Cops beat innocent man to death in front of family

Link to video.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-po...innocent-unarmed-father-death-outside-cinemas

Family goes out to the movies and on their way to the car the mother and daughter get into a dispute. The upset mother locked herself in the car to sulk and her husband followed to calm her down.

He then was approached by five cops who then proceeded to beat him to death in front of his wife and daughter.

According to the cops the victim refused to give his ID.

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This is obviously a very tragic incident and the cop defendands might argue that this wouldn't have happened if the victim would just have complied with every command the cops gave.
And let's be fair: While US cops are highly agressive and brutal when compared to most other developed countries, US citizens seem to display much more unrulyness towards cops, too. At least that's the impression I get from having seen numerous police brutality videos, so a 'native' american is better qualified to comment on that.

Anyway, in no circumstances can I envision a scenario where non-US cops in civilized countries would end up beating someone to death for doing nothing wrong at all.

One has to wonder: What is the mission statement of US law enforcement these days? Is it still something like 'To serve and protect'? It seems the focus has shifted...

One of my aunts who actually lives in LA told me that their cops write tickets for traffic violations even if people don't do anything wrong, just because the cops couldn't meet their quota otherwise.
I wonder if the cops who beat that man to death were not just out for blood but merely seized the opportunity to meet their quota, so that no matter what the victim would have done or said would lead to his arrest ...

Well...

Just disgusting that he was beaten to death due to *over-reaction* by the five poor policemen who could not really control the situation without hitting him on the face with their knees.
Next time don't disrespect the police, pls, it will only lead to your death.

ps As for the 'only in America', i too doubt this sort of thing could happen here, despite the corrupt/cleptocratic state we have. It does seem that US policemen are far more violent/careless than the norm.

Seems to me you get the police force you deserve.

Didn't someone have a theory that all policemen were those kids in the playground that no one else would play with?

Violent thuggery is not training issue.

I wonder what's the cops version of the story. I can't believe 5 man just lost their "cool" and beat the man to death. There has to be a motive of their action. Anyway they should be kicked out from the police force with no "return ticket" and criminal charges should be pressed against them.

Aroddo said:

This is obviously a very tragic incident and the cop defendands might argue that this wouldn't have happened if the victim would just have complied with every command the cops gave.

Click to expand...

I want to flush this attitude from every authoritarian mind on the planet. The real tragedy is that so many people think this way.

Yeah, beating someone to death is excessive isn't exactly appropriate use of force. It's a tragedy and a murder.

ArneHD said:

Yeah, beating someone to death is excessive isn't exactly appropriate use of force. It's a tragedy and a murder.

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On the other hand you should give them credit for not killing the rest of the family so as to cover up..

I can't say I lived in very developed countries, but I've never seen an attitude like this anywhere. Something is seriously wrong with US police.

red_elk said:

I can't say I lived in very developed countries, but I've never seen an attitude like this anywhere. Something is seriously wrong with US police.

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I have to ask: How do russian cops compare to US cops?

Cops in uniform shouldn't travel in groups, limiting them to being alone doesn't significantly decrease the efficacy of policing, while significantly decreasing violent altercations.

Borachio said:

Seems to me you get the police force you deserve.

Didn't someone have a theory that all policemen were those kids in the playground that no one else would play with?

Click to expand...

The thing is there's such a huge variance from town to town, let alone between state and region. I hate to say it but the fact that he was a minority probably didn't help, though there's plenty of instances of police horror stories involving whites, too. I'm still more concerned about the militarization of the police because this kind of thing has gone on for decades. That doesn't make it any less disgusting, of course. I'm also not sure where you look for reliable statistics on this given that the people committing the crime are the ones who would normally help document it and therefore can help make it never be counted. I'm still hesitant to smear all police with a broad brush like that, though.

I, too, would like to hear the cops' explaination here. If it really is "he didn't show his ID", they ought to hope they get a really gullible jury if they end up facing criminal charges.

Aroddo said:

I have to ask: How do russian cops compare to US cops?

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Russian authorities are notorious for never ever abusing their power.

Anyway, typical bleeding-hearts throwing a crybaby fit about cops doing their job. Yawn. Hopefully they get a slap on the wrist and no more. The real tragedy is how much of the court's time will be wasted having to listen to this guy's family drone on about how this is an "injustice." Yawn. America is short one more orange-picker, bfd.

Moderator Action: Totally inappropriate, even if this is sarcasm, and this is an RD thread. Take a break.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

Aroddo said:

I have to ask: How do russian cops compare to US cops?

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Russian ones are more corrupt, many of them will take bribes or even try to extort money. As for violence, I haven't heard anything remotely close to this incident. Last year there was a scandal involving cops killing man in Khabarovsk. Police patrol tried to detain a group of drunk men, who were assaulting local store. They were unable to detain them, and the guys started beating the officers. After several minutes of fight, one of the officers made a few warning shots in the air, and then, at the guy who continued to attack him. One of attackers was killed, another wounded in his leg. Officers were acquitted, but there was a public outrage about the fact that officer didn't have to kill the attacker, he could fire at his legs too. The incident was also captured in video.

And that's why the Soviet Union fell.

The police are always the street gangsters of the State. The more desperate the ruling class, the freer hand the police have.

They are indeed becoming desperate, because people question. Events like this serve to remind us to be afraid and do as we are told.

red_elk said:

Russian ones are more corrupt, many of them will take bribes or even try to extort money. As for violence, I haven't heard anything remotely close to this incident. Last year there was a scandal involving cops killing man in Khabarovsk. Police patrol tried to detain a group of drunk men, who were assaulting local store. They were unable to detain them, and the guys started beating the officers. After several minutes of fight, one of the officers made a few warning shots in the air, and then, at the guy who continued to attack him. One of attackers was killed, another wounded in his leg. Officers were acquitted, but there was a public outrage about the fact that officer didn't have to kill the attacker, he could fire at his legs too. The incident was also captured in video.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I heard of widespread corruption and watched news about how the russian state is abusing it's power to crush dissent. But I never had an impression on how high russian cops would rate on an international police brutality scale.

Seems like US cops are violent because they want to, while other notoriously violent police forces (like the chinese) are mostly using excessive force on orders from higher up.

Cheezy the Wiz said:

The police are always the street gangsters of the State. The more desperate the ruling class, the freer hand the police have.

They are indeed becoming desperate, because people question. Events like this serve to remind us to be afraid and do as we are told.

Click to expand...

Well, there is a chance that even complying to every order would have resulted in that man's death. Apparently you only have to provoke cops to trigger a "measured response". Anyway, following orders will probably be safer most of the time.

Aroddo said:

Thanks. I heard of widespread corruption and watched news about how the russian state is abusing it's power to crush dissent.

Click to expand...

Corruption exists, but "crush dissent" part is IMO obscenely overblown in Western mass-media. There are much more serious problems with current authorities, such as their inability to fight poverty, modernize infrastructure and diversify country's economy.

Unfortunately, the video begins after the event that killed Luis. We simply don't know what actually happened - just different accounts from the two sides. The video version we see was released by the families' attorney, and so presumably has been edited to show one side. And apparently it was three cops and two game wardens.

This happened in a public place however, and hopefully other, more complete videos will emerge in days to come.

I don't expect that if attorneys for law enforcement release a video it will show the man killing the cops.