Nah, just yellow girbilism from the leftist press.
Read more accounts.
Basic story, guy gets written a ticket for jaywalking.
Guy tries to walk off as the officer is writing.
Officer grabs guy.
Guy initiates shoving match and tries to flee.
Officer shoves the guy to the ground, which (being concrete) scrapes him up.
Officer calls for more cops, and the guy is taken to Saint Lukes Hospital.
The end.
No anal cavity search on the sidewalk.
No continuous beating with billy clubs.
They didn’t taze him, bro.
No dogs were shot.
Nobody was sexually groped.
No doors were smashed in a no knock raid.
None of the thug behavior that warants a donutwatch thread.
If you get a ticket, just take it home and pay it later.
If you go to a foreign country, learn the language and don’t start a shoving match with the cops. Even if (or especially if) you are past your prime.
Thats this whole story in a nutshell.
84 year old people should be treated with respect. They may not be able to see, hear, or think clearly.
I don’t want to live in a world like this. I will resist heartless, impersonal, heavy handed government at every turn. A small government conservative can do no less. Small government means a weaker, less pervasive government. Small government means bigger individuals. Bigger individuals means more personal responsibility. Responsibility to take care of the people around us.
Jaywalking laws are designed to protect people, ensure safety, and make society better.
How does jacking up, beating up and ticketing an old man do any of that? Was he jay walking? Yup. If safety and a better society is the goal, and there are a crowd of cops around, get the guy safely across the street. Isn’t that the job? Isn’t the job to keep people safe? Or is the job taking money from old men, antagonizing citizens and beating the crap out them? Is the job handing out sanction or preserving life? What is the purpose of cops, traffic laws, courts, judges? Tell me, what is the purpose?
Is it to better society? Or are these laws just designed to flex municipal power? I can tell you what the purpose of these laws are. The purpose of these laws is whatever we make of them. Which do you choose? Safety and well being of society, or just flexing the muscles of city hall?
I’m not sure that your rhetorical style is going to have the effect you are looking for.
Excusing this group of cops (who apparently needed backup to handle this 84 year old guy) by listing out of all the God-awful things cops have done to folks in recent memory looks more like an indictment than a defense.
I think the notion of proportionate response should make a comeback.