St. Paul: Arrested man says cop kicked him as he choked on Mace (w/ video)

pioneer press ^ | 8-29-12 | Mara H. Gottfried

[TurboZamboni]

Warning: This video, posted on YouTube, contains graphic language. The police actions in question happen from the 1 minute mark through to 2:05.

Eric Hightower was lying on the ground, coughing and choking because a St. Paul police officer had just squirted him with a chemical spray, when he said the officer suddenly kicked him.

"It was like he was kicking a football or something," the 30-year-old man said Wednesday, Aug. 29, the day after his arrest, after a video of the officer's use of force was posted on YouTube. "He kicked me so hard, he knocked the wind completely out of me."

St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said Wednesday that he called for an expedited internal affairs investigation as soon as he saw the video, which he said "raised some serious concerns about the use of force of one of my officers."

[TurboZamboni]

St.Paul taxpayers are going to get to pay for Eric's new found lawsuit lottery winnings... that'll buy a lot of crack to stuff in his buttocks.Enjoy your property taxes, St.Paul. The funniest part was the guys in the background hollering "you're going to get a check man".

[yldstrk]

these police are such goons

[yldstrk]

the police have lost their way, I am completely and totally petrified of these out of control bullies

[TurboZamboni]

I wonder when lawmakers will add lawsuit payout reform to the pension reform talk?
When are taxpayers going to be fed up with paying out for lawsuit lottery winnings for drug dealers and police buffoonery?

[TurboZamboni]

[yldstrk]

yeah they don’t need 5 cops on steroids to slam a guy’s face on the car hood etc. I am sick of these bully cops . They do the drug arrests just to busy themselves so they don’t have to actually do anything dangerous. Completely depraved and disgusting.

[rarestia]

I am completely and totally petrified of these out of control bullies

It's all I have left: fear. Every day. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[blueunicorn6]

Truly a model citizen. Ignoring the directions of a police officer is always a good idea. Maybe this guy can ask Rodney King for some advice. Oh, that’s right, old Rod had too much booze and drugs and drowned himself.

[yldstrk]

oh give it a rest fer heaven’s sake, you can’t actually be defending these goons

[X-spurt]

Yes they have lost their way.

I easily remember when the police were trusted, were respected and were ‘to protect and serve”. Oh, there have always been bully cops, who liked the power and the unwritten perks.

I am willing to give LEO some benefit of the doubt because they have to deal with a multitude of idiots our PC culture has given a free ride from personal responsibility, until they cross the line so far its almost time to shoot.

[D1X1E]

If you are OK with them doing this to one, then you will be OK when they do it to you I suppose.
Scummy perp he may have been but once he was down what was the point of continued force?
Oh he was a law breaker? Probably so, but since laws and rules are seemingly being made up along the way, there is a chance that police may one day decide that you are a lawbreaker as well. Once its decided that you are a lawbreaker then it can be rationaized that you deserve the same treatment.
I dont know why people refuse to realize that an out of control government can come after them too eventually.

[OldPossum]

I have long been convinced that the psychological tests administered to potential cops has a component to test for aggressiveness and the higher the applicant scores, the better his chances for getting hired.

[spudville]

Perhaps if the lawsuits were paid out of the police retirement funds there would be more internal “policing”.

[Boogieman]

Did you even watch the video? Exactly what direction was he ignoring when the cop ran up and kicked him in the chest while he was choking?

[blueunicorn6]

I’m not too worried that the police will harm me. I try to follow our laws.

[blueunicorn6]

No....I stand for the criminals. Rodney King.....he died the way he lived.

[MtBaldy]

I post on a gun forum where several cops are trying to defend the officer too:

“legitimate use of force for the situation, blah, blah, blah”

“suspect wasn’t complying, resisting arrest, blah, blah, blah,”

“we’re the police, we’re trained, you didn’t see what you thought you saw, blah, blah, blah”

“Unless you’ve been on his side of the badge you can’t judge the officers actions, blah, blah, blah”

I probably missed some but those were the gist of the arguents. I was raised to be pro-police but since hiring standards went south in the eighties due to affirmative action it’s become very hard to stay that way.

[TurboZamboni]

This is relatively rare in St.Paul.
MPLS, not so much. People in St.Paul are already PO'd about their property taxes going up double digits yearly. This won't help that.

[ex-Texan]

I agree they are goons. Watch YouTube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqS2vzdUzKw&feature=player_embedded

$$ Multi-Million suit being prepared as we speak . . . But ignores a much bigger question lurking in the trees:

Why Does The U.S. Government Treat Military Veterans Like Human Garbage ?

[familyop]

"Why Does The U.S. Government Treat Military Veterans Like Human Garbage ?"

Some civilian government folks try to feed their vanities and often have doubts about their own masculinity. That kind of behavior is shown mainly for men who are or have been trained hard, long and frequently for a more battle focused specialty (e.g., light infantry, those trained to clear obstacles under fire for infantry--including Marine small arms, SEALS, recon, special operations and the like) whether prior combat experience or not. It shows in a man. The vain and effeminate--especially those seeking "action" in certain public civilian jobs--see it and hate it.