Cop Loses Badge Over YouTube Video That Shows Him Body-Checking Bicyclist

[Galileo Galilei]

Cop Loses Badge Over YouTube Video That Shows Him Body-Checking Bicyclist

Youtube

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

AP: The video, posted anonymously, shows the officer standing in the street as bikes whiz past. He moves toward a cyclist and violently knocks him to the ground in front of crowds of people.

Full article here

WATCH VIDEO! LOOKS LIKE A HOCKEY GAME!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/cop-lose...bicyclist.html

BONUS NEWS!

Caught on tape: Army recruiters threaten high school students

Mark Greenblatt

11 News Defenders

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Video here or here

HOUSTON — With a war in Iraq and fighting on the rise in Afghanistan, the struggle to bring in new U.S. Army recruits is heating up again.

And Irving Gonzales, 18, got caught up in it all.

As his family’s oldest male, he feels he has to do whatever it takes to help out his single mom. For him, that means working long hours at his after-school job.

“My mom was left struggling. I would give her more than half my paycheck,” Gonzales said.

That’s why the Aldine High School senior started thinking about the Army – and the tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses that can come with enlistment.

“They were offering me school, they were offering me bonuses,” he said.

So Gonzales signed up – but only to “pre-enlist” in the Delayed Entry Program. DEP allows kids to try out the military without a binding commitment.

But the 11 News Defenders have found there is a problem: Army recruiters aren’t sticking to the program and are bullying and even lying to potential recruits and their families to keep them from dropping out.

After he had a change of heart, Gonzalez became one such victim.

“I’d rather just stay here, go to college,” he said he told his recruiter.

The reaction: Gonzalez said a recruiter told him if he did drop out, they would send him to jail.

Full article here

READ MORE!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/caught-o...-students.html

[Carole]

Between assaults by police and terrible tasers, the police are fast losing credibility with teh people. The cities need to get rid of the tasers, have policemen's anger issues addressed, pay them the wages they actually deserve, whatever that may be, dump the bad ones, and make sure that those who remain are not going to harass and attack citizens without just cause.

The next step is that the cops who have been receiving training to act against average citizens will routinely be doing so. That is a bad precedent to be setting. When the time comes, we need the police to be with the citizens, not against them.

[CopThatSupportsRonPaul]

Hmm odd video, obviously we are not seeing the whole story. Why would the officer let all the other bicyclers ride past, but then when this one bicycler starts coming, the officer quickly runs to him and knocks him off the bike?

Was that bicycler a known fugitive? Was he stopped by police earlier, and tried running from the police on his bicycle by trying to blend into the crowd?

The title of this thread is also misleading, the officer has not lost his badge yet, he's on desk duty until the investigation is over.

[Join The Paul Side]

Hmm odd video, obviously we are not seeing the whole story. Why would the officer let all the other bicyclers ride past, but then when this one bicycler starts coming, the officer quickly runs to him and knocks him off the bike?

Was that bicycler a known fugitive? Was he stopped by police earlier, and tried running from the police on his bicycle by trying to blend into the crowd?

The title of this thread is also misleading, the officer has not lost his badge yet, he's on desk duty until the investigation is over.

Give me a break. Cops around the entire nation abuse their authority on a routine basis. Just a bunch of cowards that hide behind a badge so they can take their aggressions out on citizens, rather than go toe to toe with somebody badder than they are.

Seen it too many times.

[CopThatSupportsRonPaul]

Give me a break. Cops around the entire nation abuse their authority on a routine basis. Just a bunch of cowards that hide behind a badge so they can take their aggressions out on citizens, rather than go toe to toe with somebody badder than they are.

If you say it, it must be true.

[Join The Paul Side]

If you say it, it must be true.

damn right.

[revolutionary8]

Hmm odd video, obviously we are not seeing the whole story. Why would the officer let all the other bicyclers ride past, but then when this one bicycler starts coming, the officer quickly runs to him and knocks him off the bike?

Was that bicycler a known fugitive? Was he stopped by police earlier, and tried running from the police on his bicycle by trying to blend into the crowd?

The title of this thread is also misleading, the officer has not lost his badge yet, he's on desk duty until the investigation is over.

The biker ran himself in to the cop, not the other way around. Don't believe your own eyes.

The biker, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was arrested because he was obstructing traffic in the heart of Times Square, a criminal complaint said. He was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
The complaint said Long, 29, deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

http://news.aol.com/article/youtube-...cyclist/104938

[SeanEdwards]

Yet another example of the benefits of widespread video recording of public spaces.

Got to keep those wacky cops on their best behavior.

[Oyate]

Hmm odd video, obviously we are not seeing the whole story. Why would the officer let all the other bicyclers ride past, but then when this one bicycler starts coming, the officer quickly runs to him and knocks him off the bike?

Was that bicycler a known fugitive? Was he stopped by police earlier, and tried running from the police on his bicycle by trying to blend into the crowd?

Why indeed? If he was a fuge, why did not both officers respond? Why was the cyclist not ordered to stop? Any why was such force applied?

The truth is that the Critical Mass cyclists in NYC have been repeatedly assaulted, sometimes brutally assaulted by NYPD, both in uniform and plain clothes. There are endless YouTubes of this in NYC and other cities.

Note that the courts have held that in NYC, the Critical Mass riders need no permit, that theirs is a legal activity.

[CopThatSupportsRonPaul]

Yet another example of the benefits of widespread video recording of public spaces.

Got to keep those wacky cops on their best behavior.

Videos can also distort reality. We don't know what happened before the video was being recorded, or before the action that happened on the video. Just because it's on video, you can't take it as gospel.

Why indeed? If he was a fuge, why did not both officers respond? Why was the cyclist not ordered to stop? Any why was such force applied?

That's what I would like to know. Obviously we are not seeing the whole picture from the video. We only see what happens when the bicycler enters the frame and rides past the officer. We don't see what that bicycler was doing before he entered the frame.



You don't find it odd, even slightly odd, that the officers had no problem letting the other bicyclers ride by, but as soon as the officer catches sight of this one bicycler, he immediately takes off and starts charging towards that bicycler?

The bicycler obviously had to do something that the other bicycler's didn't do to warrant that reaction from the officer, and because it happened before the bicycler entered the vision of the camera, we will never see what the bicycler did. We only see what the officer did in response.

[revolutionary8]

Videos can also distort reality. We don't know what happened before the video was being recorded, or before the action that happened on the video. Just because it's on video, you can't take it as gospel.




That's what I would like to know. Obviously we are not seeing the whole picture from the video. We only see what happens when the bicycler enters the frame and rides past the officer. We don't see what that bicycler was doing before he entered the frame.



You don't find it odd, even slightly odd, that the officers had no problem letting the other bicyclers ride by, but as soon as the officer catches sight of this one bicycler, he immediately takes off and starts charging towards that bicycler?

The bicycler obviously had to do something that the other bicycler's didn't do to warrant that reaction from the officer, and because it happened before the bicycler entered the vision of the camera, we will never see what the bicycler did. We only see what the officer did in response.

Read the dang complaint. Read the report. Here it is again- pay attention to the bold.

NEW YORK (July 29) - Police stripped a New York City officer of his badge and gun Monday after a video posted on YouTube showed him body-checking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration.

The video was recorded Friday at the Critical Mass ride, a monthly protest of urban reliance on motor vehicles.

The video, posted anonymously, shows the officer standing in the street as bikes whiz past. He moves toward a cyclist and violently knocks him to the ground in front of crowds of people.

The officer in the video was placed on desk duty pending the outcome of a police department investigation, chief police spokesman Paul Browne said. The officer's name wasn't released.

The biker, Christopher Long, of Hoboken, N.J., was arrested because he was obstructing traffic in the heart of Times Square, a criminal complaint said. He was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
The complaint said Long, 29, deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

Now, are you trying to tell us that "the offficer" was not "the officer", or are you trying to tell us that the video is wrong in that Long actually steered his bike in to "the officer"?

[Galileo Galilei]

Videos can also distort reality. We don't know what happened before the video was being recorded, or before the action that happened on the video. Just because it's on video, you can't take it as gospel.




That's what I would like to know. Obviously we are not seeing the whole picture from the video. We only see what happens when the bicycler enters the frame and rides past the officer. We don't see what that bicycler was doing before he entered the frame.



You don't find it odd, even slightly odd, that the officers had no problem letting the other bicyclers ride by, but as soon as the officer catches sight of this one bicycler, he immediately takes off and starts charging towards that bicycler?

The bicycler obviously had to do something that the other bicycler's didn't do to warrant that reaction from the officer, and because it happened before the bicycler entered the vision of the camera, we will never see what the bicycler did. We only see what the officer did in response.

The cop engaged in criminal behaviour. I don't care why he took out the biker, that's why criminals are so dangerous, they can strike at any moment, and for no reason. Perhaps the cop just hates our freedoms?

[SeanEdwards]

Videos can also distort reality. We don't know what happened before the video was being recorded, or before the action that happened on the video. Just because it's on video, you can't take it as gospel.

Maybe so, but when the video recording directly falsifies the sworn statements of the cop then it sure is interesting and worthy of consideration.

Is there any doubt that the police would use video footage that corroborated the cops statements?

[Sarge]

I watched the video several times.

Some observations.

At no time did the police officer put out his hand to tell the bicycle to stop. It was not close enough to see for sure, but it did not appear that the police officer shouted a warning. It looks like he might have said something to the other officer, but then no words as he moves towards the bicycle and slams the man to the ground.

The bicycle was quite a way back when he started moving and the bicycle was moving out of the way of the officer as he came towards the officer.

Even if he shot the bird at the officer, I don't see a justification for the officers action.

If the officer is going to stick to being attacked, an attorney is going rip him a new one with the video.

[Maverick]

I watched the video several times.

Some observations.

At no time did the police officer put out his hand to tell the bicycle to stop. It was not close enough to see for sure, but it did not appear that the police officer shouted a warning. It looks like he might have said something to the other officer, but then no words as he moves towards the bicycle and slams the man to the ground.

Did you notice that he also took like a quick step (step and 1/2 maybe) toward the cyclist? The rider would've been able to go around him if he hadn't done that. And he's claiming he was the one that was attacked?

Oh, and he also got a nice shot in there with his elbow too.

[CopThatSupportsRonPaul]

The cop engaged in criminal behaviour.

That's ridiculous. Police can legally use force to take down a suspect that has broken a law... jesus christ...

[Zolah]

I found the video to be extremely bizarre, the important to thing to remember with these sorts of stories (and video footage in general as stated above) is that the whole story is unknown to us. But, at the very least, I think the behaviour of the cop was excessive force.

[CopThatSupportsRonPaul]

But, at the very least, I think the behaviour of the cop was excessive force.

Before one calls excessive force, we most know all the circumstances.

If an officer orders someone to stop, and the person fails to stop, then forcefully getting them to stop (as was done in the video) is certainly not excessive force. What was the officer to do, say to himself "oh well, that guy didn't stop. Guess I'll have to catch him later."
?

Please...

[malkusm]

Before one calls excessive force, we most know all the circumstances.

If an officer orders someone to stop, and the person fails to stop, then forcefully getting them to stop (as was done in the video) is certainly not excessive force. What was the officer to do, say to himself "oh well, that guy didn't stop. Guess I'll have to catch him later."
?

Please...

Did you want to answer to the fact that the officer claims the biker to have "deliberately steered into" him, or did you want to conveniently ignore that part?

[yongrel]

I love it when someone who knows what they are talking about shows up at RPF.

And I hate it when RPF sticks its fingers in its ears and says "Nah nah nah! I'm not listening!"

Anyway... welcome to the forums, Cop!

[revolutionary8]

I found the video to be extremely bizarre, the important to thing to remember with these sorts of stories (and video footage in general as stated above) is that the whole story is unknown to us. But, at the very least, I think the behaviour of the cop was excessive force.

What part of the story do we not know? 1) officer used excessive force 2) officer falsified a criminal complaint stating that the cyclist ran in to him, when we know that is a LIE.
Now, tell me again why I need to hear "the rest of the story" from that lying sob?

[revolutionary8]

Before one calls excessive force, we most know all the circumstances.

If an officer orders someone to stop, and the person fails to stop, then forcefully getting them to stop (as was done in the video) is certainly not excessive force. What was the officer to do, say to himself "oh well, that guy didn't stop. Guess I'll have to catch him later."
?

Please...

Please is right. Officer falsifies a criminal complaint, and we are supposed to believe his lies over what we see with our own eyes.

[yongrel]

Please is right. Officer falsifies a criminal complaint, and we are supposed to believe his lies over what we see with our own eyes.

And your case is provided by Prison Plantet

[malkusm]

I love it when someone who knows what they are talking about shows up at RPF.

And I hate it when RPF sticks its fingers in its ears and says "Nah nah nah! I'm not listening!"

Anyway... welcome to the forums, Cop!

Are you being serious? I agree with him that we don't know the full story, but there are some valid points here.

1) The cop didn't offer any signal for the biker to stop. However, I'm willing to admit that this could have been necessary, as again, we don't know the story. Perhaps if he had alerted the biker to his intentions, he would not have been able to apprehend him.

2) The cop flat-out lied, in an official police report. The biker is pretty obviously going out of his way (steering farther and farther to the LEFT of the frame) to AVOID the officer, who continues to pursue him and finally body-checks him to the pavement.

Again, maybe his actions were warranted, I wouldn't argue with you there. But if the cop doesn't have anything to hide, why not just say in the police report, "This is what the suspect did, this is why I took him out?" ...rather than lie and say he deliberately ran into the officer.

[revolutionary8]

Did you want to answer to the fact that the officer claims the biker to have "deliberately steered into" him, or did you want to conveniently ignore that part?

Because Long steered directly in to the cop, as clearly shown in the video, this is why excessive force was justified, lawful, and not an abuse of power.

I love it when someone who knows what they are talking about shows up at RPF.

And I hate it when RPF sticks its fingers in its ears and says "Nah nah nah! I'm not listening!"

Anyway... welcome to the forums, Cop!

la la la la la la la

[malkusm]

And your case is provided by Prison Plantet

The police report section of the story was provided by the Associated Press.

[Galileo Galilei]

Before one calls excessive force, we most know all the circumstances.

If an officer orders someone to stop, and the person fails to stop, then forcefully getting them to stop (as was done in the video) is certainly not excessive force. What was the officer to do, say to himself "oh well, that guy didn't stop. Guess I'll have to catch him later."
?

Please...

The only criminal I see on the video is the cop. He should be locked up and waterboarded. The other cop was right there, as well as many witnesses. The other cop should be busted as well.

And people wonder how they blew up WTC 7 in braod daylight!

[yongrel]

The police report section of the story was provided by the Associated Press.

Yes, this is true. However, I do not trust Prison Planet to provide me with a remotely accurate interpretation of events outside of that. I expect Prison Planet is manipulating the info in some way shape or form to suit AJ's agenda.

[malkusm]

Yes, this is true. However, I do not trust Prison Planet to provide me with a remotely accurate interpretation of events outside of that. I expect Prison Planet is manipulating the info in some way shape or form to suit AJ's agenda.

My whole point is:

Video depicting the event

Contradictory police report +
___________________________

Cop should be held responsible =


(I don't trust anything from Prison Planet either, but everything in the above statement is backed up by other sources)

[Deborah K]

Between assaults by police and terrible tasers, the police are fast losing credibility with teh people. The cities need to get rid of the tasers, have policemen's anger issues addressed, pay them the wages they actually deserve, whatever that may be, dump the bad ones, and make sure that those who remain are not going to harass and attack citizens without just cause.

The next step is that the cops who have been receiving training to act against average citizens will routinely be doing so. That is a bad precedent to be setting. When the time comes, we need the police to be with the citizens, not against them.

I don't agree with getting rid of tasers. I bought one for my 21 year old daughter after she got mugged in a shopping center parking lot last Christmas season. Now if some creep tries to mess with her, he's in for a real treat!

As far as rogue cops go, yeah they need to be taken down a notch or two, or three. But we, as a movement, need to be recruiting the cops just like we need to be recruiting the layman sheeple. In D.C. this past month, during the March, we reached out to the cops. We planted seeds. We made friends within the three juridictions that we had to get permits from in order to assemble; march; and rally. We intend to cultivate those friendships and 'enlighten' our new friends. We will need them when the time comes. It is up to us to educate them. Everyone who has a friend or relative or acquaintance or a friend who knows a cop, needs to start working on them and get them over to our side. Anyone with the ability to think rationally cannot deny that the freedom movement is on the side of right.