Police Beat a 15-Year-Old Girl March 3, 2009 Jill While she’s in police custody. Apparently she was being “lippy.” Video is below — trigger warnings apply.
I saw this at over at hot air. The comments section was… well, I was proud of most of them but frankly embarrassed and revolted by others. The fact that anyone can watch that and not think this guy should go to jail just blows my mind.
My brother’s that age and kids get “lippy” but that’s no reason to beat them up. I just don’t know what to say except that’s beyond awful and I hope both of those cops lose their badges.
It wouldn’t matter if she full on assaulted the cop, the ONLY appropriate response would have been to forcibly restrain her, not beat her and pick her up by her hair!
This is disgusting. There’s a place in hell for this douchebag, who should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I don’t feel much sympathy for that 15 year old. She should have known better that there are some people you just don’t get lippy with. Why didn’t her parents teach her this? Of course the police overreacted. They will be terminated and no doubt face some sort of criminal charges. That girl was in a stolen car, was a smart ass and then she got her ass kicked. I hope she faces her own criminal charges for stealing a car, and that she learns there are times when she should bite her tongue. I know that had I encountered her lippy behavior at my (public) place of employment, I would really have a strong desire to slap her, but I would control myself.
Jesus. If there’s any justice, this is an open and shut case. There’s camera footage and everything. The comment that horrified me most was the teacher who bemoaned how disrespectful kids can be. Jesus.
I saw this footage on one of the morning news shows yesterday, and it just stopped me in my tracks as I was stumbling around trying to get ready for work. The fact that two grown men with badges and guns felt justified in using that kind of force against a “lippy” teenaged girl, well, it was just horrifying. If trained law enforcement officers can’t control a little teenaged drama queen without resorting to violence, well, I pity the citizens of King County. At the very minimum, both these officers should forever be relieved of duty, and some kind of incarceration is definitely called for.
Cops go through a lot and it may be understandable that some become angry people; it seems some are just itching for any pretext to lose their temper and take it all out on someone, but this attack is intolerable and there is no excuse for it. Internal discipline is too easy for these guys, they’ll beg off on some pychological pretext and go through some counselling, The civil justice sustem must fill the gap with a lawsuit assault. I hope a jury awards punitive damages to bankrupt them. Let’s see how tough they are under cross- examination!
You know, this video would ruin my day a whole lot less if I hadn’t heard so many people comment that she “must have been disrespectful”.
How disrespectful can someone be 5 seconds after walking into a cell? No amount of disrespect is enough to warrant being dropped like that. The only time a detainee should be dropped in such a fashion would be if the guards seriously thought that the detainee was going to cause them some imminent serious harm. This can generally only be the case when the prisoner has had time to fashion a weapon or get the better of the guards when the door is opened, and even then they are only allowed to use ‘reasonable force’ to keep someone down while they are being cuffed. This person is not even an adult, this is child abuse.
Gee Mary, you’re right. She should have known better than to go back to his room with him, and god, with that skirt she was wearing . . . Disgusting.
Whatever she might have said, that’s definitely unprofessional of them to react like this, and she should press charges and they should be prosecuted and suspended for this. There simply is no excuse. That being said, I agree with one of the previous commenters who noted that she should have known better. If you are in a position of weakness, you just don’t put the stakes higher than what you can afford… It is, if not simply a smart attitude, at least a reflex that should indeed have been conditioned by education. Not that you should always pay respect to the sacred institutions (law enforcement, elderly, educators, whatever…) because of a social dictate, but because it simply is a diplomatic approach and the safest and shortest way to both parties finding common ground, whatever the matter at hand. Anyway, I hope the cops get charged.
Yeah Mary, guess it was just too much trouble for a grown man to shut the door the rest of the way when some kid is talking shit. Way easier to tackle her to the ground, smash her head into a wall, throw a couple punches while your knee’s on her back and then pull he up by the hair. Damn brat should have known better.
My cousin is a police officer who has arrested tons of people. Does it get frustrating when someone who broke the law gets beligerent? Yes. Do they get cussed out? Yes. Have suspects taken swings at him and his partners? Yes. His current parter (best friend/former girlfriend) has been threatened with sexual assault on more than one occasion by men who were under arrest for sexual assault. And yet, in all that, he has managed to not beat the shit out of anyone – especially an easy target who is considerably smaller, younger, and less likely/able to effectively fight back. These officers have been trained as to how to deal with difficult people. They have access to counselors trained to help them deal with their anger. Teenagers get pissy sometimes. Teenagers under arrest get extra pissy. That doesn’t mean they deserve to get beated and jerked up by the hair. There is no excuse for what these officers did.
Ok, first off, this video is seriously disturbing. It appears that she kicked her left shoe at the cop and then they rushed in and violently restrained her. Umm…last time I checked, assaulting someone like this because they kicked their shoe at you is hardly an appropriate response. Let’s just say she was being “lippy”, personally I think it is rather dumb of her to “mouth off” to a police officer, the cops definitely did not use any form of restraint whatsoever. At the most, the cop should have pointed his finger and said “that’s enough out of you” and locked her in her cell. This is one of those cases where I hope the cops get a nice long jail sentence for aggravated assault.
Is that a puddle of blood on the floor that the cop walks around? That is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen. I’m speechless.
The worst part about this video is that we can all predict the outcome with a reasonable degree of accuracy: the police will avoid comment while a “thorough internal investigation” takes place, things will quiet down and the news cycle will stop paying attention, the girl in question will be charged with stealing a car/disorderly conduct/resisting arrest/assault on a police officer (it happened before the tape, you see…), she’ll be offered a dismissal of all charges if she keeps her mouth shut, in three or four months the internal investigation will clear the officers of any wrongdoing, a year after that they’ll get a commendation and a raise.
She didn’t flip her shoes off AT the cop. She was removing her shoes before being locked in the cell as most people aren’t allowed to have their own shoes with them. She’s getting read to kick her second one off. Did she do it in a defiant way..yes..but seriously, my dad was a cop if that was the worst thing he saw it was a good day. That shouldn’t even phase someone, it’s a teenager being a teenager. She was an idiot and took a joy ride in her parents care. Stupid and irresponsible yes but deserving of this treatment NO. I know tons of kids who did that, hell, I was one. Besides the fact that police officers are only supposed to be aggressive one level more than the offender is. her kicking her shoes off in their general direction, or even her sassing them is many many levels under throw her against the wall by her hair and hit her when she’s down
Mary, as it has been pointed out before, police are trained to deal with people who should have known better. That is what jail is for. It’s not for people with good judgment skills. Victim blaming someone who is beaten in custody is cruel. People like you being apologists for this are the reason why these things still happen.
Jill, I thought that too for a second but I’m pretty sure it’s just a drain in the floor. I rewatched the beginning of the clip and it’s there before they walk in.
I don’t feel much sympathy for that 15 year old. She should have known better that there are some people you just don’t get lippy with. And, let me guess, that other 15 year old that got tipsy while wearing a miniskirt should have known better that there are just some people you don’t accept rides from? That 15 year old from Kabul should have known better that you don’t go outside without your burqa? WTF?
There is no excuse at all for two grown men carrying out this kind of extremely disproportionate violence against a teenage girl. None at all. It doesn’t matter what she said or whether she kicked her shoes off or anything. They were in no physical danger from her, it’s obvious. She’s being locked in a cell. They beat the crap out of her in order to break her spirit, to send the message that resistance is useless. These videos and accounts just keep flowing out day after day from all over the country — cops have become bullies who can’t do their jobs except through the most thuggish, forceful tactics of “showing you who’s boss.” Five years ago I marched in the gay pride parade in a fairly somber contingent of people protesting police violence against queer communities. Nobody cheered or laughed as we followed the brightly-colored dancers of a Brazilian contingent, or as we handed them flyers from Amnesty and other organizations describing incidents of police violence right in the heart of New York City. A few people even said “police brutality? You’ve got to be kidding.” I can only hope that the fact we hear more about police brutality all the time is because recordings of these incidents get out onto the net more and more easily. I can only hope it’s not because the spiral of violence is escalating more all the time, but I fear that’s true too. I can only hope that people’s eyes are more open than they were five years ago, and that most of them react with horror instead of incredulous disbelief, or pathetic excuses like Mary’s. You shouldn’t get lippy or TWO LARGE MEN WILL BEAT YOU INTO THE FLOOR FOR HALF A MINUTE? Yeah, that is totally the lesson we want our children to learn; that’s the kind of society we want them to grow up in. Right?
“The second deputy said the alleged victim was “real lippy,” calling the deputies names and “basically trying to piss us off.” And clearly she succeeded. Tell me, if you can’t keep your cool when faced with one pissy teenager, how will you fare against the truly dangerous criminals? Also, if it was a just a trainee fucking up, why didn’t the other officer intervene? Why was he helping?
Once again, I’m as disgusted by some of the comments here as I am by the original incident, this is the kind of thread that definitely drives POC, or me at least, away from white-dominated spaces. White men in positions of authority brutalizing a young black woman who was already standing in a jail cell? Ain’t that America; or rather, the part of America that some of us are interested in fighting back against and changing. People on a feminist blog not only ignoring the central dynamic but justifying it and looking for angles of explanation? Cancerous and nauseating. Here’s her interview on CBS.
Not that you should always pay respect to the sacred institutions (law enforcement, elderly, educators, whatever…) because of a social dictate, but because it simply is a diplomatic approach and the safest and shortest way to both parties finding common ground, whatever the matter at hand. But, like Holly said, apparently you should pay respect to law enforcement because it will HOLD YOU DOWN AND BEAT YOU? In that case, the second someone else is in a position of physical power over a cop, the cop had better do what they say or the cop is asking for a beating? And society would be cool with this? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that was an idea for an awesome comic recently and everyone flipped their shit over it… Also, I’m pretty sure the cops considered beating that girl all the “common ground” they wanted. Hey, she’s not dead right? And they got their jollies; sounds like a successful compromise to me!
I’m glad someone else noticed the pool of blood left on floor too. That was the most awful thing about this video. I feel like ‘beat up’ isn’t even a strong enough word for what they did to that girl. Not only that, but before the video was released the officer was claiming that the girl fighting back caused him serious injury, when really it was him beating on her so bad that caused him to get hurt. This shit happens all the time. I agree with Kai in her last comment. One of my first reactions to this video was “thank god, they actually caught one of those assholes red handed abusing his power.” I feel like too often, folks who’ve never interacted with law enforcement either themselves or through family and friends, (usually white folks) hear about beatings like this and their first reaction is, they must have deserved it. They usual don’t!
There are very few times when verbal attacks can be appropriately, legally responded to with physical attacks. VERY few. We have laws surrounding this idea, such as the idea of Fighting Words. This situation was surely not one of them, nor could it ever be realistically construed to be one of them. I would expect law enforcement officers to be familiar enough with the relevant laws to at least have an abstract understanding of this kind of thing, and of course to be trained in self-control and restraint when dealing with aggressive people. Instead, there seems to be far too many occurrences of police “acting out” and using force where force was not called for for it to be just a few “bad apples.” Something deeper is the matter, and there needs to be serious reform.
Does anybody ever deserve to be treated this way? That’s the most fucked up thing about the stock “well I’m sure they had their reasons” or “she should have known not to talk back to a cop” responses. Really? You think there are certain situations where it’s OK for two physically imposing authority figures to brutally beat a young girl who is under their custody and thus has no ability to fight back or flee the situation? You think there is anything a human being can do to deserve such treatment?
What Kai and Holly said. I can’t believe that people are second-guessing the victim’s behavior. They beat the shit out of her for fun. They are policemen. If they hadn’t been caught on camera, they would have done it with impunity. Who wants to bet that she’s the first? Or even the fiftieth? Not that you should always pay respect to the sacred institutions (law enforcement, elderly, educators, whatever…) because of a social dictate, but because it simply is a diplomatic approach and the safest and shortest way to both parties finding common ground, whatever the matter at hand. What are you talking about? This wasn’t a negotiation. There are no competing interests to be weighed here. Cops are civil servants, empowered by us–including that young woman, in a few years–to do a strictly limited number of things to keep the peace. Brutalizing restrained prisoners is illegal. Mouthing off to law enforcement is not. She is not responsible for their mistreatment of her, or for helping them follow the professional and legal constraints of their employment.
I don’t have sound at this computer so I couldn’t hear a word but I don’t think I need to unless the girl said she has a bomb and the detonator is under her tongue and it was a nuclear weapon that would kill everyone in a 10-20 mile radius this couldn’t even begin to be justified. They should be fired, like right now. There is no need to investigate this.
It is, if not simply a smart attitude, at least a reflex that should indeed have been conditioned by education. Not that you should always pay respect to the sacred institutions (law enforcement, elderly, educators, whatever…) because of a social dictate, but because it simply is a diplomatic approach and the safest and shortest way to both parties finding common ground, whatever the matter at hand. You’re basically saying that we should train and condition children to buckle down and follow orders from the jackbooted thugs of the state. Look — we SHOULD teach children to be able to recognize when they are in danger, when they are dealing with bullies who will flip their shit at the least sign of challenge to their authority, who have the power and willingness to beat you bloody. We should not be training children to have an automatic reflex to bow, scrape, and avoid eye contact with superior power. We have to train them to know how and when to fight back, how to protest, organize, resist. None of this excuses in the LEAST the conduct of the police officers, who are the ones really at fault. Dwelling on the girl’s behavior for more than half a moment foregrounds her responsibility. Her injuries and trauma are NOT her fault. Instead, there seems to be far too many occurrences of police “acting out” and using force where force was not called for for it to be just a few “bad apples.” Something deeper is the matter, and there needs to be serious reform. This is absolutely correct. The other problem is that some commenters think that there is a “right way” to behave that will keep you safe from police violence. If you fit a certain profile — queer, gender non-conforming, person of color, poor — then there is NO guaranteed way at all to avoid harassment and abuse. If you are more “acceptable looking” in authorities’ eyes, then there may be a “way” to avoid their wrath, but it’s certainly not the “right way,” because it involves obeying orders without question, not saying anything to them except “yes sir,” not standing up for yourself, defending your rights or anyone else’s rights. Too many police these days do not even like to be questioned, certainly not by anyone who’s brown or funny-looking to them. I have experienced this myself, and people in my community have countless times. Not long ago a friend of mine had a run-in with a cop like this who thought she was using her transit card the wrong way. She tried to explain that there was a problem with her card and that a transit employee had told her to go through an employee door, and it could have been an easily cleared-up misunderstanding. Instead, the officer interpreted it as challenging backtalk and an affront to his authority, and screamed at her for five minutes, attempting to intimidate her into acknowledging that his word was unquestionable law. She was lucky that she didn’t get hurt; if he had the excuse of her being “dangerous looking” it might have been much worse. They’re trying to turn the streets of our cities into boot camps whenever they show up, with cops as the “hardass” drill sergeants and kids — children! — as the brutalized recruits. Except the army mostly tries to keep from killing and injuring its soldiers, and a lot of the time police don’t seem to care.
Holly I disagree with you. While racisma dn classism run rampant I remember the woman who was cuffed in the hospital parking lot on her way to see her dying father. She was white, drove a nice car and had blonde hair NONE of which saved her. ON the other hand there have been many times a black male ot female got physical with a police officeer and was NOT shot with anything more than enough pepper spray to end the brutal assault against the police. The police in this case were dead wrong however there IS a way to lessen your chances of this kind of violence aside of course from doing anything that warrants being taken into custody for in the first place. ONe thing is to NOT get verbally aggressive, I mean if they WERENT cops and were someone who had a gun to her head and said sit down, would you tell her to stand in defiance because they shouldnt shoot her? I’m not saying be meak I am saying be smart, unless you can defend yourself don’t throw stones at an angry beast. Any officer who would do this is angry and inhumane and should be fired.
Phrenicks, your point is that racism and classism don’t have anything to do with it because you know a white person who was handcuffed and you know there have been black people who weren’t? …really? And I’ve been MIA on this thread all day, but reading the comments is making me sick. Future comments that justify the behavior of these cops will be deleted.
I’m surprised they didn’t rape her. Seriously, if they can get away with beating the shit out of a tiny, teenage girl than I’m sure people would turn a blind eye to them trying to stick their cick into her. It looked like the one cop spreadeagled over her was trying to put his penis as close to her face as possible. What worries me is that they took her out of the room, where did they take her to? And what did they do with her afterward? This is a teenager with probably no other prior convictions. She wasn’t being held on a murder charge or an assault charge- she was a dumb girl who took M&D’s car out for a drive. She didn’t have a weapon and physically, she isn’t large enough to do any sort of damage to a cop let alone 2. This is police brutality at its finest. If I called these guys child abusers or womanizers that would be an understatement. As far as her “inappropriate” behavior goes, they had her cornered. Teenage girls are all hormones, she really can’t do anything to make them mad except get sassy and kick her shoes lazily off. She didn’t pick them up and wield them like they were torpedoes, she also didn’t kick them off with intent to harm the police officers- she tossed them off her feet to show she was mad and that she was unamused by being detained. A lot of teenage girls do things like this when cornered, if you have a daughter and you tell her “No”, what’s her reaction? She’ll let you know how unfair you are in her own little ways – this is what this girl was doing and neither officer’s were in jeopardy of serious injury from this child.
HERE IS AN ACTUAL ARTICLE containing more information as to what happened and the results of that incident. :http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Liberties-Examiner~y2009m2d28-Washington-police-officer-beat-15yearold-girl-on-video
The Post-Intelligencer notes that the deputy who was charged in the beating, Mr. Schene, had “killed a mentally ill man” in 2006; the A.P. adds word of an earlier incident as well: Schene was investigated previously for shooting two people — killing one — in the line of duty in 2002 and 2006. Both times his actions were found to be justified, said Ian Goodhew, prosecutor’s deputy chief of staff. (There’s some icing on the cake for you.)
Jill FYI I am black, don’t get twisted and please PLEASE don’t insult me by insinuating that because I disagree with you I am condoning racism in any way. That’s extremely offensive. If you take te time to read the whole post, be patient there is a reason why it was so lengthy, you will see I am NOT condoning or welcoming racism. I’m simply stating that in a situation where you ARE for all intents and purpose helpless and defenseless in the presence and custody of extremely aggressive and agititaed company it would be wise not to further agititate them with your words. Yes the cop in question is going to jail, he ONLY gets one year, how long will SHE be traumatized? WHat if they had killed her? Raped her? Stuck a broomstick up her rectum like they did the guy in NY? WHAT THEN? Sure they would have been wrong and arrested but how would she cope with that?
Ah ok, maybe I misread, Phenicks. Your comment just came on the heels of a ton of apologist ones, and whenever we bring up racism on this blog there’s always someone saying, “But it happens to white people too, so it’s not racist!” Maybe I’m misunderstanding you. Apologies if I attributed something to you that you didn’t say.
Phenicks, it appears that your instinct is to quickly move from the criminal behavior of the cops to the survival tactics which marginalized communities should adopt in order to negotiate oppressive circumstances. Survival tactics within asymmetrical power relations, violence and non-violence, passive resistance and active resistance, Satyagraha, are topics which are very close to my heart, which I’ve thought about at length, and which we could discuss at length. But that’s not what this post is about and, in my opinion, should not be the foreground of this thread or discussion, because even though you may not intend it, the effect on a reading audience is to minimize the fundamental wrongdoing and systemic problem, and to tacitly shift the blame onto the victim and individualize the problem. And that’s extremely unhelpful. The fundamentals of the situation need to be absorbed and addressed first; I don’t care what she said or if she tried to fling her shoe at his face. I’m sure your thoughts on how to negotiate and survive asymmetrical power relations are worth airing; but perhaps a bit further downthread, after the initial incident has been processed; or perhaps even on a thread specifically about that complex subject.
Phenicks, you are perhaps the worst concern troll in the history of concern trolling. There is NO excuse for those two cops beating up on this girl this way. None. All they had to do was put her in the cell and close the door. That’s it. I don’t care if she called the cop’s whole generational lineage the worst insults in her vocabulary.
Police officers are trained in mediating and deescalating potentially violent situations. Yet so many times, myself included, people are on the receiving end of their almost premeditated desire to intimidate and inflict pain on those without their power. I understand that the job requires constant vigilance and a need for split second reactions – but please! You can use the worst expletives on Earth and spit on their badge and not receive a blitzkrieg throwdown like this. We think about equity in representation and law making, but how bout the enforcement of those laws? Couldn’t we use some more even-minded folks of diversity, esp. women, on the beat?
Absolutely unbelievable. I couldn’t hear it, but I was physically ill watching this. And to all you who excuse this behavior, even a little bit: shame on you. SHAME!
What never ceases to amaze me is that cops do this kind of vile shit all the time even when they know they are on video.
Well, that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. I believe that police should use reasonable restraint on would be criminals, but this is going waaaaay to far. There’s really no justification for it, even if she was being ‘lippy’. If your kid gets lippy with you, should you backhand him/her in the mouth and push their head into a wall? I think not. If that were my kid, I’d have their jobs.
It appears that everyone here has jumped on the bandwagon of believing that I dismiss the behavior of the cops, no I haven’t. In fact I have said FIRST AND FOREMOST THAT THEIR BEHAVIOR IS WRONG. If you can’t read that in plain english, well I don’t know what to tell you. However, me a troll? Are you kidding. WHo is speaking of marganilized communities? Who? Please inform me of that one because if you want to go on concern trolling how about picking at the BS of cops ONLY doing this to black peole as if me and every other black person should take this as a warning. THAT IS OFFENSIVE. If you have ANY black friends who tell you that kind of attitude is ok they are NO better than Michael Steele kissing Rush Limbaugh’s a$$. Seriously. I’m not a white woman looking at this from some abstract view I am a black woman looking at this as something that will never happen to me and oh woe is the group of minorites that are going to suffer but as a woman, a mother a HUMAN BEING who happens to be black and know this is realistically somethign that could happen to ANYONE. Those cops were wrong and the only thing even close to being worse is a group of people telling me as a black woman how I should feel about this. That is disgusting and shame on all of YOU for trying to manipulate my words just because they weren’t a mirror image of your own.
Jill, thank you. I don’t condone racism at ALL. In fact I am a card carrying member of the NAACP (and yes they DO issue cards to members). My comment wa sin response to the notion that it was or is somehow OK to provoke people like these poor excuses for cops because if they hurt you they are wrong. To me its like telling a child to cross the street while two idiots are streetracing, yes the streetracers are wrong but you’d have to be delusional if you really rid yourself of any blame when you told that kid it was ALRIGHT to put him or herself in harm’s way to make a point that street racing is wrong. That type of risk is NOT something you lay on a child, its something an adult can decide to do because they know and realize the full extent of cause and effect and that making the point may well cost them their lives. There is a middle ground between know your place and cursing someone’s relatives deceased or otherwise to make them angry knowing they want to hit you but they are not supposed to yet that person is the MOST likely to do so and at this time you are in the least likely position to defend yourself.
Phenicks, I have reread and reread your originally reply and I have to agree with many of the criticisms of it. You are trying to downplay the possibility of racism by saying white people get beat up sometimes and black people don’t sometimes, which really isn’t relevant to racism in general or to the story in this thread. Also, you are blaming the victim for not being smart enough to not talk back. I don’t care how stupid it seems to be to talk back to a cop – this teenager was beat until she bled. I am really disgusted that criticizing her behavior is what you want to focus on. As I said before, jail is not for people with good judgment, so talking about a situation in which there was police brutality in a jail cell by focusing on whether the victim was using good judgment is victim blaming and letting the perpetrators off the hook. Even if you preface it by saying “What they did was wrong BUT…”
I think this is awful. I really want that cop to go to jail and get his ass* teared apart. Why? Because it doesn’t change the bastard in him. Some good men go in jail and get this then turn bastards, but with him its all about revenge. It’s hard to explain how much hatred I have for a free country full of assholes like this with a meaningful badge. Why did it take almost a full yr for this to come out into the open? Why is it so difficult for minorities to take these bastards to court? Logic is grasped by all humans and when some know it and others lack it then there is a division. The same with other aspects of life. There is so much division here. Violence is a sign of it, non respect is a sign of it. etc.
What doesn’t make sense, is that in the post immediately prior to Phenicks’ disagreement, I said this: Look — we SHOULD teach children to be able to recognize when they are in danger, when they are dealing with bullies who will flip their shit at the least sign of challenge to their authority, who have the power and willingness to beat you bloody. We should not be training children to have an automatic reflex to bow, scrape, and avoid eye contact with superior power. We have to train them to know how and when to fight back, how to protest, organize, resist. There is no disagreement. Of course we have to teach kids how to be aware when their lives and safety are in danger. Of course. Why would anyone argue about that. That is not the issue here. Neither is “sometimes this happens to white people too.” Come on.
This is absolutely disgusting! They CANNOT get away with this. This is ridiculous. Police officers are NOT above the law….no matter how much they may think they are….they are NOT! Both of those officers deserve to lose their jobs, and the officer who did the actual beating should have his career ruined forever in law enforcement. What a disturbing act of violence he impacted on this young girl. And by the way, this isn’t the first act of violence he has displayed. According to the media, this man has shot and killed two civilians and been in trouble for being violent with another person in the past. Why is this asshole still employed???? This guy has to be stopped!
ok, seriously, ‘she should have known better’ and ‘you can’t feel any sympathy’? please, EVERY SINGLE TEENAGER acts like this from time to time, and if this sort of treatment of people who act that way is justifiable, then jesus, every single kid ever would have the crap beaten out of them. the COPS should have known better!!
IN RESPONSE TO , “Mary says: March 3rd, 2009 at 6:06 am ” Even though she was gettin lippy NO ONE desirves that kind of treatment, weather she stole a car or did any kind of criminal activity, and this isnt a time to be blaming parents, maybe her parents raised her right and taught her the most manners, a 15-year-old doesnt ALWAYS reflect the way their parents raised them. This was such a stupid thing for them to do, and i hope BOTH of those ignorant, abusive, “officers” loose their job. and these are the poeple who are suppose to help and protect society?
also i’ve had a cop accuse me of ‘mouthing off’ to him by telling him that i think it’s fucked up that he ‘understands’ why my father would punch me in the eye because i have no job. what i said to him after that WAS mouthy, tho. >:|
what i mean by that comment is, jesus christ, these powertripping monsters will take anything to be a question of their authority, so ‘know what to say and when to say it’ does not really cut it, honestly.
Let me rephrase: I watched the video and have read the stories and comments, and I’m deeply uncomfortable leaving this kind of thing as the “awful incident du jour,” so does anyone know of any, say, legal aid that may be to her benefit or something along those lines?
I hope that young lady and her family sue the living piss out of that police department, and that those gutless, fascist pukes with badges get some street justice after they get their asses fired. And double fuck anyone like Mary who rationalizes what they did in any way at all.
@Holly: “Look — we SHOULD teach children to be able to recognize when they are in danger, when they are dealing with bullies who will flip their shit at the least sign of challenge to their authority, who have the power and willingness to beat you bloody” that’s pretty much what I wanted to say. what I’m saying is that her attitude doesn’t look clever (don’t have sound or anything). I’m sure she has reason to be aggressive, and they probably have some to be edgy. I am not saying they have reasons to beat the crap out of her like that.
The video is disturbing. I first saw ABC reporter Shomari Stone break the story. It’s growing like a wild fire. It has close to a million hits on youtube. Shomari Stone did a great job!
Lauren, one thing which I think could be done is to encourage the NAACP to get involved. Yes, many of us have our problems with the NAACP — particularly on gender-related matters — but they’re still an awfully big fish when it comes to mobilizing resources and attention on national campaigns. It’s ludicrous that they’ve said nothing about this incident. I don’t know if there are any organized efforts to shame them into action; there should be. And if they won’t do anything, well, there are surely ways to keep the pressure cranked up after a media blow-up like this. I’ll keep poking around and will let you know if I come across anything.
Just came across Injustice In Seattle via Radfem at BFP’s, which looks like a good place to track the story and find engagement points.
MomTFH criticizing her behavior is not what I am focusing on its what OTHERS who are trying to tell me what I as a black woman SHOULD focus on and respond to this situation, thats utterly disgusting and borderline racism right there. I said my piece about the police officers and what I think of them and their actions and if you can’t focus on what I said about them that says a lot about you, not me. SOmeone else started on her actions as far as getting “lippy” and my response was in response to THAT comment. Kai, how dare you suggest “shaming” the NAACP into doing ANYTHING! DO you even know how much goes on in this country ona day to day basis as far as blatant racism goes? Do you know how many things the NAACP is involved in at any given moment? On any given day? There is a waiting list of people who want help and making the news doesn’t necessarily put you on the top of the list as MOST news outlets are owned, operated and produced by non blacks, people of color usually don’t make the news unless the news is bad news. BET used to be something you could count on for reliable news in teh black community nationwide until recent years leading up to and when Robert Johnson sold it to Viacom.
Phenicks: DO you even know how much goes on in this country ona day to day basis as far as blatant racism goes? Do you know how many things the NAACP is involved in at any given moment? On any given day? Like, infinity? Kai, how dare you suggest “shaming” the NAACP into doing ANYTHING! How dare I? Well, kinda like this: Shame on the NAACP for not speaking out on the police beating of Malika Calhoun. I encourage them to get involved in the case. Why do you act like calling out the NAACP is some sort of beyond-the-pale sacrilege? Well-respected criticism of the slow-moving NAACP power structure is longstanding and widespread among progressive and radical anti-racists and womanists. It was already common when I first got involved in grassroots protests against police brutality in LA in the 80s (which incidentally was my entry in political activism in general). They deserve a lot of credit for a lot of amazing work over the past century, and I like some of the signs of renewal I’m seeing, but that doesn’t mean advocacy and pressure to continue evolving should stop or is somehow is off-limits. Any power structure ossifies without constant vigilance. That’s how I see it, anyway.
He was absolutely wrong. I strongly feel that both officers should be prosecuted. i feel this way because the victim, was a girl and she was basically a child.. I mean come on she’s only 15. She kicked her shoe off. Okay i understand the temper and angriness, but you DONT have the right to assault or attack in that manner. yes he was supposed to arrest her or he could have just closed the door. He was dead wrong. THIS GOES TO THE WHITE GUY ON THE NEWS THAT FELT THAT THE OFFICER WHO ASSAULTED HER WAS RIGHT….. I THINK U ARE A RACES SON OF BITCH.. aND I BET THE COP ONLY ASSAULTED HER BECAUSE SHE WAS AFRICAN AMERICAN!!!!! I AM NOT A RACES TYPE…. BUT THAT PISSED ME OF. I KNOW HE IS RACES BECAUSE HE WAS TURNING SO RED in THE FACE BEING THAT THE OTHER REPOrTERS AGREED THAT THE officer WAS WRONG.
Fuck you mary, I don’t give a damn how lippy that child got, police officer or not, that is a grown man and he had no right to handle her like that. I can’t even watch that video anymore because every time I do it makes me sick. It’s barbaric and can’t believe that other police officer didn’t intervene.
That goes to show you how the law abuses thier authority.when the law breaks the law…who is the law??Take the caller from New York that called in said they worked with children that had problems and they came at her to stab with pencils and etc why would you leave something around were a kid could stab you with it anyways..you arent doing your job.To round it up this is what we call justice!!!
Does it get frustrating when someone who broke the law gets beligerent? Yes. Do they get cussed out? Yes. Have suspects taken swings at him and his partners? Yes. His current parter (best friend/former girlfriend) has been threatened with sexual assault on more than one occasion by men who were under arrest for sexual assault. And yet, in all that, he has managed to not beat the shit out of anyone – especially an easy target who is considerably smaller, younger, and less likely/able to effectively fight back. These officers have been trained as to how to deal with difficult people. They have access to counselors trained to help them deal with their anger. Teenagers get pissy sometimes. Teenagers under arrest get extra pissy. That doesn’t mean they deserve to get beated and jerked up by the hair. There is no excuse for what these officers did. Yes. Whether or not the teenaged girl intended to flick her shoe at them or not, isn’t significant because even if it was intentional (and she talked about whether it was or not in an interview), the level of force which was unleashed in response was so clearly excessive. Hence, the criminal charge (though it remains to be seen what will happen with that as videos can be sufficient to indict or charge, not to convict). Not surprised the deputy has a history of problems, “exonerations” aside. If the surveillance video hadn’t surfaced, the deputies would have made up a story, that she was “resisting” and assaulting them (which they tried to do anyway) and the timing of the disclosure of the video would have determined whether there would have been some creative report writing to go along with it.
I THOUGHT POLICE WERE TO PROTECT AND SERVE, NOT BEAT UP LITTLE GIRLS. SOMEONE SHOULD DO SOME RESEARCH INTO THE BACK GROUND OF OF THE OFFICER WHO SLAMMED HER IN TO THE GROUND BECAUSE WATCHING THIS VIDEO MAKES ME THINK HE PROBABLY BEATS HIS WIFE. THEN AGAIN, HE MIGHT NOT BE MARRIED. LOL!
i say he needs to be put in a jail cell with me for an evening. if that was my 15 yr old daughter that ahole should better be finding him a place in iraq so i couldnt find him. it,s just not right to attack a kid or girl or a woman like that .just plain wrong … and this guy needs to sit in a state pen. for a few years where all the bad boys hang out. and just to see how big of a man he really is… it just makes me sick to my stomach that this punk would do this cause i,ve been in jail before and gotton tagged a few times and i understand how it feels… this girls family should sue for the max money and prison time ……………
I’m disgusted beyond words, but sadly not remotely surprised. This is what happens in a patriarchal power-culture. The only solution is to get rid of the culture. Society perpetuates oppression. Tear it up.
No one of any colour deserves such treatment…they probably woud’ve/had raped her or worst – God only knows. Blacks are overwhelmingly in this country mistreated by the police whether we are in the East, West or South – it is intrinsically woven into our American culture…..it’s sad but reality. I hope the police do not get away with this brute force – I’ve worked for law enforcement (1 year) and left because of the double standards based on race, sexual orientation and economic status. They are the new LEGAL gang-bangers.
” I really want that cop to go to jail and get his ass* teared apart.” Yes. The proper way to respond to disproportionate force is to *wish rape on the perpetrator.* Rape — even prison rape of people you don’t like — is immoral and inhuman.
I was wondering why this totally unjustifiable and shocking use of excessive violence, is first hitting the media now? The recording is dated November 29, 2008. Three months is more than ample time for any internal investigation to have been completed, and eventual charges raised. I’d really like to know what is the current status of this case, and if we now have even more to be outraged over. Very sad to see people finding justification for the officers’ behaviour, but hey, these are probably the very same people scrambling round justifying the Police shooting handcuffed (and subdued) people in the back. Let’s make it very clear; regardless of what had gone on before, and regardless of what was said, nothing warrants this kind of (over) reaction. It is an illegal act, a violent assault; and on a child to boot. From a European perspective, there seems to be more and more of these ‘Police go amok’ cases coming out of the US. Sadly, unlike decades past where Police corruption and violence was typically centred around specific conurbations, strongly influenced by either a Mayor or Chief-of-Police’s aberrant policies and attitudes, it now seems as if the situation today is endemic to the force on a nationwide basis. In America there has always been a sense of the law enforcers are above said Law. This isn’t helped by the fact that there seems to be a total lack of consequences for the illegal actions of anyone in authority; and that’s from the President down. Maybe it’s about time that the Policed drop the misnomer ‘To Protect and Serve’. They could of course correct it by adding an ‘Ourselves’ at the end.
OMG! She’s 15!!!! She was no threat on that officers life. If he felt threatened by this 15 year old girl, then he needs to find a new job, cuz there are many more people out there that he should feel threatened by. This coward needs to go to jail and be fired, he doesn’t deserve to protect our children!!
that was mess up how the police gonna beat a 15 old year girl like that she do nothin hope she sue them for beaten her like that
THATS CRAZy FOR PPL TO THINK THAT POLICE OFFICER SHOULDNT GO TO JAIL HE BEAT HER UP FOR A VERY UNNECESSARY REASON. IF I WAS HER I WOULD BE SUING EVERYONE WHO FINDS HIM NOT GUILTY..!
Justice needs to be serve. Looking at this is very upsetting.. These are the people who suppose to protect and serve.. Nothing she said could have cause them to react this way. Policeman suppose to have thick skin.. They are cowards and I hope they get the max.
To Mary Teenager get lippy, that doesn’t give him the right to kick her in the stomach, punch her in the face or head. Would he have done this if she was any other race? How would you feel if that happen to you, your daughter or mother? Think before you speak in learned all the facts. I hope he get more then a job lost. BLACK WOMEN ARE HERE, AND WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE SOON. DEAL WITH IT!
How can anyone believe that this, (or any other prisoner in a holding cell) 15 y/o girl, and her age is the biggest issue deserved what she got! She could have called those cops any name in the book, and flipped her shoe {In the direction of} these cops and they would never be justified in the assault and battery which ensued. The creep who slammed her into a wall and threw her to the ground is a criminal. The officer who did nothing to stop this, equally as guilty. Police are supposed to be trained to keep their emotions in check, clearly, that wasn’t the case here. Another thing to consider, why no sound on the video? I’m sure the audio is as damning as the photos. Another thing, these idiots knew they were being video taped, what does that tell you? No one usually sees videos like this, they just disappear, vanish into thin air. Why on earth are we putting badges and guns on criminals and calling them cops? This girl might have been killed, and may have suffered injuries that haven’t been reported as yet. Both cops should be fired and face criminal charges.
Whoops, I meant to say her age isn’t the biggest issue, although the fact that she is a minor makes the case much worse!
Totally uncalled for!!! It’s COPS LIKE THIS that give Law Enforcement a BAD NAME. I hope the Cop loses his job and spends some time in Jail himself. How could you ever trust a Cop after that?? I hope the family sues the county and State!! There is nothing a child could say to make a grown man do something like this!! The shoe she kicked off went to the side of the officer.. He kicked her, punched her and shoved her head into the corner, yanked her hair thru her on the ground, after she was restrained he PUNCHED her twice!! AND THE OTHER COP DID NOTHING!! HE SHOULD BE DISCIPLINED FOR THAT. The fact is that SHE IS A MINOR!! the fact is that teachers cannot even touch our kids anymore!! But the cops can BEAT THEM!! And this is only one that was caught on tape. I know a few officers!! and not one of them would ever concider doing anything like this.. “He should loose his badge forever!!” He could have used force without Beating her” Maybe if he felt what a Louisiville Slugger would feel like he would think twice about beating a child!!!!!
Wow I can’t believe these cops and this is why our youth have a problem with the police. None of that should have happened and both of these cops shoulc be off the squad. He should have just shut the door.
Im 16 years old and i talk alot but if a ploice kum to me on some stupid stuff imma say something and do something back thats just how teens are but they should lose their job
now this is just fucked up. these are the kind of action that makes society trust law enforcement as it is. the lord has a place for these kind if people and its soewhere low…..
I wonder if these officers have kids of there own. These mother@#%$#@’s should lose there jobs and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. There just a 2 sorry SOB’s. Why did they have a 15 year old in a holding cell anyway?
some one should shit on those cops! who the hell do they think they are to be doing that to a friggin TEENAGED GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cops are above the law and the rules don’t appl to them, any cop will tell you this and shit like this video proves it. Cops beat the hell out of rodney king on video, a cop beat the shit out of a waitress in chicago on video. 2 fucking minutes later his little asshole cop buddies are in the trying to birbe her not to report it. A cop does somethig wrong other cops think it’s right. And what does the cheif always say? Oh we’re looking into the investigation. Look into what ashhole? Ppl with no defense are getting the shit kicked out of them on camera. What is there to investigate? At most the cop get suspened, oh big deal. Some cops are good but 9 out of every 10 are bad. They wre bullies in school and after raduation think How can I still be an asshole? How can I still treat ppl like crap and get away with it? I know I’ll become a cop. Once they put on that bage they’re God but I guess if you carry a loaded gun around with you and your actions have no consequences because of that little badge I guess you can do whatever you want.
The only reason I want to become a cop after watching this, is to make it easier for me to report these sick twisted freaks.