Video shows LAPD officer beating suspect

[Mace]

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A police officer pursuing the driver of a stolen car Wednesday was seen on videotape beating the suspect after he appeared to have surrendered.

Mayor James Hahn said the videotape jeopardizes reforms made in the wake of similar incidents and will test the "bond of trust" with the community.

Video shot from news helicopters shows the suspect running for a short distance before slowing to a stop, apparently opting to surrender to officers pursuing him on foot.

The suspect appeared to raise both arms and drop to his knees. The first arriving officer drew his weapon, but put it back in his holster and then tackled the suspect, forcing him to the ground.

The second officer also jumps on the suspect, who is on the ground in a prone position, while a third officer arrives and appears to kick him in the head. This same officer then drops to the ground, takes out his flashlight and beats the suspect 11 times about the head area and also appears to use his knee to strike the suspect.

The video shows other LAPD officers arriving on foot and surrounding the suspect, who remains motionless on the ground.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/06/23/police.beating/index.html
small video clip here
http://www.local6.com/news/3451670/detail.html

[MikeG]

1. What race was the suspect?

[shanti]

13. what race do you think?

please

[MikeG]

15. Cops beat white people too.

I know, having represented them.

[shanti]

19. not nearly to the same degree

get real. or have you forgotten about the disproportionate amount of black or brown men in the penal system?

[saigon68]

2. If the suspect is black then it makes sense

Certain officers like to whip up on black men.

On Edit : MY QUESTION ANSWERED FROM THE SOURCE

Deputy police chief Earl Paysinger said the 37-year-old African-American suspect received medical treatment.

The footage is reminiscent of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four LAPD officers.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. No, very different. King was struggling and refusing lawful

orders to stop. His status was not passive surrender like this guy who is just taking it. Also, there was a sincere concern that King was armed by at least two officers.

I still think it went on a bit too long, and was excessive, that said.

This is wrong, even worse than King.

[saigon68]

10. I agree with you

If you look at it your way-- it is worse.


But the part of the King deal that went over the top for me was Sgt. Stacy Kuhn dialing up the voltage on the TAZER to get King to stand up REPEATEDLY only to be beaten down by the Mother Fuckers with the night sticks.

Barbaric and medieval IT WAS.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. agreed, Kuhn was/is a sick MF... what always pissed me off

was the first 46 or so seconds of the tape which were rarely shown on TV when King was up and kicking cop ass

it is a tough call on subduing someone... I know, I have been there and done that too many times... just how far do you go to ensure you go home and he goes to jail?

It aint easy, or pretty.

[Catfight]

3. Bush continues to take America to the dark ages. He's condoned

this type of behavior, he encourages hate and torture. Let's take our country back and restore respect to America.

[Sugarbleus]

4. Oh, geez, this is the first I've heard this....gotta go turn on the

set. WHAT NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

'Can't we all just get along.....'

Frankly, in recent years, I've just lost ALL respect for law enforcement and the courts. I'm sure there are some good fellas(cops) out there but the system is broken something awful so, screw them!

Hey, can we call what they did today: TORTURE? oh, wait, there's no geneva convention for us mere citizens....... :eyes:

[candy331]

5. America is in serious trouble. n/t

[justjones]

7. This isn't news to some of us.

:eyes:

But from what I know, you don't necessarily have to run from them to get the beat down, which I'm sure will be the next thing we'll hear from various folks as a justification for this abuse.

[Bluebear]

8. They were just blowing off some steam.

Right, Rush?

[Tight_rope]

9. Somethings never change....and some people never change!

[Barkley]

17. This stuff goes on all the time in L.A., they just got caught on TV. - nt

[shanti]

20. you are so right!

n/t

[saigon68]

12. It goes back to Earl Butz Ford's secty of Agriculture

In 1976 Earl Butz, the secretary of agriculture, resigned
after it was widely publicized that he had made a racist
remark. Butz's statement had been: "I'll tell you what the
coloreds want. It's three things: first, a tight pussy;
second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit."


http://tafkac.org/celebrities/butz_racist_remark.html


The Associated Press sent out
the uncensored quotation but, according to _Columbia
Journalism Review_, only two newspapers printed it:
Wisconsin's _Madison Capital Times_ and Ohio's _Toledo
Blade_.

[DrWeird]

14. Well the perp must have been grabbing the officers testicles.

Or whatever just so happened to be off camera.

Ergo,he shouldn't have been selling crack if he didn't want to get beat.

[Barkley]

16. Welcome to L.A. - Where We Treat Black Men Like a King

Last year I went to a community/ police relations event at USC featuring LAPD police chief Bratton.

The focus of the meeting was how to deal with escalating gang violence.

In asking the LAPD Chief Bratton a question, a black women addressed him as "Bratton" to which he replied 'that's Chief Bratton to you'.

The women refused to address him with his full title.

I bet that if the meeting had been held on the westside (at UCLA) and a white women addressed him as "Bratton" he wouldn't have said anything.

When asked the specifics of his anti-gang plan ... Bratton had nothing to say, which suggest that his "plan" was to obscene to discuss in public.

What caused the L.A. riots in 1992 was not beating of Rodney King but the not guilty verdict. That verdict essentially gave LAPD the green light to beat black men to a pulp without facing any penalty charges.

[Sandpiper]

22. It was more than just the verdict

It was the fact that the trial got sent out to Simi Valley, so that the jury could be packed with conservative, suburban whites.

[mbperrin]

18. Nonsense! They were hazing him for their frat,

right?

[alarcojon]

21. So when do the cops

plea for calm and dust off the ever-reliable "rotten apples" theory on this one?

What will it take for White America to wake up? I'm referring, of course, to that "silent majority" of whites who will somehow do nothing or say nothing about this.

[Sandpiper]

23. Just in case anyone thought the LAPD had changed since 1992

They haven't.

They remain the most crooked, brutal, and racist police force in the country.

Brutalizing black males is SOP. This was just another case of one of them getting caught without knowing it.

[mbperrin]

25. Wouldn't it be keen if they were the ONLY police force that is

so?

[VolcanoJen]

24. Another excellent DU thread here, about "Fox & Friends"

Did you just see NBC Nightly News . . .busted FAUX and FRIENDS for. . . by wyndycty