.
Not really useful for a discussion here. Hence no more comments from me on
this thread or other topics related to it.

later

[grzegorz]

Fair enough, I enjoyed hearing your opinion on the topic even though we disagreed I believe a lot of Americans see it your way.

[Steve James]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORXh85F5tM

[Bill]

[vadaga]

Just happened to read this...

We can’t fix police violence because we don’t know the cause

Summary: Police violence is a hot issue in 2015, as NSA surveillance was in 2013. Activists probably will make the same two mistakes now as they did then. First, they’ll build an inadequate political coalition (many whites fear blacks more than the police). Second, they’ll fail to understand the roots of the causes of the problem, making effective treatment difficult or impossible. Here we look at the latter problem.

http://fabiusmaximus.com/2015/04/23/police-violence-causes-cures-83362/

[grzegorz]

Another case out here of the police claiming a drunk female model was punching them and slammed her yet the video shows otherwise.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-francis ... ive-force/