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I was going to make a joke about how the cops don’t fuck around here in Austin, but nah. Those cops were out of line, and that seemed excessive. I have no idea what the situation was so can’t comment much further. That looks like it was downtown where the main drag of bars is, and it is often filled with drunk college aged people. Lots of crazy shenanigans go on down there. Regardless of the constant stream of drunk idiots they have to deal with down there, I believe two or three trained cops should be able to handle a scrawny dude much better than that.I'll add my 2 cents.
That was fucking awful. No way can that be defended.
From someone on the scene:
Since so many people are asking for context:
Taken from FB:
So last night I was out with some friends in Austin and witnessed police brutality first hand for the first time. It’s a different feeling when you see it on tv or all over the internet than when you actually witness it happening no less than 10 feet in front of you. Austin Police Department
1. I have no idea what this guy did or how this even happened. I turned around and all of a sudden they have him on the ground and are basically beating him. At the beginning of the video you can see he’s resisting some but not enough for two cops who are both obviously bigger than him to not be able to handle it...
2. How in the actual F**K can you tell someone to put their hands behind their back and stop resisting arrest when you’re literally sitting on his body and holding him not giving him the chance to move?!
3. Then to arrest the girl for literally doing nothing... she was screaming and crying out for help and so you get to arrest her for that now? I completely understand she should’ve listened the first time when he told her to back up but after a second time she listened and didn’t go near the situation all for this asshole to think he’s big and bad and arrest her because he can? Her friend is literally getting the living shit beat out of him and she’s helpless what else is she supposed to do?
4. When walking away from this incident all I can think about is what if this had been a black man and woman? Would they have gotten a punch to the face or automatically gotten a bullet to the head? I left the scene with rage, anger, and disappointment. I don’t think I’ve ever cried because I was so damn angry at a situation like I did this one.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion mate.There's so much wrong with the "someone on the scene" narrative that is contradicted by the tape.
"At the beginning of the video you can see he’s resisting some but not enough for two cops who are both obviously bigger than him to not be able to handle it." And the video shows them handling it, despite the guy resisting and the crazy woman interfering with them trying to accomplish the arrest. If a guy is resisting it is not going to be a nice clean act of leisurely placing his arms behind his back.
"How in the actual F**K can you tell someone to put their hands behind their back and stop resisting arrest when you’re literally sitting on his body and holding him not giving him the chance to move?" Quite easily, actually. Sitting on his body and holding him is a response to his resisting. He does not need to move to comply, other than to move his arms behind his back, or simply to stop fighting against the police who are attempting to move his arms behind his back. In the first fifteen seconds, there are three attempts to move his arms behind his back (that are caught on video - there may be more but the camera movement has it out of frame for some of that time.) At any point during the arrest, he could have just loosened up and let the police cuff him, but chose not to. This forced the officers to escalate their use of force.
"Then to arrest the girl for literally doing nothing... she was screaming and crying out for help and so you get to arrest her for that now?" Literally nothing? Besides the screaming and crowding the police and trying to interfere in them making the arrest, and despite being told numerous times to stand back, at 0:16 she puts her hands on one of the police. She does this again at 0:31. Attempting to use physical force to prevent a police officer from doing his job is a crime, and for that she was arrested.
It is worth noting that the video starts pretty late in the process. We don't see what the guy is being arrested for, or how much he resisted to get in the situation we are in when the video starts. What we are left with is a video of some police using force to effect an arrest on someone who is resisting. It isn't pretty, but seems to fall pretty far short of the abuse the guy describes.
When being arrested, simply do as told. If there is some miscarriage of justice being done, the time to fight it is once the lawyers get involved, not on the street. That is a game you can't win, and trying to only makes things a lot worse for you.
edited for grammar
every time you get within arm's reach of a keyboard, you should do the same.He should have just put his hands behind his back.
You're asking someone who's being held down and punched in the face to make themselves more vulnerable in order to de-escalate the situation."How in the actual F**K can you tell someone to put their hands behind their back and stop resisting arrest when you’re literally sitting on his body and holding him not giving him the chance to move?" Quite easily, actually. Sitting on his body and holding him is a response to his resisting. He does not need to move to comply, other than to move his arms behind his back, or simply to stop fighting against the police who are attempting to move his arms behind his back. In the first fifteen seconds, there are three attempts to move his arms behind his back (that are caught on video - there may be more but the camera movement has it out of frame for some of that time.) At any point during the arrest, he could have just loosened up and let the police cuff him, but chose not to. This forced the officers to escalate their use of force.
Its amazing we never see what the assholes did or even care to ask why the cops had to put him down in the first place.every time you get within arm's reach of a keyboard, you should do the same.
with the same consequences for non-compliance.
No, common sense and the law are demanding that he does just that.You're asking someone who's being held down and punched in the face to make themselves more vulnerable in order to de-escalate the situation.
Then you beat me up as I was reading your post.One time I saw something like this happening, so I beat up the cops. Then I beat up the guy that they were beating up. Then I beat up the onlookers and the assholes filming, oh I beat them up too.
Use of force continuum. If the subject is actively resisting, they have the authority to use hard control measures, which include enough force to damage tissue and break bones in order to control the subject. If it got to the point of being mounted and punch in the head, he wasn't exactly being complacent beforehand.Cop has him mounted punching him in the face telling him to put his hands behind his back. How is he supposed to do just that? Can anyone here put there hands behind there back while mounted and getting punched in the face? When asked to roll over he does. No doubt break the law go to jail but that was excessive to say the least.
So professionalism out the window? Just the look of the bystanders in the background says it all.Use of force continuum. If the subject is actively resisting, they have the authority to use hard control measures, which include enough force to damage tissue and break bones in order to control the subject. If it got to the point of being mounted and punch in the head, he wasn't exactly being complacent beforehand.
Lol it's Austin. The bystanders are mostly far-left gay people. As far as professionalism, what would you have them do? Answer a call, guy resists, and then they apologize and leave?So professionalism out the window? Just the look of the bystanders in the background says it all.