The story is unfolding about the black man in Cincinnati who died after being put in custody two days ago. The whole incident was caught on tape and it shows initially, two officers trying to subdue a large black man coming out of White Castle. You can see the black man initially lunging at the officer, and trying to punch him in the head. The two officers called for back up and 4 other officers showed up (including one black officer) and then subdued him. Story in Full
The man was on PCP “Angel Dust” and cocaine. The coroner said he had an enlarged heart, and was suffering from heart disease. (hmm…cocaine, pcp, greasy food)
After all of this the head of the NAACP condemned the officers use of force saying, “This is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back”
My immediate reaction was, " this is a terrible thing to happen to that man…the police department already has problems with the black community when two years earlier there were terrible riots after the death of a black man who was shot by police."
The 15th black man shot since 1995. Cincinnati obviously has problems with their police department and the black community. But if you want to do something about it, why infuriate a group of people by making this was a racial issue. Had the man been a 400 pound white guy on PCP, and he tried to punch an officer, I’m sure they wouldn’t think twice about grabing their billy clubs and trying to subdue him…Imagine if one of the officers pulled thier gun, this may have ended much differently. The last thing a city needs is trigger happy cops…and unfortunately many major metropolitan cities do have these types of cops. I think when serious issues arise (like unlawful shootings, or excessive force)these guys should be layed off, they obviously do not have the control to deal with their jobs.
My gripe is with the people who turn issues that are not racially motivated into a racial issue! If you want to help, try and solve the issues from with-in. I think the NAACP is a wonderful organization helping to raise awareness for minority issues. This is a two way street people, and it’s not just the NAACP, on the other side of the coin there are groups of white people who still think segregation is a good thing… What this country needs is people who see both sides of the coin, leaders who are out for human rights, and the interests of everyone, regardless of race, color or creed!
Maybe it’s not a good idea to jump to defend a drugged up hostile criminal suspect a la the NAACP.
To defend blindly isn’t to promote your cause in as much as it is to just defend for the sake of defending this guy.
He was a 350-400 lbn man with an enlarged heart who had cocaine and PCP in his blood, while resistig the officers. His cause of death was not the ‘bruising’ he received.
A pathetic character and human he was…that did kill him.
When I watched the video, my brain kept saying, “Man, stay down. Man, give UP!.” At no point did I say, “Hey, officers, go easy on this guy - he’s harmless.”
I’ve gotta agree. As much as I resent some of the ways police encounters are handled in black communities, this one’s a no brainer. What kind of fool takes a swing at a cop? Aside from my brother who also proved dumb enough.
One question here: I noted on the video one of the cops repeatedly using a “stabbing” or digging motion with his nightstick, rather than a swinging motion. Is that part of correct procedure?
I don’t know, I saw the big guy taking punches at a cop. Is that the actions of a reasonable man? I think the cop was trying to pry his arm up so they could cuff him, I’m not sure.
The tape is a few minutes long, and as with Rodney K the beginning is important. The cops were called there because the other patrons were scared of this guy and the way he was acting. For about a minute the first cop, partner off to the side, is just trying to talk to the guy, hands up, palms out. The man isn’t touched until he practically tackles the first cop, taking him down with a huge bearlike swipe.
The head of the Cleveland NAACP, for one, is also reserving judgement until he hears and sees more. Good for him. To link it to another thread, yes, black men have been railroaded before, it’s shameful and needs to be addressed, but that doesn’t make Mumia innocent either.
Just a couple of days ago I watched four Cub Foods (a grocery store) employees sitting on a roughly 250 pound man in the parking lot (shoplifter) who continued to struggle with them until long after the police arrived. Lotsa police. If they’d have had any trouble keeping him down, I would have volunteered my assistance.
All the while the guy is yelling at them to get the fuck off him and making physical threats.
The fact that the guy in the OP died is not the fault of the police. I hate this idea that just because some drugged up psycho insists on fighting and fleeing, that the police are automatically at fault for whatever fate befalls him.
NO, HE IS.
Grow up and accept some personal responsibility you stupid fucks.
No, the White Castle called 911 because the guy was “unconscious outside their store.” 911 initially sent paramedics, who found the guy alert but uncooperative. That’s when the cops were brought in.
This whole thing has made me think that there must be a better way to subdue people than hitting them with sticks or spraying them with mace. Think about this: If I hit you with a stick, what is your first response? To lie down quietly and wait for me to cuff you, or to whirl around and clock me in the face? How about if I spray noxious irritants in your eyes and nostrils?
Adhesive spray would be better: Hose him down with a nontoxic glue and when he falls over, he sticks to the ground long enough for teflon-suited officers to cuff him. Or a foam spray, like a quick-expand caulk, that would bind his appendages to his torso and his legs to each other. Not drugs, of course, since drugs are supremely messy and hard to get right, but something that focuses on reducing the probability of movement instead of inflicting pain.
Yeah. That would be cool. Either that or we could get cops that could shoot a force field out of their fingertips to hold him in place while a hypnotist is called in to put him in a trance so he can be taken away without struggle.
I am corrected; the accounts of the beginning of the fight have been varied, but that’s probably right. But the paramedics probably come across inebriated people all the time and know how to handle them; if this guy was such a jerk that THEY had to bring in the cops…yikes.
Jeff Olsen, those ‘bugs’ are inadvertently hilarious. Might suffocate? Well, uh, yeah. And while the foams are non-toxic, so far there’s no solvent that isn’t, so the best thing to do is cut them out of their clothes with a knife?
