Quick Facts: US police brutality
In one of the most recent incidents of police brutality and use of excessive force, on Friday, Las Vegas police said a patrol officer fired seven shots with a military-style AR-15 assault rifle into a car during a fatal standoff with an unarmed veteran.
Widespread police brutality
A Google search for "police brutality videos" turns up 2,210,000 entries. Some entries are foreign and some are probably duplications, but the number is so large that a person could do nothing but watch police brutality videos for the rest of his life. A search on "You Tube" alone turned up 2,280 police brutality videos. PrisonPlanet has a selection of the most outrageous recent cases.
Police brutality has crossed the line from using excessive force against a resisting Rodney King to unprovoked gratuitous violence against persons offering no resistance, such as the elderly, women, students, and elected officials. Americans are not safe anywhere from police. Police attack Americans in university libraries, in public meetings, and in their own homes. lewrockwell
Another disturbing aspect is that no one tells the police to stop the brutality. "Free" Americans are so intimidated by police that on February 19 of this year male customers in a Chicago bar stood aside while a drunk cop weighing 251 pounds beat a 115 pound barmaid, knocking her to the floor with his fists and repeatedly kicking her, for obeying the bar rules and not serving him more drinks.
Cases in which police, prison guards and other law enforcement authorities have used excessive force or other tactics to violate victims' civil rights have increased 25% (281 vs. 224) from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years.
Federal records show the vast majority of police brutality cases referred by investigators are not prosecuted. Usatoday
The law makes it impossible for Americans to defend themselves from police brutality. Law and order conservatives have made it a felony with a long prison sentence to "assault a police officer." Assaulting a police officer means that if a police thug intends to beat your brains out with his nightstick and you disarm your assailant, you have "assaulted a police officer." If you are not shot on the spot by his backup, you will be convicted by a "law and order" jury and sent to prison. lewrockwell
Recent cases
Oscar Grant was shot dead by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle in 2009 in Oakland, California. Mehserle and other police officers had been responding to reports of a fight, and arrested and handcuffed Grant and several others in a subway station. Grant was cuffed, unarmed and lying on the ground when Mehserle pulled out his gun and shot him in the back. In court Mehserle claimed he thought his gun was his Taser. He was sentenced to two years in jail and let out on parole in June 2011.
Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin suffered a vicious 2010 beating at the hands of New Yorkpolice officer David London. London had been closing the door to a building in a housing project when Harvin - who lived there - tried to slip in. An altercation began, in whichLondon beat Harvin with his baton and then continued to hit and kick him after he was on the ground and not moving. London, who told the court Harvin had pushed him, was acquitted.
In a most recent event a 43-year-old [Persian] Gulf War veteran was gunned down by Las Vegas police in a weekend parking lot confrontation. The man who was shot dead, Stanley Lavon Gibson, suffered from cancer that he blamed on his Army service. He faced eviction from his home, and was due for sentencing on an assault charge after an argument with a Veterans Affairs doctor. He also was taking painkillers, antidepressants and anxiety medications. Gibson was shot by an officer early Monday after a report of a man breaking into a northwest Las Vegas condominium. The Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/vwfSF1) Gibson may have been confused and trying to find his way home to an unfamiliar apartment where he and his wife had moved to on Dec. 1.
Police said Gibson was unarmed. Police supervisors decided to use a beanbag shotgun to shoot out at least one window of Gibson's vehicle to reach him. But when an officer fired the beanbag gun, another officer fired multiple bullets into Gibson's vehicle, killing him. Seattlepi
Violence against Occupy Wall Street protesters
The methods being used to end civil disobedience in the U.S. have been increasingly reminiscent of war tactics.
"There is a lot of casualties, so you can say it's a war zone," said one New York protester to RT.
Peaceful students have been pepper-sprayed while seated, demonstrating Americans have been getting beaten until they bleed, and even war veterans have gotten injured into unconsciousness.
"Our police forces have been militarized. They are working more in cooperation with the Pentagon. They're buying and being given military surplus equipment that has been kind of designed for use in war, and this is something that leads to treating the public as you would treat an enemy," says film maker and blogger Danny Schechter. RT
Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling after he was hit in the head by a police projectile during clashes on Tuesday, October 26. A spokesperson for Highland hospital in east Oakland confirmed he was critically ill after being admitted. Olsen served two tours of duty in Iraq, working as a technician and earning a handful of service medals. Guardian
Olsen, made his first two media appearances since his injury in late November. IndyBay.org asked Olsen if he could remember anything from the night he was knocked out. Olsen said he had his phone out and was texting a friend when he was hit in the head with a projectile. "Next thing I know, I'm down and on the ground, and there are people above me trying to help me, and they ended up carrying me away."
Olsen's speech is a little slurred, and he still has some trouble pronouncing and even recalling some words. He says that the rehabilitation process has improved his speech markedly. "Initially, I couldn't form any words, I couldn't make any words. My brain was pretty much all there. Mentally, I was there. I just couldn't spit these things out of my mouth." mediaite.com
On Friday, Nov. 18, UC Davis police officers pepper-sprayed a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters who had refused orders to clear a path. The conditions surrounding the incident, most notably the fact that the students were sitting down and were not actively engaged in belligerent conduct, have been a source for massive backlash. Police officials, however, have defended their actions by stating that the protesters had encircled the many police officers. UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and two officers who had reportedly used pepper spray on the crowd were subsequently placed on administrative leave. The incident occurred in the midst of protests that had lasted for an entire week. Highlandernews
KA/SM
In one of the most recent incidents of police brutality and use of excessive force, on Friday, Las Vegas police said a patrol officer fired seven shots with a military-style AR-15 assault rifle into a car during a fatal standoff with an unarmed veteran.
Widespread police brutality
A Google search for "police brutality videos" turns up 2,210,000 entries. Some entries are foreign and some are probably duplications, but the number is so large that a person could do nothing but watch police brutality videos for the rest of his life. A search on "You Tube" alone turned up 2,280 police brutality videos. PrisonPlanet has a selection of the most outrageous recent cases.
Police brutality has crossed the line from using excessive force against a resisting Rodney King to unprovoked gratuitous violence against persons offering no resistance, such as the elderly, women, students, and elected officials. Americans are not safe anywhere from police. Police attack Americans in university libraries, in public meetings, and in their own homes. lewrockwell
Another disturbing aspect is that no one tells the police to stop the brutality. "Free" Americans are so intimidated by police that on February 19 of this year male customers in a Chicago bar stood aside while a drunk cop weighing 251 pounds beat a 115 pound barmaid, knocking her to the floor with his fists and repeatedly kicking her, for obeying the bar rules and not serving him more drinks.
Cases in which police, prison guards and other law enforcement authorities have used excessive force or other tactics to violate victims' civil rights have increased 25% (281 vs. 224) from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years.
Federal records show the vast majority of police brutality cases referred by investigators are not prosecuted. Usatoday
The law makes it impossible for Americans to defend themselves from police brutality. Law and order conservatives have made it a felony with a long prison sentence to "assault a police officer." Assaulting a police officer means that if a police thug intends to beat your brains out with his nightstick and you disarm your assailant, you have "assaulted a police officer." If you are not shot on the spot by his backup, you will be convicted by a "law and order" jury and sent to prison. lewrockwell
Recent cases
Oscar Grant was shot dead by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle in 2009 in Oakland, California. Mehserle and other police officers had been responding to reports of a fight, and arrested and handcuffed Grant and several others in a subway station. Grant was cuffed, unarmed and lying on the ground when Mehserle pulled out his gun and shot him in the back. In court Mehserle claimed he thought his gun was his Taser. He was sentenced to two years in jail and let out on parole in June 2011.
Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin suffered a vicious 2010 beating at the hands of New Yorkpolice officer David London. London had been closing the door to a building in a housing project when Harvin - who lived there - tried to slip in. An altercation began, in whichLondon beat Harvin with his baton and then continued to hit and kick him after he was on the ground and not moving. London, who told the court Harvin had pushed him, was acquitted.
In a most recent event a 43-year-old [Persian] Gulf War veteran was gunned down by Las Vegas police in a weekend parking lot confrontation. The man who was shot dead, Stanley Lavon Gibson, suffered from cancer that he blamed on his Army service. He faced eviction from his home, and was due for sentencing on an assault charge after an argument with a Veterans Affairs doctor. He also was taking painkillers, antidepressants and anxiety medications. Gibson was shot by an officer early Monday after a report of a man breaking into a northwest Las Vegas condominium. The Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/vwfSF1) Gibson may have been confused and trying to find his way home to an unfamiliar apartment where he and his wife had moved to on Dec. 1.
Police said Gibson was unarmed. Police supervisors decided to use a beanbag shotgun to shoot out at least one window of Gibson's vehicle to reach him. But when an officer fired the beanbag gun, another officer fired multiple bullets into Gibson's vehicle, killing him. Seattlepi
Violence against Occupy Wall Street protesters
The methods being used to end civil disobedience in the U.S. have been increasingly reminiscent of war tactics.
"There is a lot of casualties, so you can say it's a war zone," said one New York protester to RT.
Peaceful students have been pepper-sprayed while seated, demonstrating Americans have been getting beaten until they bleed, and even war veterans have gotten injured into unconsciousness.
"Our police forces have been militarized. They are working more in cooperation with the Pentagon. They're buying and being given military surplus equipment that has been kind of designed for use in war, and this is something that leads to treating the public as you would treat an enemy," says film maker and blogger Danny Schechter. RT
Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling after he was hit in the head by a police projectile during clashes on Tuesday, October 26. A spokesperson for Highland hospital in east Oakland confirmed he was critically ill after being admitted. Olsen served two tours of duty in Iraq, working as a technician and earning a handful of service medals. Guardian
Olsen, made his first two media appearances since his injury in late November. IndyBay.org asked Olsen if he could remember anything from the night he was knocked out. Olsen said he had his phone out and was texting a friend when he was hit in the head with a projectile. "Next thing I know, I'm down and on the ground, and there are people above me trying to help me, and they ended up carrying me away."
Olsen's speech is a little slurred, and he still has some trouble pronouncing and even recalling some words. He says that the rehabilitation process has improved his speech markedly. "Initially, I couldn't form any words, I couldn't make any words. My brain was pretty much all there. Mentally, I was there. I just couldn't spit these things out of my mouth." mediaite.com
On Friday, Nov. 18, UC Davis police officers pepper-sprayed a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters who had refused orders to clear a path. The conditions surrounding the incident, most notably the fact that the students were sitting down and were not actively engaged in belligerent conduct, have been a source for massive backlash. Police officials, however, have defended their actions by stating that the protesters had encircled the many police officers. UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and two officers who had reportedly used pepper spray on the crowd were subsequently placed on administrative leave. The incident occurred in the midst of protests that had lasted for an entire week. Highlandernews
KA/SM
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