Lawyer: New Orleans Man Was Not Drunk (Paging Rodney King)

AP/MSNBC ^ | 10/10/2005 | AP/MSNBC

[citizencon]

The Mayor should take full responsibility for the misconduct and incompetency of his subordinates just like Pres. Bush was blamed and took full responsibility for the gross negligence and incompetency of his subordinates (federal and state) in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster.
The alleged victim should sue the Mayor not the police officers.

[Dave278]

From a cop to a soldier .... You could'nt have said it better.

[TheBattman]

He wasn't fighting back? Have we not seen the same video?

Now - what we didn't see before is what's troubling. These police beating videos never seem to show anything prior to the atual event in question, so we are at the mercy of the cops and other folks who were there. Was this guy causing trouble and was being escorted away when he took a swing? Or did the cops just decide to take frustration out on this old drunk, and he just was trying to defend himself?

[DJ MacWoW]

The Mayor should take full responsibility for the misconduct and incompetency of his subordinates

There's pics and more on the story at the link given with the article.

Mayor Ray Nagin said, “I don’t know what the gentleman did, but whatever he did, he didn’t deserve what I saw on tape.”

[kittymyrib]

The CNN footage of the victim of these thugs with badges lying in a large pool of his own blood explains his booking picture. It would be amazing if he retains sight in his damaged eye.
Nice tourist advertisement. No sane person would ever set foot in that hellhole.

[DJ MacWoW]

You can't see it all cause the cop on the horse tried to block the cameras view.(video in post 14) So what would be the excuse for the attack on the producer?

[Joe Boucher]

What about the phantom cops on the payrole????????
Lot of stink coming from south lousiana about now.

[hispanarepublicana]

When even Mark Furhman says he's seen the tape 15 times and there appears to be no justification, you know the cops are toast. (per his appearance on FNC tonight)
If it were a crime to be drunk and stumbling on Bourbon Street, I'd be wearing a crocheted poncho made by my cellmate.

[~Peter]

Staying in a hotel in the Quarter in New Orleans several years ago ... the staff at the desk warned me to stay near the Quarter at night for safety's sake and cautioned me strongly about the police which they said were "brutal".

I've never been back and can't see why anyone would want to go there. This city doesn't have a chance and doesn't deserve one.

[mathurine]

If there wasn't some skivvy chance to make money on this, there wouldn't be any lawyers lurking.

[Squantos]

Anyone else connect the cop pushing the producer to the same guy that body slammed the 80 year old woman in her home......sure looked the same in both videos.

[myprecious]

I know that the NOPD are stressed

They probably need another trip to Las Vegas.

[drt1]

Agree. I was there a couple of years ago and couldn't understand the attraction. Not my cup of tea for either vacation or business trip especially given it's pre-Katrina rep. Now it's even worse.

If I want to see a trashed town run by a bunch of thugs I'll go 30 miles down the road to Detroit - A trip I've taken exactly once in the past 7 years.

[moonman]

I am former law enforcement (Dept. of Justice) and I have been quiet over the past, say, 10 years. I am ashamed of most of today's law enforement. The professionalism has deteriorated to new lows each year. It seems that the police today are incapable of communicating with the citizenry they have sworn to protect. If these cops, and others, feel they are bad asses with badges and guns, they should go to where the bad asses with guns, but no badges, are. Training starts in Iraq, Afganistan or your local American ghetto today.

[drt1]

You comments are very accurate and appropriate.

I'm looking at a video clip of the guy they beat up/arrested and he's claiming he hasn't had a drop of alcohol in 25 years and he doesn't know why they attacked. Warm up the cell for these out of control, macho misfits.

[ncountylee]

I was also warned about the police and advised by the hotel to cross the street if I was alone rather to walk by them.

[An American in Turkiye]

If you are referring to the Rodney King beating, then yes, you are correct. King led the police on a high speed chase, was hopped up on drugs, and refused arrest.

But on this video, the guy was just standing there. And once the cops had him under CONTROL, they continued to beat on him, which goes against all training tactics they are taught.

This episode only adds to the mistrust of cops, which leads to the mistrust of authority, which in turn leads to the mistrust of the government, which ultimately leads to the mistrust of what we are doing in the middle east.

I wear my uniform with pride. Unfortunately, the cops that beat a 64 year old man into a bloody pulp, then slammed a reporter into a car, do not.

[Texas Songwriter]

These cops should do 20 years hard time. The old man was doing nothing. The worst he could have done is mouthed-off. He did not deserve a beating for that. He should own everything in New Orleans after this. This kind of thing is not right.

[moonman]

Thanks. But, I'm sure some here will enable most any criminal cop behavior. It's the stress of the job, don't you know.

fyi ... nothing scientific, just my own personal poll numbers ... but a lot of cops do not like or support the 2nd Amendment. They feel they are the only qualified people to carry firearms. Scary thought!

[Texas Songwriter]

What is amazing is the restraint in the major media to hasten to say, 'we must wait for their day in court'. CNN has gone for the sensational, but most media outlets are bending over backward to give NO cops an excuse. I particularly liked the one coming from Nagans' office, "The police are exhausted". I agree, from beating the sh*t out of innocent citizens. What a world.