This is a live one here. Cops pull over a black man for basically driving while black, pull him out of his car, put him in a chokehold, beat him in the head 16 times, taze him three times, then arrest him for a suspended license and plant crack cocaine. They allege he said he was going to kill them, none of the eight officers have their microphones on to record it. They claim he bit an officer, but the officer does not document the bite or seek medical attention. They claim they found a small packet of crack under the passenger side seat (conveniently out of camera view), they test the man, he has no drugs in his system. They charge him with assault, resisting arrest, and a bunch of crap. The only thing they didn’t charge him with was jaywalking for being on the ground or destruction of property for bleeding on their uniform.
Oh, and the icing on this shitcake is that the arresting officer who put him in a chokehold and beat him in the head sixteen times? He’s already faced one trial over planting evidence and falsifying reports. This is movie script perfidy from the cops. It’s almost too over the top.
At the very least, I hope a couple million dollar payout is paid to this man.
celticdragonchick
They forgot to charge him for bleeding on their uniforms. Getting sloppy.
John Cole +0
@celticdragonchick: LOL I was just updating to add that.
mellowjohn
we serve an protect.
celticdragonchick
@John Cole +0: heh!
celticdragonchick
So how long until the police chief holds a presser and tells us that no department rules were violated and the officers did an outstanding job?
Too bad we can’t look in on Police.com comment threads on these stories anymore, since the socipathy on daily display was never less then entertainingly horrifying.
Jack the Second
I hope for a full recovery from the head injuries.
NotMax
Horrid story, but how the phrase The Full Monty is at all applicable escapes me.
Pogonip
Public service announcement where it’ll be seen. Today, a person had a heart attack ( will be OK, thank God) and there was a couple of precious minutes’ confusion as to where the aspirin was. Please remember to take a minute or two every day to review emergency procedures in your mind, and every so often review them with everybody.
The aspirin is now clearly visible to everyone. (And don’t forget to tell any blind people in your group exactly where to find everything in an emergency.)
I will now resume the regularly scheduled demands for a pupdate.
I hope that guy in the story gets a huge settlement.
WaterGirl
@Pogonip: this presumes there are emergency procedures. and aspirin.
Arclite
I’m sure the nice officers will get commendations, and the evil black man got what he deserved. If it does go to the Grand Jury, I’m sure they’ll decide not to prosecute.
freemark
He wouldn’t have been tazed if he had complied and just allowed the officer to choke him to death. He was also a Ford employee driving a CADILLAC. That is absolute proof he was a dangerous thug. He obviously deserved everything those outstanding heroes in blue did to him.
Pogonip
@WaterGirl: Always keep aspirin on hand in case someone has a heart attack. And if you have not come up with emergency procedures yet, there is no time like the present to work on them! The most likely emergencies in industrialized areas are fire, medical emergency, and weather emergencies. After you have procedures for all that down pat, you can worry about collapse of the economy or a mass murderer. Consult cable news if you run out of worries.
Pogonip
@efgoldman: If you’re in the eastern half of the U.S., striped skunk breeding season is over. Should improve from here on out; they won’t get run over so often. If you have spotted or hognose skunks where you live, consult a naturalist or geezer (most old folks usually have a pretty good knowledge of the local fauna).
mainmata
Unfortunately, Arclite is probably correct but the Detroit Police Dept. minimally should fire the police officers involved. Even though one of them already is a criminal (planting evidence) nothing will happen to them. You would think the bankrupt city government couldn’t afford a big settlement but the poor guy deserves a big one. When will it ever stop?
shortstop
He must have done something! He didn’t follow instructions! Police lives matter!
Goblue72
Ice-T was right.
David Koch
Black guy walks into a police station and the cops choke him and shoot him
This proves blacks are the real racists.
Also too, the only reason white cops are beating unarmed blacks is because they were influenced by rap music.
WaterGirl
@Pogonip: the aspirin part sounds easy – what kind do i buy?
I have thought about having tornado supplies handy, so maybe that counts. *I haven’t done it, though.
edit: *in spite of the tree crashing on my house with high winds nearly two years ago.
(sorry I guessed wrong on the christianity thing)
Baud
@Pogonip:
Also good for preventing unwanted pregnancies.
WaterGirl
@David Koch: Your link took me to a south park website, so I’m guessing that was not a true story? Which is good because I was wondering why I even get up every morning when things are so fucked up.
WaterGirl
@Baud: When I grow up, I want to be as clever and funny as you.
Pogonip
@efgoldman: Are you in or near a wooded area? I have read that some other members of the weasel family are just as pungent as skunks.
Pogonip
@Baud: Is THAT old joke still going around?
mai naem mobile
I hope Soonergrunt and family is okay. I don’t remember where he lives.but it sounds like tornadoes hit OKC area.
east is east
dear mom and pop,
thank you, bless your hearts, I am indebted to you forever for not naming me Tucker or Buckley.
Thank you thank you thank you
Roger Moore
@celticdragonchick:
The sad thing is, he’s probably right. Some of these departments probably have random beatings and planting of evidence as part of their official policy.
Pogonip
@WaterGirl: The cheap kind!
We had a derecho blow through a few years ago; a tree crashed down on a car parked right where we used to live.
I’m almost afraid to ask: what unpopular group did you think I was in? Whiny pupdate demanders? Old grouches? Haters of FYAC? People who can’t decide whether something goes in the Keep or Throw boxes? Boring Internet commenters? With me, there are so many possibilities. I contain multitudes. And you know how folks feel about those @($$8$~%^~^^##! multitude containers.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
{{blush}}
@Pogonip:
That “joke” will be a key policy position of the Republican nominee for president of the United States.
Baud
@Pogonip:
You mean, besides Juicer?
east is east
I go to sleep listening to the radio, usually coast to coast. It helps me sleep. I wake up listening to Glen Beck. I’ll give anyone a listen, but this guy is the most moralizing asshole I’ve ever heard. He and his asslickers talk and talk about how they want to be better men. On and on. I can’t believe this jackass is a millionaire.
LongHairedWeirdo
Was it the officer who was trying to choke him who claims to have been bitten? Because somehow, that would just be the icing on the cake. Cop does something that is in excess of what’s strictly needed, which generates a perfectly reasonable defensive response, and suddenly, the victim is the criminal for daring to be a human being.
Tree With Water
There are definite benefits in dealing with police if you’re a harmless looking old white guy. I’ve only dealt with one cop that I knew was stone cold crazy, and even then only as a bystander. I simply split, and never saw him again. I can only imagine what it must be like to fear law enforcement as a daily reality. Even then, I really can’t. Imagination is useless in the face of the life and death stakes- or mine is, anyway. I have no idea how to begin to remedy the situation, but think an overhaul of the nation’s drug laws would be as good a place to start as any.
east is east
And so Buckley Carlson uses the term “labiaface” to disparage a woman. How emotionally diseased does a person need to be to do that?
Pogonip
@Baud: Those Juicers are the worst, Balloon Juice is a wretched hive not only of scum and villainy, but of miserably infrequent pupdates.
pseudonymous in nc
So, Inkster, Michigan. Small incorporated municipality? Check. Majority African-American population? Check. Chief of police is a white woman who took the 5th at the start of her career in a case where her partner shot someone? Check.
WaterGirl
@Pogonip: Well, now that you list them…
I would have to say yes to pupdate demanders, but not whiny, just persistent.
I can’t say yes to FYAC – i just googled to find out what it is and google kept insisting that I was spelling Facebook wrong.
I had (wrongly) presumed that you were referencing the topic on that thread, which I thought started with the law that says “you don’t have to sell your cakes and flowers to those icky gay people”, so I guessed you were in the unpopular gay group. But I had never made that particular connection with you before that, so it was all context driven.
so-called christians who think nothing on christ’s teachings are not too popular with me right now.
I’m just not sure that when Jesus said “suffer the little children to come unto me” he intended that we should make children suffer, particularly if they are poor. Or the wrong color! So these so-called christians who don’t care about christ’s teachings really piss me off. That variety of christian can’t become extinct soon enough for me!
WaterGirl
@pseudonymous in nc: Ugh.
Pogonip
Fuck You Auto Correct, I encourage everyone to join the cause. Autocorrect is why many citizens are about as literate as those skunks efgoldman keeps smelling. Away with it! (FY Autocorrect, not ef.)
Mike in NC
Made several trips to WV when we lived in NoVA. Harpers Ferry was cool. Antietam battlefield was unforgettable. Honeymooned at the five-star Bavarian Inn in Sheperdstown. Had a great time, every time. Never saw a non-white person once.
J R in WV
I’m old now, and have had grey (back then) and now white in my beard. I’ve been bald since I was in my early 20s.
Ever since my beard turned grey, I’ve been treated with real consideration and kindness by police officers. I once got timed at 50 in a 40 zone, just a couple of hundred yards from the Interstate exit, and I politely pointed to the 55 mph speed limit sign just about 20 yards in front of my car.
I also asked if he thought I was hot-rodding it in my WV diesel, and he kind of grinned. Then another police car came up with the blue light special flashing, ans I worried a little.
Then he gave me a warning ticket, and asked me to take it easy on the dge of town, and I said thanks, and I certainly will.
I once had a cop wag his finger at me, and flash his lights just the one time.
But I haven’t had a moving violation in decades. So it definately helps to be an old geezer with a white beard and a legal relatively new modest car.
I can’t imagine having to drive around worrying that the next cop on the road was going to attempt to frame me, beat me, torture me (and that’s what that dam Tazer gadget it, plain and simple torture, I can’t believe it’s legal!!!) or even just kill me outright.
I have friends who have been pulled over for driving while black, and they can hardly speak about it at all. Like living in Nazi Germany while being Jewish!
Svensker
@efgoldman:
No, skunks just enjoying walking around and spraying. When we lived in suburban NJ, there were tons of skunks and they loved our back yard. In the summer, there were times when we’d all come awake in the middle of the night with our eyes streaming because there was a skunk party going on outside. Not unlike WWI trench warfare. Little buggers.
Also, too, to hell with these racist pig cops. I really don’t know why black folks don’t start with the 2nd amendment solutions. Not that I’m encouraging it, of course, but, damn. The anger, fear and rage must be overwhelming.
Yeah, I know, the racist pig cops hurt all of us. But I’d sure as hell be scared to death if I were black. Not to mention pissed off.
patrick II
That is believable because “I’m going to kill you” is what I would say to a guy with a gun pointed at my head.
PurpleGirl
Racist actions never end, do they. (I really, really wish they would.)
Westchester County circa 1986. Two cops are driving around. Something starts a fight between the two men, one cop is beaten up pretty bad. He goes to the hospital where he is kept for 3 days. Meanwhile the higher authorities want to know what happened. Cop who is unhurt writes a report and says they were attacked by an UNKNOWN black man. Cop makes up a description and it goes out on the fax line. Double meanwhile, another cop and partner claim they found and arrested the Unknown black man. When this guy is compared to the picture which was sent out, they don’t look anything alike. Arrested black man has an alibi which holds up. Town police start an investigation. Turns out the first two cops had a fight. The cop who was hurt has a long list of complaints against him. He resigns from the force to keep his pension rights.
(Some of the details might be off, but the general story is as I remember it. Followed the story in the local Westchester newspapers.)
When, oh, when does this sh*t stop.
ETA: There must be a million or more black men named Unknown. It sure is a popular name.
Pogonip
@Svensker: Wow. Out here in flyover country, they save their stench for when it’s needed. Till now I’d never heard of skunks discharging frivolously. You poor souls.
Pogonip
@PurpleGirl: If we could somehow equip each black driver with an east coast skunk…
PhoenicianRomans
Cops pull over a black man for –
Guilty! *BANG*
(I assume everyone’s read this by now? – http://www.amazon.com/The-Divide-American-Injustice-Wealth/dp/081299342X)
Svensker
@Pogonip:
It’s possible there was a skunk fight every night, or maybe the little darlings were started by stray cats or foxes or who knows what. But they were pretty regular stinker uppers.
Pogonip
Considering how many times he got clobbered, the guy in the video doesn’t look too bad. I hope none of his injuries are permanent. A big settlement’s no good if you’re in constant pain. I have been in constant pain and there’s not enough money to pay me for that.
LesGS
So, my 22 yo daughter had jury duty for the first time last Monday. The defendant was AA, up on drug charges, and naturally the majority of witnesses were going to be police officers. She was deep in the pack, but they did eventually get to her during the voir dire process. When asked if there were any reason she couldn’t be a fair and impartial juror, she (with a great deal of anxiety), after citing Brown, Garner, and Tamir Rice, stated that she could not trust the testimony of police officers, particularly against an AA defendant. The judge, naturally, excused her. This was in San Diego, where we’ve had our own issues with our police force, and I’m curious as to whether others, particularly young folks, will be expressing similar concerns as potential jurors.
goingtoprotestinferguson
@WaterGirl: Suffer meant let when that was translated.
Suzanne
I got a speeding ticket today from a Phoenix PD officer who looked like Paul Blart. I was slowing down entering the airport, and was halfway between freeway and airport speed. Dude asked me why I was at the airport, and I got so mad. Why does it matter why I’m here? It’s public fuckin’ space. I hate the fact that I have to be deferential to these mouthbreathers who got Cs in high school.
pseudonymous in nc
@LesGS:
Well, that helps her conscience more than it helps the criminal justice system. Sorry to be harsh. The jury selection process is a pile of shit, and your daughter can’t change that.
The Ancient Randonneur
Second Amendment solutions seem to be in order.
JCT
@WaterGirl: You want uncoated aspirin and it should be chewed, not swallowed. Make sure that the first emergency responders are told that the patient already chewed an aspirin.
Violet
@Suzanne: Well that sucks. Sounds like a speed trap.
Linnaeus
Stuff like this is why I get pessimistic lately.
Linnaeus
Side historical note: In 1987, Inkster was also the site of the shooting of three police officers serving a warrant to a mother and her three sons for passing bad checks. They were shot and killed as they entered the motel rooms where the woman and her sons were staying, but there was a long standoff between the family and the police and the family claimed to be holding the officers hostage. When they surrendered and the police officers were found to be dead, the family said they killed in self-defense, but all four were eventually convicted of murder (the evidence really wasn’t in their favor, and they were very, very well armed, including automatic weapons).
I have no doubt whatsoever that the Inkster police have not forgotten that, and I would not be surprised if that memory, in some small way, influences the culture of the police department there and not in a good way at all.
Suzanne
@Violet: It is a speed trap. The officer was just sitting there at the bottom aiming his death ray at every car coming down the slope from the off ramp. I was certainly going over the limit, but I was in the process of slowing down, FFS. ERGH. I was so ticked that I didn’t try to sweet talk my way out of it. I hope he has to deal with a lot of rudeness today.
cckids
@WaterGirl:
Late to the thread, so this may have been addressed, but buy uncoated aspirin, no matter the brand.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
Got a ticket in SC while in the service, two lane road, middle of no where, speed limit lowers just as you crest a hill. So of course the cop sits at the bottom about 1/4 mile away. Turns lights on, you stop behind him, he doesn’t even get out of the car, you have to go and sit in the car while he writes you up. To pay you go to the local station and they pull out a big ledger with all the entries in pencil and look up your name. “I see you got caught in the speed trap.” If you pay in cash your name gets erased. I imagine the cash never leaves the station. It never went on my record. Two of my buddies thanked me for being there while they drove by.
TriassicSands
There is good reason to be suspicious of every police officer in America, but, Jeebus, are they really all corrupt, lying pieces of shit? I’ve long felt that we draw our police from the wrong backgrounds and psychological profiles. Unfortunately, the kinds of people who might make good police officers probably have no interest in being police officers. And the people who want the job are precisely those who should never be given any power over others.
Suzanne
@Ruckus: I’m trying to find out if it affects my insurance if I go to traffic school, or not.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
I think it depends on the state. The insurance cos in CA seem to get notified if any changes happen in your record so I’d imagine that even if you don’t get any points by going to traffic school, you may still be screwed. OTOH most everyone I know that gets a ticket goes to ts even though it costs (other than DUI) about the same as a lot of tickets. So there must be some advantage.
Bjacques
In Texas, taking a defensive driving class on Saturday got rid of the ticket and took 10% off your insurance.
brantl
@Suzanne: Even C students have to make a living.
BobS
@TriassicSands: The answer to your question about lying and corruption is yes, to the extent that they enable the more blatantly violent and criminal behavior of the apparently significant number of psychopaths and sociopaths among their ranks.
patrick II
@TriassicSands:
I once lived in a town where the cost to become a policeman was $5,000 to the local politician/sponsor. Any potentially honest cop was screened out by the hiring process.
Heliopause
Problem being, it’s always the city or county or whomever who ends up paying this. The only way this problem will ever get better is if the bureaucrats responsible for hiring hack cops are held personally liable.
So for instance, if the Bumfuck city council budgets X for hiring cops, and the personnel director hires a bunch of unqualified morons and sociopaths as a result, the liability for the lawsuit falls on them personally, and when they call the press to complain you throw them to the ground, grind their faces into the pavement, frogmarch them to the station and charge them with disorderly conduct and seize their cars in an asset forfeiture. Maybe they’d put a little more thought into their personnel decisions as a result.
tones
@Goblue72:
Amen,
Ef the POlice!
tones
@Ruckus: In CA you pay the fine and pay for traffic school, but then there are no points on the license and the insurance does not go up – Triple A told me this when I asked them.
They said “you should do it, because otherwise your insurance will go up by about 200 a year for 2 years”.
It was cheaper to pay both the ticket and traffic school bills.
Starfish
@Linnaeus: That was 27 years ago. There are police officers who were born after that incident.
David Koch
? .