Posted on 02/24/2015 2:03:58 PM PST by redreno
Ft. Lauderdale, FL– A video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday shows Fort Lauderdale police officer Victor Ramirez harassing and assaulting an elderly gentleman at the Broward Bus Terminal in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The man is not being aggressive or threatening in any way when he is shoved to the ground and slapped by the officer. The man was reportedly trying to use the bus terminal’s restroom.
“The guy didn’t raise his hand to the officer at all,” a witness told Local 10 News. “The officer just knocked him down with his hands. The guy was defenseless.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thefreethoughtproject.com ...
Since the 'drug using derelict' was not in the restroom, how could this be about relieving himself in the public restroom.
Because the REPORTER thought he could sell the story better if HE CLAIMED the man was only trying to use the restroom ? (yes).
The derelict was sleeping on a bench in the bus station, and this wasn't the first time. Doing so is illegal. The cop asked him to leave and he refused at first.
What would you have done in this situation ?
That’s all that matters. I live in a freaking foreign country.
Not push him down and slap him.
Let’s say that you didn’t push him down and slap him. But, he tells you to go screw yourself and won’t move.
What would you do then ?
Doubtless you would beat the living crap out of him.
At least that’s the approach you seem to be advocating on this thread.
Come on, you know me better than that.
At least that’s the approach you seem to be advocating on this thread.
No, the approach I am taking is one of being skeptical.
First off, everyone is having a knee jerk reaction to "HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO USE THE RESTROOM". A gathering of all the facts indicates that he wasn't doing any such thing. The reporter MADE THAT UP to get you to read his article. I think you all are being 'suckered' by the media.
The derelict was sleeping on a bench in the bus station, which is prohibited, and he has been caught doing so more than once. He was asked to leave, he refused.
So... if you were an officer, who had specifically been asked by the bus station management to keep out the derelicts who sleep in the bus station, and trash the restrooms, and the said person told you to SCREW OFF, what would you do ?
What would YOU do???
You seem to think it's A-Okay for Officer Roidrage to have done soething that to this old geezer.
Seriously, what would you do?
I know you better than that, so you are just being satirical.
Which means you avoided the question.
I am skeptical, but honest and fair. I think this one article is only giving ONE side of the incident, and I think most readers are falling for it.
You seem to think it's A-Okay for Officer Roidrage to have done soething that to this old geezer.
Do I think the officer may have used emotion rather than logic ? Yes. Do I think that the drug abusing derelict who had been instructed not to come into the bus station to sleep, and yet kept doing it, and who told the officer "F&CK YOU, LEAVE ME ALONE" had an equal part in it ?
YES.
Seriously, what would you do?
I asked you because while you and others COMPLAIN, none of you offered any SOLUTIONS. Neither you nor any of the others have come up with anything but "I wouldn't slap him".
I would agree with that thought, except for one thing. It wouldn't solve the problem.
Just like in the Eric Garner case, we are being fed a minimal video with minimal facts that MAKE the homeless man appear innocent.
I think you all are being played like a fiddle.
I think this incident deserves investigation and that the officer may have stepped over the line a bit, but I think it is more important to have all the facts of the case before making these knee jerk reactions.
To some, it does. There are those who praise everything, no matter how repugnant, the police do. If they knew about them, they would laud the actions of the Einsatzgruppen in Eastern Europe in 41-42.
Arrest him in a non-violent manner. I would be trained to do so.
And you, you approve of the push down and slap the citizen around a bit approach, I take it.
As I said, I think the ‘slap’ was a bit over the line. BUT, the guy was trying to grab him, and the officer said “Don’t touch me”.
That slap is probably what will cause the officer to be in trouble.
As for being ‘pushed down’, that came after the man struggled with the cop, which happened behind the supporting beam. The man tried to grab the cop, and the cop shoved him away.
I do not approve of ‘everything’ the cop did, but I don’t think the man was as ‘innocent’ as the article tries to claim.
Even the people who had were videoing the incident noticed that the cop pulled some hypodermic syringes out of the man’s pocket. Maybe he was a diabetic, but nothing has been said about that.
As far as the ‘restroom’ thing, the man wasn’t heading to the restroom. He was heading to the bushes to ‘pee’ and the cop said he wasn’t going to let him do it.
Two people appeared to be in the ‘wrong’ on this. First, the ‘homeless’ man who was illegally sleeping on the bench at the bus station and refused to do what the cop asked (leave the premises) and used profanity, and fought back against the cop.
Second was the officer using physical force (the slap) in a questionable situation.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
The officer was not going to arrest the man. He was going to let him go.
It was only after the man (1) refused to leave, (2) then struggled with the officer, (3) then said he was going to go 'pee' (in the bushes), and then (4) tried to grab the cop again while the cop said "don't touch me", that the officer NON VIOLENTLY arrested him.
In the video I watched, Officer Beat Me Friendly grabbed the guy first. Twice. Then, suddenly, "touching" was NOT OK.
Apparently, in your world, there is no such thing as assault by a confrontational polices.
I watched the video. In a sane world the citizens standing around there beat the crap out of that cop. Period.
I’m just saying.... you take the uniform off that cop and needs his butt kicked. And without the uniform and the threat of the government backing him... that’s what would have happened to him.
Don't be silly. I said that the 'slap' was over the line.
Do you think any of this would have happened if the man had just left the premises as he was asked to do several times ?
SO.... if protesters were blocking a major highway and the cops told them to leave, and they told the cops to 'screw off, we'll leave when we are ready', and you are sitting in traffic, and the cops rough up the protesters to get them to comply... you would jump out of the car and beat on the cops... right ?
I do remember many FR posters saying that the people that WERE in that situation during the Ferguson type protests should have just ran over the protesters.
Funny how people can be so hypocritical.
As bad as it is that made me laugh!
I wish there was an “Ignore the Jackbootlickers” feature at FR.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.