AFRICANGLOBE – Give a person a gun, tell them they can kill anyone they perceive as a threat to their safety, and what are you left with? An unsurprisingly toxic police culture in which some officers feel free to abuse their power. In January alone, cell phone videos, police dash cams and surveillance video managed to capture at least nine headline-making incidents of cop-on-citizen brutality. Some of these videos include footage released in January, though the incidents occurred prior to January.
As we learned with the case of Eric Garner, capturing police abuse on video doesn’t mean the officers will face any consequences. But it does add paint to the portrait of the police brutality crisis in this country.
1. A Seattle police officer harasses an elderly veteran who used his golf club as a cane. The video was released Wednesday following a public records request. The officer claimed the man swung his golf club at her, which he vehemently denied. The man spent a night in jail. Police have since apologized and returned his golf club. The confrontation begins around the 1:50 mark.
2. A Seattle high school teacher is pepper-sprayed at an MLK rally. A Seattle police officer was belting out orders to protesters during a peaceful rally, when the teacher walked past on his cell phone. The officer then pepper sprayed him. The teacher is suing the city.
3. This video shows a man holding up his hands and lying down after running from cops. When the cops catch up to him, they tase and kick him, bloodying his face. The video show a different story from the one officers describe in their reports.
4. Recently released surveillance video of the aftermath of the Cleveland police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice shows the cops’ callous treatment of Rice’s 14-year-old sister when she arrives on the scene. The video shows Tamir’s sister running toward her brother who lay dying on the ground. The officers appear to shove her to the ground, arrest her, and put her in their patrol car.
5. This video shows a cop on a power trip. A video taken outside San Francisco’s Hall of Justice shows an officer intimidating and then arresting a public defender as she is trying to advise her client. The officer was trying to take photos of her client, when she steps in. Police are investigating the arrest.
6. A New Rochelle, NY cop points a gun at teenagers while the women taking the video says the teens were “having a snowball fight.” The town’s police department has claimed it was responding to a call from a woman who said she saw a man point a gun at another man. Police allege one of the teens ran from the scene when the officers arrived, and one officer chased him. The other cop pointed the gun at the other teens, screaming, “Don’t fucking move, guys.” According to the Guardian, police officials said this is not how they train officers to communicate with residents.
7. A surveillance video shows Oklahoma County police officers kicking and punching a man after handcuffing him inside a jail. The man was injured in the head, shoulders, wrist and back. The officers were fired and charged with assault and battery, but a judge dismissed the charges. The man said he wants people to see the video and plans to file a civil suit against the two guards.
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These last two videos show police officers taking lives—the unfortunate, but inevitable outcome of a society that permits such abusive police culture. In acknowledgment of the severity of these cop abuses, the videos are not included in this compilation.
8. Newly released surveillance video shows cops fatally shooting 17-year-old Kristiana Coignard, who suffered from depression and bipolar disorder. Coignard had entered a police department in Longview, Texas, allegedly with a knife. The struggle between Coignard and police begins at the 8:00 mark and continues for several minutes. Some police departments have a history of shooting people with mental illness if they perceive a threat of any kind.
Trigger warning: graphic content. To view the video and read more, click here.
9. In a graphic video released January 20, a police officer in New Jersey shoots and kills Jerame Reid, who had his hands up. The Bridgeton police officer allegedly pulls over two men for running a stop sign. The officer then takes out his gun and tells the men not to move. After several seconds, Reid, who was African American, appears to step out of the car with his hands up. The officer then shoots at Reid repeatedly. The county is investigating the killing, though activists want the state attorney general to take it over.
Trigger warning: graphic content. To view the video and read more, click here.
By: Alyssa Figueroa
