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How much should you charge for a photograph?St. Louis Cop Beats Man Down in Youtube Video
Incident is sure to become first viral police abuse video of the year
Congratulations, St. Louis police, you earn the distinct honor of winning the first viral police abuse video of 2011.
And it appears that St. Louis police already tried to get Youtube to remove the video because it did remove it, according to the Riverfront Times.
YouTube has removed the video stating it violates the company's policy of showing "shocking and disgusting content."
Knowing Youtube has a pretty lenient eye towards shocking videos, I have no doubt St. Louis police tried to muscle Youtube into removing the video.
Regardless, it wasn't long until somebody else uploaded the video. I recommend downloading the video if you can just in case they remove this one.
The incident took place outside a St. Louis gas station in the early morning of New Year's Day.
The video shows a cop pulling a man from a car and beating him continuously with a baton, then pepper spraying him before leading him away in handcuffs.
The man who recorded the incident was sitting inside a car and was not part of the suspect's party.
However, he tells KTVI Fox 2 that police used excessive force:
He says the man told the officer to shut up and that sparked the entire episode. "I have to say police used excessive force in this definitely. It was unnecessary, the kid never moved whenever he hit the ground so there was no reason for him to get hit that many times or pepper sprayed," said the man who shot the cell phone video.
Meanwhile, the owner of the gas station - who did not even witness the incident - said the force was justified because the suspect was drunk and grabbing onto the cop's ankles as he was getting beaten down.
It should be noted that gas station owner Joel Platke had hired the officer to work security that night.
The video was shot from inside another car, so we really can't see if the suspect is grabbing onto the cop's ankles, but the cop is not pulling his ankles away as you think he would if the guy was grabbing onto his ankles.
St. Louis police released the following statement:
"We were first made aware of the video this morning and while all of the circumstances of the incident are not known, what is seen on the video is extremely disturbing to us. Force is to be used only when absolutely necessary and this department takes the use of force very seriously. No one has a filed a complaint regarding this incident, however the department is launching an Internal Affairs investigation immediately and we would urge those involved in the incident to please come forward and relay their eyewitness accounts to the Internal Affairs investigators. We are also making efforts to identify the officer involved who, once identified, will immediately be assigned to administrative duty pending the results of the investigation."
Comments
Cop reminds me of the sadistic prison guard in
Midnight Express, the posture, also the way
he does a "practice" blow with his club
as he flicks his head.
He hit him in the legs, if the guy was grabbing the cop he was totally justified.
On a side note can you edit out that annoying girl
Just keep licking those boots till you see your reflection in them Bart. None of this was justified, other than the citizen telling the cop to shut up.
the annoying girl said his mouth was bleeding (and yes, please edit her out..).
So, I have only taken a few anatomy courses. The
"cop" hits the man in the legs and his mouth bleeds??? I didn't know that the leg bones were connected to the mouth bone.
Also, it looked liked he had half a dozen swings plus a face full of pepper spray. This seems more like sentencing for contempt of cop rather than proportional response to resisting arrest
Do you think maybe he got a bloody mouth from something else. Maybe when he got pulled to the car and forced on the ground. You don't have to be an anatomy major to watch the video and see he wasn't getting hit in the head.
Liveleak doesn't have the Youtube fascism
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c7a_1294252235
Why didn't the security guard who was not on duty as a police officer get a officer with arrest powers to deal with this?
Why isn't this officer in jail, until he can make bail and get a trial like everyone else?
If it had been anyone else from the video tape he would have been arrested, cuffed, booked, jailed until he made bail.
the off duty cop was already dressed with his toys (pepper spray and baton). He wasn't about to let someone else administer the beat down.
I know this occurred in St Louis, but here in NY, cops out of their jurisdiction are allowed to act as police if they witness a crime.
If the guy was grabbing the officer's legs and trying to pull him down, the strikes were justified. Can we all agree that the video does not show the legs?
---------------------------------------------------
From Officer.com: "Store owner Joel Platke said the video is misleading because it doesn't show what witnesses say was happening on the ground.
Platke, 49, said he was not at the store at the time of the encounter, but said two employees, two customers and a delivery man have told investigators the young man was cursing and grabbing at the officer's ankles and that the officer was protecting himself."
-----------------------------------------
So while Platke didn't see it, he is getting an account from multiple *actual* witnesses who did see it and claim the officer was defending himself.
It's hardly a clear cut case of police brutality when you look at *all* the facts.
"...two customers and a delivery man have told investigators the young man was cursing and grabbing at the officer's ankles and that the officer was protecting himself."
Bull. All the officer had to do to "protect himself" was take a step or two backward. He was in no distress whatsoever as he was batting that guy on his skull with the baton.
"Store owner Joel Platke said the video is misleading because it doesn't show what witnesses say was happening on the ground."
The store owner was not there.
Why was he pulled out of the car and slammed on the ground. Was he verbally committing contempt of cop? I think he was and he was attacked for it.
A Security guard with a history of violence.
"The store owner was not there."
True but did you miss the part about multiple other witnesses saying the cop was defending himself?
From the video clip, the cop's action looks very relaxing by slowly taking out the stick, extending it, then beginning beating. He is not protecting himself because the pace of action does not show the defensive mood at all.
The cop shows that he is enjoying hitting the victim.
If the kid was holding the cop's legs it's probably because he's had other run-ins with the cop where the cop spent some time kicking the shit out of him.
Why would he grab bis legs other than to keep the cop from kicking?
Do you want just the baton or both the baton with the steel toe?
"Why would he grab bis legs other than to keep the cop from kicking?"
Umm how about to pull him down to the ground? I've been in fights where I have had people trying to pull me off balance. Then you are on the ground grappling with a drunk and his two buddies are behind you. Bad situation.
OK, Johnny, I try to give you and all LEO's the benefit of the doubt in most of these circumstances. But after watching the video I can not see, AT ANY TIME, where the officer/guard is thrown off balance, has to retreat, or move because his ankles were grabbed. If I had seen some evidence of his balance being altered by the victim, i.e. stumbling, stepping back, or even having to move away, I might take a different view. But, alas, I can not. So, I am inclined to believe the video, albeit with a limited view of the guards legs, along with the eyewitness statements that there was excessive force. The eyewitness does not appear to have any conflict of interest, unlike the owner of the establishment, who now has a huge potential financial liability, who was not on the scene, and is making his statements after the fact. So, the eyewitness statements would carry much more weight with me. The eyewitness account also seems to match the video evidence. Just my opinion, but given the totality of the circumstances, there is the only one logical conclusion I can draw from the current evidence/facts.
It will be interesting to see when this ends up in court, what the two people in the car testify to, what any other witnesses to the event testify to, what is shown on video, and what the officer/guard swears to. Hopefully, we won't hear the tired old excuse of: "I feared for my life... etc."
I agree that it will be interesting to see what ALL the witnesses have to say about the incident. Until that happens, why don't we try to keep from hanging the officer based on a video that doesn't show the most important part of the event?
Yes, it will be interesting to see the testimony, and if it provides any additional information. But, the claim that the suspect grabbed the officer's ankles can not be substantiated in the video, or in the eyewitness accounts. It is only stated by the owner of the business, who is now facing a significant liability issue after the fact. Again, given the available information, I can not draw any other conclusion, other than this officer over-reacted, or intentionally abused the subject. It seems highly unlikely that he had no other option than to beat this person with a metal baton, and pepper spray him, given there is no evidence, video or witness statements, that he hit/touched/threatened the officer/guard. In viewing he video, if he had been grabbed/assaulted could he not have stepped/jumped back a few feet and proceeded from there? Instead he hit the subject numerous times, and then pepper sprayed him without any defensive maneuvers.
"...the claim that the suspect grabbed the officer's ankles can not be substantiated in the video, or in the eyewitness accounts."
It is not disproven by the video either. It does not show the officer's feet or the actions of the suspect. Just because the officer wasn't jumping around isn't conclusive of anything. You can't predict human behavior 100% and simply because this officer didn't react in the way you think is "normal" doesn't mean the guy wasn't grabbing at the officer.
" In viewing he video, if he had been grabbed/assaulted could he not have stepped/jumped back a few feet and proceeded from there? Instead he hit the subject numerous times, and then pepper sprayed him without any defensive maneuvers."
Police officers have no duty to retreat from someone who is grabbing at their legs. Meeting that with force is legal and justified.
No, I'm all for "hanging the officer now" then see what happens later. Sorry Johny but some of us have been boned too often by scumbag cops. Best take a page out of their book and "tuned them up" then run them through the system.
Tell you what, the fucker will never speed again. Especially not in his Bentley after he sues for millions.
Your X-Ray vision must be working better than mine is. From the posted video you can not see exactly what the cop is hitting.
You can see the guys head is between the officers feet and sticking out the other side. If he was hitting him in the head/mouth he would have to swing behind himself.
So even though you can't see exactly what he is hitting, or if he is hitting the guy at all, you can see if he is hitting him he is not hitting him in the head.
In case you can't see his head between his feet pause it at 26 seconds, it clearly shows the guys head sticking out the backside of the officers legs.
the only thing that disgusts me about this video is how the witnesses stand around calmly watching the cop beat a man on the ground. No cries for mercy, no interventions, it reminds me of the video of the deaf man in LA getting beat by he security ma, the sheeple just stand around dumbly watching.
I fear that if I faced the same situation there would be more than one person beaten, perhaps three or four.
The witnesses had a better view of what was really happening so maybe they saw no need to intervene. The deaf man in LA was a thief fighting with security, why would anybody help him?
Or maybe society is a bunch of passive sheep, trained to just submit, if someone tries to hijack a plane, just submit, nothing bad will happen, if someone tries to rob you just submit.
Same as the man attacked in the DC metro, (http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2011/01/man-attacked-by-kids-at-l-e...) by standers standing by just encourages senseless violence, knowing that the bystanders will tear the ever loving shit out of you tends to be a deterrent.
Sometimes violence can be used to deter violence
BTW the deaf man was NOT a thief, he was never charged nor even arrested
Or maybe society is a bunch of passive sheep, trained to just submit, if someone tries to hijack a plane, just submit, nothing bad will happen, if someone tries to rob you just submit.
Same as the man attacked in the DC metro, (http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2011/01/man-attacked-by-kids-at-l-e...) by standers standing by just encourages senseless violence, knowing that the bystanders will tear the ever loving shit out of you tends to be a deterrent.
Sometimes violence can be used to deter violence
BTW the deaf man was NOT a thief, he was never charged nor even arrested
Post Script: screw Youtube, I don't go there anymore
I can tell the people visiting this website are not just cop haters but true photography advocates. This story has close to 30 comments and really has nothing to do with photography while the previous article, where a photographer had her camera taken away from her by a police officer, has a whopping six comments, two of which are mine.
Bart when you drive to work in the morning who is it your afraid of? IS it Osama Bin Luaden or is it the police?
Ask yourself why the people video taping were so afraid of being seen video taping? Why didn't he just get out of the car and make it obvious that he was recording the event.
WHY? We all know why.
They were afraid of the police.
I Do not hate Cops Bart. I hate the police state that this country has become. I hate the fact that law abiding people are forced to be afraid in there own towns of people like this. Who are given the authority to beat people simply for exercising there freedom of speech.
Bart the rest of us the NON stooleys are tired of it.
We have had enough.
That's very inspiring but this incident is about an officer using force against a drunk individual who was (allegedly) grabbing at his legs. This is not some 1st amendment issue.
So since you are some great V for Vendetta freedom fighter, I guess that means you are determined to automatically find fault with the police? That is what it seems like here.
" I hate the fact that law abiding people are forced to be afraid in there own towns of people like this. "
What a load of crap.
I am finding fault with a off duty officer who has two other excessive force cases pending against him, who was within walking distance of a police station, who did not call for a on duty officer to legally take care of a drunk who who it seems had NOT broken any law.
IF he had broken any law there would have been a police report;
there is no police report, therefore NO law was broken. therefore there was no justifiable cause for this officer to PULL this man out of the car in the first place.
Johny you often tell people here the law and how it stands people often have a problem with the truth of it.
YOU seem to have a problem with the truth of my statement. The truth is that the people you are meeting on the street, who tell you they love the police , they are lying. NO one likes the police. NOT even other police officers, spend five minutes with a cop talking about his job and 90 percent of them will gossip back stab and throw there pals under the bus.
Johny despite the fact that your like the wife who is the last to know. NO one likes the police.
The constant chipping away at our constitution by your profession has made this country less free. The constant WAR on our own people has made our streets less safe. The constant spending to pay for it has made this country BROKE>
Sorry John but you and your brothers ans sisters are destroying this country.
Rich,
I'm sorry you are frightened of the police. I truly am. It's sad that a grown man like yourself (I am assuming) has to justify his fears by making the police out to be some boogeyman who is the root of all evil in this country.
I am sure that it seems like everyone is scared of the police when you surf sites like this or attend your weekly 9-11 truth meetings while watching Alex Jones. However if you remove yourself from your echo chamber, you will see that you are very wrong.
I work in an area where I have many many citizen contacts. It is a regular thing for people to come up to me and want to take a picture with the police. Folks commonly come up to shake my hand and tell me they appreciate the job we do. I've had folks tell me directly that they support the police and that they couldn't imagine trying to do my job. I guess all those people just feel the need to come up to me to lie? I'm sorry but I think you are fooling yourself.
Rich, I recommend you take off the tinfoil hat and go actually make contact with an officer and try to have a conversation. You will learn that while a small number are assholes (like every other profession), most are simply regular people trying to do their job the best they can while still being able to go home at the end of the day unharmed.
Really, this irrational urge to vilify the police and claim they are destroying this country is not very productive. Your local LEO isn't some CIA spook or DHS secret agent with an agenda. Stop looking for black helicopters and wake/grow up.
Well Johny You should be aware that tin is completely useless. Only aluminum foil actually works. this explains a lot about your mental state.
I do see your point, and you are correct I would not say your all assholes.
Im not the one in a echo chamber if you look at this video and in you heart justify this mans use of force then you are an asshole.
IM sorry but the personality type alpha male mentality that your profession attracts generally tend to be assholes.
Were not talking about florists now are we. I realize that we cant send florists in to do that kind of work either.
People are going up to you and shaking your hand to deal with there own fear. NOT because they do not fear you.
I am friends with many police officers. I can honestly say that there is no way they should be allowed to have free rain over our society.
case after case, little intrusions on our rights that are not imagined or conspiracy theories.
A state does not exist in a state of perpetual war without the state becoming a police state. This isn't Alex Jones stuff Johny this is just looking at history and watching it repeat itself. THis is what Eisenhower warned us about in 1955.
Johny look at the FACTS the taking away and inroads on our personal liberties that have happened in the last 40 years, to justify this drug war to make us all safer.
Look at the billions spent and the fact that we are not any safer.
We incarcerate more black men then south Africa at the height of apartheid.
What do you think is going to happen when millions of young men who have become institutionalized raise children with a institutionalized mind set.
YOUR a cop look on the street, then look on TV.
DO I blame all cops NO, BUT you certainly never said NO im not going to trample the constitution that my fathers and his fathers died defending.
NO, in fact your fraternal order has fought very hard to trample the corners at every opportunity.
I may need to grow up Johny that is true. YOU need to wake the fuck up because we have had it.
"IM sorry but the personality type alpha male mentality that your profession attracts generally tend to be assholes."
Well the job does attract type A personalities. There really isn't anything that can be done about that. The job also pretty much requires a dominant personality. Your florist would not last very long.
"People are going up to you and shaking your hand to deal with there own fear. NOT because they do not fear you."
How the heck do you know what these people are thinking? Stop projecting your fears on everyone else.
"I am friends with many police officers. I can honestly say that there is no way they should be allowed to have free rain over our society."
I doubt you are friends with any officers. How can you be when you fear them so much? Nobody is saying that police should have free reign over society. However they have to be allowed to do their job without being hung out to dry by people who are resentful and afraid of them.
I agree the war on drugs isn't working but as I have said on this site time and time again, the police simply enforce the laws put forth by elected officials. Elect folks that will enact laws that follow your agenda. Simple as that.
"Look at the billions spent and the fact that we are not any safer."
It's a violent world out there. I suppose the police are to blame for that? They are trying to hold the line and I can point out many officers who died trying to make things better.
"We incarcerate more black men then south Africa at the height of apartheid.
What do you think is going to happen when millions of young men who have become institutionalized raise children with a institutionalized mind set."
True but as long as black men break the law at a high rate, that means they are going to jail. Change the laws if you can but don't expect the police to refuse to do their jobs.
"O I blame all cops NO, BUT you certainly never said NO im not going to trample the constitution that my fathers and his fathers died defending."
"Trample the Constitution"? Get real. A majority of cops spent a tour or two with the military prior to becoming officers. Most are as patriotic as you can get. To say they are trampling the Constitution is ridiculous. Laws are passed by lawmakers and vetted by the courts. Times change and I doubt the founding fathers had to crystal ball to see some of the public safety challenges we face today.
You have no freaking clue how to solve these problems you are moaning about. Just blame the bad old police.
"Help help! I'm being repressed!"
Rich, I am not afraid of the police when I drive to work. If your so afraid the police are going to pull you over and beat you then you should make sure you drive safely.
Maybe they didn't get out of the car because they didn't want to get involved in something that didn't concern them.
I consider myself a law abiding citizen and I'm not afraid in my own town. As a matter of fact I would feel safer video taping a cop than some stranger. You should go around video taping the police and total strangers and see which one gets you in a fight faster.
I have driven for 25 years and was pulled over once for a failed inspections sticker.
We all know why they didnt get out of the car. Try getting honest.
Well in my state every single boyscout who owns a pocket knife is a felon.
You are Probably not a law abiding citizen, its practically impossible to be a law abiding citizen you are fooling yourself.
DO you realize that when prosecutors are sitting at the bar bragging about how good they are at there jobs they bring up the cases when they know they put and innocent man in jail.
That is just the reality of the world you live in.
YOU are not a law abiding citizen you can keep telling yourself that all you want.
Something you are doing is illegal.
HEY keep sucking up they wont decide to destroy you life.
You have been driving for 25 years and have only been stopped once, there must be some real renegade cops where you live. You must just be one of the lucky few who don't get pulled over for no reason.
I won't respond to the rest of your rant because it is so ridiculous.
ditto
Well, in some cases the police are afraid to let some of *their own* out on the street:
Responding to York's termination request, the board in early May held a fact-finding hearing to look into allegations that Morales used excessive force against a suspect he was transferring to St. Joseph Hospital in February. During the trip, the board found evidence that Morales shoved the suspect's head against a door, choked him and slammed his head onto a hospital gurney, in addition to calling the suspect his “bitch” and saying he was in Morales' “home.”
During the hearing, Morales acknowledged “for the street, I'm done. I really am.”
The board Monday found that Morales was guilty of excessive force, and that when weighed in addition to his “more recent disciplinary record,” Morales' behavior and conduct “reflects a pattern of behavior not acceptable to the Fort Wayne Police Department.”
In conjunction with the suspension leveled on him, to save his job, Morales entered into a formal agreement with York to remain in the investigative division he transferred into three weeks ago for the remainder of his career.
...
Upon his return from suspension, Morales will rejoin the force as a detective, having interactions primarily with witnesses to gather information.
...
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20100629/NEWS...
I think everybody would agree there are cops who don't deserve to be cops but to cry and overreact every time a cop touches somebody is pathetic.
Bart,
A lot of us read that article also. The point where the cop seemed shaken by his actions, seemed to apologize and then immediately told the photographer how she could file a complaint against him satisfied me. Read enough of Johnny Law's posts and you get the impression that most cops are decent folk and there is no need to make a federal case out of this.
I don't want to diminish the injury or damage she suffered, but come on, a small flesh wound (any Monty Python fans out there??) gets six comments but a vicious smack down gets thirty surprises you???? When all of the facts are in (listening to Johnny again) then this may be a Federal case or just one hell of a civil liability for the bar owner.
Let's all remember that Johnny Law believes that "legal" = "justified." It is "legal" to give concussions to suspects who are resisting without violence, therefore, for officers like Johnny Law it is "justified." Only when it becomes illegal for cops to use disproportionate force on a suspect, will it then become unjustified to use disproportionate force on a suspect.
This kind of authoritarian thinking is precisely the reason there are so many thuggish cops and so little respect for LEO's in general, even the good ones, who know that any cop who thinks it's okay to give concussions to suspects who aren't fighting, is a bad cop.
If the law says it is legal, that means it meets the "objectively reasonable" standard put forth by the courts.
So let me break it down for you.
Legal = objectively reasonable
ergo
objectively reasonable = justified
After watching the video 4 times, I have to conclude that the victim was not resisting to the point where he should have earned the beat down with the Asp.
Or the pepper spray.
Acording to the text, he was a police officer who was hired to do security for the gas station. What uniform is he wearing? Police or private security? Was he armed with a firearm?
As others have noted, it is obvious to me that the guy filming is afraid of the cop/security guy seeing him filming the action. When it looks like he is about to look toward the camera, the camera goes low and sometimes out of sight of the action.
This speaks loudly of a fear of police.
As for the victims friends - he could do better. Not one of them tried to stop the beating. Which may or may not come back to my previous question about a firearm.
Now, the guy probably deserved to go to jail for DUI - note the beer bottle one of the friends pulls from the vehicle towards the end of the video. But he did not deserve the beat down according to evidence provided by the video. Perhaps we couldn't see the true cause of the beat down, but I'm siding with the victim here.
how do you get a DUI if you arent driving? and why was he even talking to the guy?
It looks like the cop who beat down that man didn't even file a report like he is suppose to. Or even arrest anyone.(http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr0/article_7da66b90-95c8-5a98-9c19...)
If he did nothing wrong then why didn't he file a report or aresst any one?
Hmmm.
From that link:
"St. Louis police said Wednesday that officers who use force are required to prepare reports explaining their actions and who was injured or killed.
"No report was filed and no arrest made in the New Year's Day incident involving a patrolman videotaped hitting a man with a baton and spraying him with pepper spray, police said. Any time uniformed off-duty officers working secondary use force, they are required to submit reports detailing and justifiying their actions.
...
"The gas station owner identified the patrolman as Dustin Ries, 37, who he said was off-duty and providing security from a substation on the property. Police said the officer was put on administrative duty Tuesday, though the department has refused to identify him or release details of the incident unless the investigation results in charges or disciplinary action."
...
I wonder if "beat and release" is a justified use of force?
Reading further down...
"A 2008 federal suit alleged that Ries assaulted two men with his police baton and pepper spray while he was working off-duty at the Big Bang piano bar on Laclede's Landing in April 2006. Al Johnson, a Clayton attorney for the plaintiffs, said the lawsuit was settled out of court and assault charges against his clients were dropped."
...
The classic "we'll drop charges if you let us get away with not admitting the officer's guilt."
...
"A 2005 civil suit in St. Louis accused Ries of striking a man on the head with his baton and spraying him with pepper spray in an on-duty traffic stop on North Grand Boulevard in September 2004. The plaintiff, Gerold Browner, 42, who now lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C., said in an interview Wednesday he dropped the suit against Ries in exchange for criminal charges against him being dismissed."
...
He does like that baton and pepper spray. Looks like he's gone for the head shot before, too. But once again, "We'll drop charges if you drop the suit."
...
"'I wasn't surprised,' Browner said of the Ries' encounter on video. 'I knew he was going to do it again.'"
...
I'd say he was clairvoyant if the pattern here wasn't so obvious at this point.
...
"Blaine Thompson, 21, of St. Louis County, who said he was the designated driver for the man who was beaten, said the man who was beaten had been grabbing the officer's legs. Thompson would not elaborate, saying police asked him not to speak with reporters."
...
St. Louis police apparently don't like YouTube or people in general getting any facts out.
...
"Mayor Francis Slay posted comments to his blog, saying, 'I cannot imagine anything that could have happened before (or after) the recorded incident to justify or explain the officer's actions.'"
...
When the *boss* talks like that, it's probably over.
The friend says he was grabbing the cops legs, wow the cops must be paying him off.
This mayor sounds like an ass clown and will probably overreact and in an effort to make himself look good will overstep his authority. The officer will probably end up suing or getting a paid vacation.
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