I’m astonished that people on this board are arguing that the police acted appropriately. They tased a band director because he didn’t end a high school band’s playing fast enough. Seriously? A taser is not an insignificant use of force. People can die from being tased. And they apparently tased him twice. Hundreds of people in the US alone have died after being tased. Would you have justified the police if the bandleader had died? Is capital punishment appropriate for playing songs after a football game? Would you have been OK if he had clubbed him instead or put him in a choke hold?
All the cop needed to do was wait until their song ended, and politely ask the band leader to end the playing. He did not have to interrupt while the band was playing. If the bands had been alternating their playing as suggested, it would have been obvious to anyone what was going on.
How could they be done? The band was still in the stands.
All the trash has to go.
As some people who throw their trash down at events think, it doesn’t magically disappear. Some poor schlub has to remove it. Probably after working all day at the school as a janitor.
Yeah, I’d say he wanted to go home.
If that were what happened, then yes, it would be astonishing, and apparently the craving for astonishment is much stronger than the boring chore of engaging with the actual events.
Bullshit and that is offensive. When my band (and most bands I know) leave, their part of the bleachers is THE CLEANEST part of the stadium. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
This is correct. Whatever else is being thrown around, the band is pretty much always the cleanest and best-behaved group of people in the stadium. There is no reason to assume the band misbehaved at all, and they shouldn’t be blamed for their director’s actions (which are entirely a different matter)
Oh, wait…you mean the band leader wasn’t tased? Or are you arguing that he was tased because he didn’t respond to the police when they issued an unreasonable and dubious order to end the playing? My mistake! He definitely deserved what he got! Damn band leaders are such a threat to society! [Sarcasm].
Oh yes I do know what I’m talking about. I’ve raised 4 kids.
I’m glad you have your kids pick up after themselves after ball games. And that they comply w/o resisting the order.
Not every band director has that kinda control.
Oh, wait…the order and discipline has to start somewhere.
And I’ve personally cleaned a few band buses after a trip. It was pretty gross. Let me tell you.
All band kids aren’t perfect.
ETA: I have also chaperoned on band trips and volunteered at band camps. Those are just kids carrying every bad habit they ever learned or seen some adult get away with.
Huh? I don’t believe there is any disagreement as to whether he was tased. It was captured on video, the band leader claims he was tased, the statement the police gave to the press said he was tased, and I bet the records at the hospital the police say they took him to confirms that as well.
I’m astonished that you’re astonished. There is a large portion of Americans that feel that an officer’s requests come from on high, and that officers are correct in 99% in whatever they do. Hell, 35% of Americans believed the officers that murdered George Floyd deserved a parade, and that if he had just gotten in the car, nothing bad would have happened.
Invoking George Floyd does not make an argument at all and certainly not a case closed one. It’s actually proof that you have no argument, as well as being prejudiced that you’re prejudiced. Just like in any other profession, there’s good ones, bad ones, and crazy ones. Your comment is of one that needs to ride along with a cop for at least a few days. You’ll soon realize how important your own safety becomes. It’s your life on the line now. How much trust will you give someone that’s being placed under arrest and refusing to show his/her hands, or their hand suddenly darting under their jacket or jammed into a pocket. Let’s see how much calm understanding and unlimited patience you’ll have after day after day of being disrespected and lied to. Seeing the worst of people and the worst of what can happen to a person.
“Protect and Serve” was the winning entry of an in-house competition LAPD held over 50 years ago to come up with a great motto the police department to use in public relations. In reality there’s nothing police can do to protect anyone other than for their lives and the lives of the officers working with them. The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that for protection, We the People are on our own to defend ourselves. Police are called Law Enforcement Officers because that’s what they do. The only protecting and serving they do is for the State and its laws. Police will come and try to save you as fast as they can. By enforcing the laws and ordinances of the jurisdictions they serve, they actually are protecting EVERYONES RIGHTS when other people have violated them.
Also and just sayin, I don’t know any cops personally. I’ve been tangled up in blue more than a few but enough to know firsthand that there are bad cops but hardly any.
I invoked George Floyd because what you wrote was heinous and this is not the pit. Any cop that openly stated what you wrote would be quickly investigated by I.A. “As well as being prejudiced that you’re prejudiced” is a nonsensical statement.
Being a police officer is not an inherently dangerous profession. There are simply no statistics to suggest that it is.
So what? Be a professional. Too bad if it hurts their feelings. They are being paid to deal with people in bad situations.
I guess we have VERY different opinions of what constitutes a bad cop.