by Slick Nick on 06/17/2010 11:15:19 AM EST

I'm not one to be defending police violence too often, but this is a no brainer.

Let's get real. If this was a guy that jumped in to help a friend escape while a cop was struggling to make an arrest, there would be no question at all that that the cop had every reason to throw that punch.

It doesn't matter what precipitated this, even an arrest for something as stupid as jaywalking. This stupid shit assaulted a cop while he was trying to arrest her friend. At that point he had every right to punch her in the face. Hell, at that point I wouldn't blame him if he tazed her. What's he supposed to do after she shoves and struggles with him to free her friend, give up and let her walk away just because she is female? Fuck that. What happened to equal rights for the sexes. If a guy did this he would be punched in the face in a second - and no one would give it a second thought. The same rules should hold for a woman. She interfered, she assaulted the cop, she got punched in the face. So what? She deserved it.

Making the original arrest for jaywalking is certainly stupid. But assaulting a cop while he is trying to make that arrest is idiotic. She richly deserved the punch in the face and she deserves whatever she gets in court for her idiocy in interfering with an arrest the way she did, no matter how stupid that arrest was.

by glassmaker1 on 06/17/2010 11:44:55 AM EST

I don't think it was excessive force but I do believe it wasn't necessary force either. He didn't need to punch her in the face but she did have it coming. People talk about sexism and other stuff it exists for a reason. A man has no reason to hit a woman unless she puts his life in danger. We naturally are physically bigger and stronger so we have no reason to be hitting them unless absolutely necessary. This was not a case but I don't rule it excessive because he only punched her one time. Had he beat her down I would deeming it otherwise. And those who said she should have been tased are obviously speaking from emotion not rationale. Tasing has effects on a person's health and if they have a heart complication can potentially kill them. So please refrain from such ignorant banter.

by ralx225b on 06/17/2010 01:10:48 PM EST

I'm sure it was only a turn of a phrase but police don't (shouldn't) use force if someone "has it coming." They (should) use the justified amount of force necessary to stop the threat.

"The cop grabbed the woman to stop her, but she became angry and tried to resist arrest. As she was struggling to get away from the cop, her friend came in and tried to pull her away. At that point, the cop punched the friend in the face."

1) Officer in the course of his duties restrained a person "fleeing" arrest.

2) Person resisted arrest.

3) Second person assaulted the officer.

4) Crowd developed.

In a split second the office has to make a decision, to use force or not and how much. Punching the woman may not seem very polite but that's not the issue. Letting yourself be beaten down and disarmed is the issue.

Wouldn't that have made a great headline? "Police officer executed and six innocent bystanders killed by officer's own gun during routine stop."

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 06/17/2010 02:04:22 PM EST

Gender and jaywalking have nothing to do with it. I know that if I attack a cop, no matter what the underlying crime, I'm taking my life into my own hands. They should have known as much. She got off with a punch in the face; no big deal.

These two women were giving him all he could handle for quite a while. Was he supposed to wait until they wrestled him to the ground? At what point does he get desperate enough to use more (deadly?) force. Punching the second woman in the face removed her from the situation and allowed him to arrest the first woman.

And remember: he doesn't know these women, what they're capable of, or whether they're mentally ill (and getting into a shoving match with a cop over a jaywalking ticket probably does make you mentally ill). If a cop makes it his policy to allow women to resist arrest without using reasonable force he'll get himself seriously hurt eventually.

by john sfl on 06/17/2010 03:32:32 PM EST

Now, I'm not sure if the officer was equipped with this (although I have a feeling he might have) but I think that perhaps the very best way he could have controlled the situation is to use pepper spray on the friend that was pushing him and trying to get her friend away. 

 However, there are some problems with that.  The very first problem is that he would essentially would have had to ask everyone to stop, pull the pepper spray out of his belt ask, "please hold still" and spray.  The spray would have essentially put an end to her behavior and would let him control the situation.  Personally, I would rather get popped in the face than get sprayed.  

 Now given the situation that he was in...I actually think that he held back a lot.  He didn't beat on her excessively, just a surprise hit to the head, and then concentrated on getting handcuffs on the person he was arresting.  Of ALL the excessive force videos I have seen...this comes nowhere near close.  

by blacknight on 06/17/2010 03:35:04 PM EST

Look, I despise cops that do this kind of work and that give speeding tickets for going 5 miles over.

 But unfortunately I have to be on his side here. I didn't know until Anna explained the situation prior to the video that he was just trying to write a ticket and not arrest them for jaywalking. 

 What he should have done instead of punching the woman in the face is pull out his tazer point it at both chicks and say "Drop to the ground and put your hands behind your back or you get tazed."

 The punch wasn't excessive force because the girl backed off and let the officer deal with the jaywalker. 

 The other thing I have an issue with is Cenk's words. I'm not sure if he meant it to sound sexist but he said "You don't punch a WOMAN in the mouth man" (with that intonation). So it would be ok if it was a guy? I feel like on this he is being a bit bias.

 I think he could have handled it a bit better buy pulling out a tazer and warning them with that but he definately shouldn't be suspended. Maybe they can teach them what to do in that situation. Like take a class that says hey in cases where it's not too violent but you can't gain control of the person do this...

 

Anyways that's my 2 cents. 

by Knitemare on 06/17/2010 03:49:51 PM EST

for me, no, the A merican police get a bad rap on stuff like this, but every one wants one when the shit hits the fan, but in times like this i see a disregaurde for authority, support your local police force and fo fuck sack dont antagonize them or assault them, thats just asking for trubble.

by jamesbgood on 06/17/2010 05:29:12 PM EST

If we just let people cross the street where ever they want, We will have a mess on the road people getting hit all over.  Jaywalking is just asking to get hit by a car , or shot by some wack job, That is why we have crosswalks , Its for safety dah.
The women needed to be hit to put her out of the way, grow up people these jerks are always looking to go agianst the law anyway.

by tuna on 06/18/2010 06:41:13 AM EST

If that was real time...Excessive!  True the woman was walking up to him but you can't just sock her in the face.  The cop clearly needs additional training.  Most cops roll with another one for saftey issues, like this one, but in an attempt to save money, some police roll solo.  Once he socked her, he put himself in danger.  I went through the Fulton Co. Police Academy in GA. and one thing they teach is if the situation leaves your control, exit the situation, safely.  As soon as she resisted, he should have called for back-up...Dumb law anyway...I can't image him treating a white woman in the same manner, much less the punch.  Sorry Ana.

by ansil28 on 06/18/2010 09:05:57 AM EST

I hear most of you all saying that jaywalking is no big deal, if she got hit by a car that would be her problem. I'm not so sure you would feel the same way, if you were the one driving the car that hit her, not to mention the damage to your car. Oh, and you would probably get sued too.

by ariess63 on 06/18/2010 12:38:16 PM EST

Hell yeah that was excessive force - case closed!

Sue that bitch ass cop and have him removed off the force immediately.  Resist all you want and if you're a cop, learn how to f'n subdue & arrest an unruly civilian.

Really Ana? Enough excuses already.

There's something inherent wrong going on in America

by rev24 on 06/18/2010 01:25:41 PM EST

i see a lot of people saying "jaywalking!? really?" in here but let's be honest here, it's not like that cop decided that day that he was gonna go out and write some jaywalking citations. no, news reports said that the SPD have had problems with that intersection, some people i know in the area have led me to believe that the school there has also requested that police get the problem under control.

 

so from the get go he was just doing his job. he had to stop everyone (he told 5 people in total to stop, only the one girl ignored him and mouthed off while walking away). he wasn't the one who decided he was going to write that citation, his superiors did. and he is not the person that decided a arrest was needed, the girl decided that by rufusing to just allow the officer to write the citation.

and finally the cop did not decide to escalate the situation further than the 1 arrest of the girl obstructing him from a jaywalking citation, the girls friend decided to escalate the situation by assaulting the officer. the only decision the officer really made was to not use his other methods of force, which as ana mentioned have a much higher chance of serious injury to the girl. in my opinion all the officer did was give her a love-tap to the mouth to let her and the crowd know that he meant business, and it worked. it's not like he hit her with a lot of force, she was still standing after the punch, she didn't have a broken nose or jaw, wasn't missing teeth, wasn't bleeding... LET HIM GO!

by ktmatlock on 06/18/2010 05:15:48 PM EST

The cop didn't go that far because of the Jaywalking, it was the disrespect of authority and the resisting arrest that caused all this mess.

Enforcing the law on jaywalking may or may not be an effective use of police time but it IS the law.

The face punching was valid and that girl was lucky she didn't get arrested as well

The cop was operating alone and did what he had to do to perform his job.

Police brutality is when you are going home late at night after work and school and a police car pulls close and they ask you to stop, you walk 3 houses to your apartment and the cops get so pissed at you for not doing what they told you to do that they gang up on you and start beating the living crap out of you.

when your mom comes crying to the door asking them to stop one of them pulls a gun to her face and forces her to watch.

Eventually they put you in the car and throw you out in front of a hospital... but by then you are already dead.

Thats a true story that happened in Sao Paulo (aka the most populous city in the world).

When you disrespect authority, expect escalation, and pray to have a cop as obstinate and controlled as this one.

Although... if all cops learned Aikido, they would know how to easily disable a person without causing injury and none of this would happen.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity."Yeats

by kkdragonlord on 06/18/2010 07:08:28 PM EST

Of course.  It's obvious.  Look, cops should go around arresting people for not being in the crosswalk.  Then, they should beat you up in the process of that arrest.  That's why we have cops.  Oh, I forgot, as long as they're not white. 

Imagine we had video of Ana Kasparian jaywalking.  And when a cop went to give her a ticket, one of her fair-haired, educated companions tried to protest.  So, the cop cracked her upside the head and arrested Ana.  You know what would happen?  Everyone does.  The cop would be indefinitely suspended pending investigation and Ana would file a lawsuit against the cop, police department, and city of Los Angeles. 

*Aside, I know Ana is Armenian.  But NOBODY would make that distinction.  She has light skin and looks white enough.  She would be considered white.*


The clownish support of this asshole is unbelievable.  THIS IS HOW THE POLICE HARASS PEOPLE.  A cop can arrest you at ANY time.  This ain't Law & Order.  Whenever you wanna harass blacks or latinos, you just say they're disturbing the peace, or jaywalking, or some other purely subjective misdemeanor.  Of course, if you do that to white kids, there's a public outcry.  If you do it to anyone else, fuck 'em.

So, again, he should've gunned her down.  He probably would've gotten a medal.  Just say she's a coke mule and start blasting.

by DStroyer4 on 06/19/2010 11:32:13 AM EST

One cop, surrounded my many people.  Chick trying to resist arrest.  Friend comes in and pushes cop.  Cop needs to do his job and he gets interfered with.  Clear cut to me.  I just wonder why didn't punch her hard enough to send her to the ground.

by TJD on 06/19/2010 03:39:00 PM EST

Come on girls: Sing along!

"The first thing Fascists usually try to do is silencing the opposition."

by opposition on 06/19/2010 04:14:07 PM EST

I am with Ana, Cenk on this you’re a fail,  you take away all options the officer has and those offered by Ana,  but MOST IMPORTANT you cant suggest what you think he should have done , AND yet you want to suspend him or a week OR MORE

The officer is in a NO WIN situation with you,
 

You say he should have just let them go ?
and with a warning to their backs as they leave ? ? ?
how lame is that ? ?
 

you feel the jay-walking is not important ? ? ?
that only the jay-walker is effected ? ?
so maybe we don’t need seatbelt laws either ? ?
you tell my Aunt  ,  who is PETRIFIED to drive now
that jay-walking only effects jay-walkers
she will see the shocked face of that young girl for the rest of her life
 

My view is BOTH girls should have been arrested
There was a guy that REPEATEDLY tried to save the girl in red from herself
BIG THUMBS UP TO THAT GUY , HE TRIED
thumbs up the witnesses that video taped the situation

by eruigou on 07/14/2010 05:45:12 PM EST