The following debate originally took place upon the Facebook wall of my friend, Jonas A, after he posted a photo being shared by the page, “Filming Cops“…
Jonas A.: Oink, oink! Gotcha! On Candid Camera!
Disturbing video shows officer tasing handcuffed woman’s breast as other cops watch. Beat the police-state-media monopoly. Click share. (graphic by “Filming Cops“)
Rayn: This is OUR tax dollars at work, here… I’m gonna add this coward to the “Wall of Shame” when I find his picture:
http://americanfascismexposed.wordpress.com/wall-of-shame/
Tony K.: This cop could very well have been using excessive force…but I’m not going to trust either a photograph or a video to come to that conclusion. Ever since the Rodney King video and the select few seconds that were shown around the world, I know better than to come to any conclusions based on select footage. Once the facts came out, it turned out that Rodney King wasn’t beaten enough and the injustice was that the cops were brought to trial in the first place.
Rayn: “Once the facts came out, it turned out that Rodney King wasn’t beaten enough and the injustice was that the cops were brought to trial in the first place,” Tony?
Oh, really? And, what “facts” would those be? Please explain exactly how it “turned out that Rodney King wasn’t beaten enough.”
Here is the full video version of Rodney King’s arrest by LA police a decade ago:
Rodney King Beating (Full Version):
Starting at 0:50 seconds, KING is CLEARLY being BRUTALLY BEATEN with NIGHTSTICKS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, by multiple police, while he is LYING PROSTRATE – which is the precise moment when handcuffs SHOULD HAVE – and COULD HAVE – EASILY been deployed by any one of them! At 1:05, the assault even continues as King is LYING SUPINE – again, when HANDCUFFS should have been deployed by officers! And, note that there are at least TEN COPS ON THE SCENE, as shown in the video – many of which were STANDING IDLY BY, DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to SUBDUE OR APPREHEND KING. Rather, they simply allowing the brutalization to continue, as if it were the duty of police to PUNISH suspects, rather than to arrest them! Now, recall, that as a result the police assault against him, King suffered from 11 baton-induced skull fractures, including a broken cheek bone, while also sustaining broken teeth, and a broken ankle. He also suffered kidney damage, and some permanent brain damage, too:
http://www.parc.info/client_files/Special%20Reports/1%20-%20Chistopher%20Commision.pdf
Meanwhile, in April of 1993, two of the officers responsible for beating King, Sgt. Stacey Koon and Officer Laurence Powell, were found GUILTY of violating King’s CIVIL RIGHTS, and in August of 1993, were subsequently each sentenced to 30-MONTHS in prison for their CRIMES! More specifically, Powell “was found guilty of violating King’s constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with ‘unreasonable force,'” and Koon was found guilty of letting the crime take place in the first place, since he was the ranking officer on the scene:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/17/rodney-king-what-happened-in-1991/
The next year, in April of 1994, King was awarded $3.8 million in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.
