Like the one who helps the ducklings cross a busy Boston street in that book!

Or the wise one who helps the children understand about Frosty the Snow Man when he melted.

Yeah, let's prop the non-responsive detainee up so he looks alive, don't check his pulse or give him CPR or anything.

I don't care if he 'did' anything or not, when five guys sit on someone until that person dies, they bear responsibility.

What ever happened to assessing the situation?

It seems like this kind of brutality is occurring more and more frequently. Innocent people die for no good reason and the cops don't even have to miss a day's work to go to court. The states' attorneys have stopped charging them.

Excessive force is considered justified because the officer could have been in danger.

I think that the safety of the citizen should be at least an equal, if not overriding, priority.

by intimidate and harass. Guilty until proven guilty...

nothing to see here move along.

one of my fav episodes...

I'm just sayin......

All it shows all the police officers all over the victim, if he had been confrontational and the police thought he was dangerous, knocking him down and then restraining him is perfectly within the powers of the police. I do NOT see anyone throwing punches, or sitting or kneeing the victim excessively ( Police had been known to kill people who keep on resisting them, as police officers sit on the victim's back till he "Quits moving", in some cases such sitting causes the victim to suffocate to death).

Thus the video fails to show any use of force other then to restrain the victim and no excessive weight on the victim for a long period of time.

Now, that does not mean the Police are in the right. All I am pointing out is the video does NOT show anything that by itself shows the use of excessive force. The video does NOT show what the victim did (or did not do) that lead to the police wanting to restrain him. The Video actually cuts off when the police start to release the victim then you see nothing but feet.

Lets see what other videos appear, for the reports is the area was video heavy

five guys sitting on top of an obese handcuffed man not moving or resisting arrest?

good luck with your opinion.

When I was s Security Guard at a hospital when I was in Collage, a teenager came in on PCP and he was having all types of convulsions. We had Two Security guards, four Police Officers, at least one doctor and a couple of nurses (all but the nurses being male) and we had a hard time keeping him on the table so the doctors could address the medical problem. Thus it can take six men to restrain someone, unless you want the police just to shoot such people.

The issue is what happened BEFORE the video starts, why did the police decide to restrain the victim? That is the real issue, and nothing in the video addresses that issue. The use of force shown on this video is not enough to show excess force was used. On the other hand what cause the police to use that level of force is a different question. The Video provides no insight as to THAT question, and thus does NOT show what we need to see if the actions of the Police were justified or excessive.

Furthermore when the victim was finally cuffed, most of the officers stood up and started to direct the crowd away (thus the video became one of feet instead of the victim). The actions of the Police seems to be within reasonable standards, based on this video. Other evidence may come into play, but this action is more visual for it has action, but what we need is context, and this video gives us no context.

I am sure it was just coincidence that he happened to die of natural causes while five guys just happen to be sitting on top of him...

That training included making sure the person I was retaining was not harmed. Now, my training was with the National Guard and riot control and one aspect of that training is we were told NOT to do it unless direcret by a Police Officier, who hopefully had more training then we did.

The training I undertook AND a review of most police training emphasis how to aviod harm to the person we were arresting. People do die when they are arrested of things not related to being arrested. Heart Attacks are known, so are strokes. Thus just because it took six or more officers to detain someone, does not mean they killed him. The video does not show anything that could have killed the victim by that action. The holding someone down, putting your knees on him till you hand cuff him, is not enough to kill someone. Something NOT on that video is the cause of the death. The police may have done it, and may NOT have done it. Nothing on that video shows either case, thus the video shows nothing as to the cause of the death of this victim.

The victim could have died of an unrelated heart attack, and the police seeing him fall to them took that as an attack and reacted. The video shows him on the ground with the officers trying to secure him, which is what officers are trained to do when they are in a fight.

The victim could have tried to punch an officer and the officer defended himself and the other officers came to the first officers aid. By the time the video starts, the victim is on the ground and the police are doing what they are trained to do, secure the person who they perceived to be a threat to themselves and others.

The Police officers may have decided it was time to beat someone to death but in a way it would be hard to show that intent.

I doubt any of those three situation is what happened, but all are POSSIBLE based on the Video.

Please remember no one disputes the following facts;

1. The officers were in the area do to an unrelated drunk person allegation. Two on duty police officers were called in to handle the drunks. The other Police officers were off duty but in uniform, most appear to be working for the theater as security.

2. A nineteen year old woman was arguing with her mother, and in that argument the Mother slapped her daughter.

3. The slapping incident was reported to the Officers who responded to it, but first talked to the victim.

What was said at that point is unclear for the police are NOT talking and it appears the Mother and Daughter were to far away to hear what happened. We have talk about a demand for ID, but that seems to be second hand. After someone made a demand for ID, it is reported (again no first hand account) the victim said no in a threatening way.

Anything but the above is pure speculation that may be true or not. I suspect (and again this is MY speculation) is the officers were told of another fight and responded to that report. As they entered the theater they asked the victim for ID for they did not want any potential abuser to leave without at least getting their name. The victim said something like I do not have to give you ID, in a way the Police took as threatening and then proceeding to tell him he was under arrest. The victim said something the police again viewed as threatening and proceeded to take him down. The other officers joined in, as they are trained to do when an officer is trying to arrest someone, and that person is 'resisting" arrest. The victim died of some injury (I suspect a heart attack) while being manhandled. No intent on the police to actually do harm, just acting as they are trained to do. The problem is the victim died instead of being just handcuffed.

If I was the police the above is the Story I would give and hope it is the truth AND Supported by other evidence (including the other cameras in the area). If evidence shows something else, then the police are in trouble.

Mostly because of the CNN junk covering up the most important bits to be viewed... you can't even see the man they were arresting in that video at all. I couldn't see any officer sitting on him. Two looked like they had one knee on him, but again, in this video it's impossible to tell. I'd like to see a better video of this without all the company hieroglyphics blocking the screen.

The real key will be what is on the other videos. From the article they are videos everywhere so the key will be what did those other camera show and will we now that for months.

I don't think they'll be anymore clear or revealing rather than someone up close with a cellphone camera. My problem with the video in the article is that CNN stuck a bunch of graphics right over the part that needs to be seen to tell what was going on. Though surveillance videos would probably show the "before" encounter with the guy than this one which shows nothing of that I'm not seeing them being anymore clear at what was happening that this video showed and it will likely be much worse... have you seen examples of surveillance videos?

At this point I'd just like to see a video where you can see what's happening without a mess of company graphics blocking that.

who knows what these thugs did that killed him for refusing to pull out identification for a bogus charge they initiated

>family did not call for police and were not in the building but out in the parking lot

DDWB

What police describe as normal procedure, lawyer Brooks-Jimenez describes as something brutal and possibly deadly -- pepper spray to the face and the weight of five men on top of him.

that would be about 850 to 1000 lbs (180 X 5= 900)

The 1000 lbs on your back makes it impossible, not to mention having your face driven into the asphalt. But it's ok because the video didn't show cops breaking procedure.

In a state with a lot of guns, how long do they think it will be before people start to "take care" right back?

For that matter, how will the other cops feel, having to watch their backs because a few of their "fellow officers" take care of their charges with deadly force?

Helping people file lawsuits against police officers and generally putting a lot of pressure on police departments to force them to be bound by the law and code of conduct.

in case of trouble, the last people you want involved are the police.

You'll know when you get your head bashed in.

I hate thinking this.

This is becoming pretty common. Just like the daily shooting.

Remember that bully in high school that used to push you around? Well now he has a badge, lots of loyal friends, and a gun. Good luck.

and trained to see all but other police as enemies and to restrain with extreme prejudice. They all use the same language: "stop resisting and don't grab my gun." I justifies all crimes that follow.
Face it folks, we live in terror of the police because they don't screen officers properly. Many are pumped up on steroids too.

It looked like the cops propped him up.

Sexism has many faces. This was an altercation between two women, this man's wife and daughter. He is described as a peacemaker in his church and community. Yet the police who know nothing more than a domestic dispute is occurring automatically think that of the three people involved, it must be the man who is the aggressor.