Posted on 04/20/2014 2:04:31 PM PDT by null and void
A dozen wedding guests were beaten, tased, pepper sprayed, and arrested.
GALVESTON, TX — More than a dozen wedding guests were brutalized by police officers during a raid on a wedding party at a hotel. Cops fired tasers, used batons, and generously applied pepper spray to the guests of a bride and groom hours after their wedding. Among them was former pro-baseball star Brandon Backe, who said the shoulder injuries that he received from police caused his pitching career to end.
After causing a gaping head wound, bruises, hair pulled out, a broken nose, and pepper spray on numerous individuals, the only reprimand any of the officers received was a paperwork violation. Interestingly, none of the 3 dozen cops reported any use of force. Wedding Crashers
An event that should have been happy and memorable turned into violence and chaos when the Galveston Police got involved. A couple had just exchanged their vows and were celebrating with friends and family at the San Luis Hotel.
Everything was fine until an off-duty police officer thought that he had witnessed the bride’s brother, Daniel “Cole” O’Balle, 19, walking outside with an alcoholic beverage in his hand. Suspecting an under-aged adult had consumed a beverage without government permission, and violated the “open container” prohibition law, he phoned the police department for backup.
“I never thought I would have to go into a room and pray for my brothers life within hours of getting married.”
Police officers arrived to confront Mr. O’Balle. Joe and Shannon Belluomini, guests of the wedding party, witnessed the altercation and said that O’Balle was complying with security. Nonetheless, “out of nowhere, mayhem started,” explained Joe Belluomini to KTRK.
When the Belluominis tried to defuse the situation, they became targets themselves. Shannon Belluomini explained to KTRK that her husband was grabbed by the throat as Mr. O’Balle was assaulted. “The officer that had a baton in his hand started beating Cole with it. And then there just seemed like there were more and more officers.”
As Shannon Belluomini witnessed Cole O’Balle getting pummeled with baton strikes, she tried to intercede to protect his head, which was gashed open and bleeding. “That’s when they grabbed hold of me and threw me backwards and basically encased me with mace. It felt like acid being poured over my face and my eyes and my chest.”
As the commotion ensued, the wedding party came out to see what was the matter. Police lashed out violently to all who came within striking distance.
A total of 34 officers stormed the scene, prepped to handle what was described as a “riot.” Witnesses said the officers swarmed into the bar swearing at patrons and beating, pepper spraying, and tasering people without provocation.
Gil O’Balle, the father of the bride, saw that the police had split his son’s skull open and was attacked himself just for asking what had happened. Gil was then tased, pepper sprayed, and arrested
“I never thought I would have to go into a room and pray for my brothers life within hours of getting married,” said the bride, Amanda Lankford to KTRK.
Cole O’Balle had to be flown via helicopter to a hospital for immediate medical care. Cops arrested 13 people for ‘resisting arrest.’
Baseball Career Ruined
Brandon Backe received a broken nose, bruising, and permanent shoulder injuries. V Brandon Backe, a pitcher for the Houston Astros, was in attendance to the wedding since he was a childhood friend of the groom. As a pro-baseball player he had appeared in the World Series in 2005. The injuries he endured during the commotion would ultimately lead to surgeries, permanent pain, and a ruined career.
“I heard a frantic voice saying, ‘They got Cole.’ I could tell by the tone of the voice that something wasn’t right,” explained Backe in court.
When Backe and others went outside to see the horrific head injury that Cole O’Balle had sustained, they were told by Officer Nicholas McDermott “back the f— up!” according to Backe.
But Backe said there was no more room to back up. “Chill out, we can’t back up. You’ve got enough room,” Backe replied. He says at that point several officers attacked him. He says he was struck until he fell to the ground and received a beating until his face was bloody. He said one officer kicked him in the face, breaking his nose.
Backe said that officers slammed his body into a concrete curb and then piled on top of him, beating him continuously. His shoulder took a hard blow from the concrete. “I hit the ground hard and they just got on top of me,” he said.
That pain in that shoulder never subsided, Backe said in court. After surgeries and prolonged pain, his baseball career was forced to an early conclusion. “You want to be able to hang it up yourself, not let someone else hang it up for you,” he said.
The incident occurred over on October 5th, 2008, but is still being worked through the court system. The incident caused twelve people to join a lawsuit against the Galveston Police Department for allegations of brutality. Brandon Backe is seeking damages for his career being destroyed.
Here is a brief video that was recorded during the incident. Note the use of taser as individuals — including the bride’s father — were not resisting. Operating As Trained
For all the brutality and wanton attacks committed that night, no officers were fired. As far as the chief was concerned, every instance of force was justified. The only complaints that Galveston Police supervisors had was that the incident wasn’t documented properly. According to the Houston Chronicle:
An internal police investigation completed in March 2009 found that officers followed department policy in making arrests and applying force but that 13 officers failed to properly document the incident. Nine officers were suspended without pay, and four were issued written reprimands.
No “use of force” forms were filed at all, despite a gaping head wound, hair pulled out, a broken nose, pepper spray on numerous individuals, and obvious signs of bruising and beating on the arrested wedding guests.
While these omissions were themselves upsetting, many were shocked by the lack of acknowledgement of the brutality, and the lack of discipline following it.
“Split a skull open — bleeding on the brain — and its a paperwork violation?!” remarked Gil O’Balle.
This story came out in the media.
It is hard to believe any of it.
Who knows who did what when.
The Galveston cops look bad in all this, but there is no telling what happened first.
HOWEVER, If you are going to have an event like this, hire off duty cops for security and pay them well. Consider them to be a firewall to slow down or stop overzealous barneys.
ask me why I know.
$$$$$$$
Good suggestion!
So much happens that we don’t hear of all of it. Cops have gotten crazy with this crap. Did you miss the two college girls attacked by ABC officers?
Plain clothed officers rushed two young girls, one jumping on the hood and drawing a weapon. The girls reacted to the insane behavior of crazed strangers by panicking and racing off, hitting one officer.
To them, it looked like a rape attack. Remember, plain clothed officers. The officers, typically, wouldn’t understand the perspective of the girls and tried to charge them for everything.
All of this was over BOTTLED WATER. They couldn’t even be sure it was alcohol before going crazy.
That is just one example of crazed behavior. The newspaper ladies shot at during the Dorner hunt is another. Or the little girl burned by a police flashbang over a nonexistent meth lab.
It is unpopular among far too many to look at LE activities critically. What it has resulted in is LE who thinks the ends, no matter how small, justify the mean no matter how big.
You say, and assume, something must be missing because you don’t want to see how out of control LE has become. But for those who are paying attention, there are a lot of incidents going on, and so many that you don’t hear about all of them.
No worries!
If any of these brutal police enforcers need a new job, they are just the type that Feudal Lord Harry Reid is hiring now at his personal Bureau of Feudal Land Management, (BFLM),
And dozens of officers are within call to back up this posture. It's right in this story.
If you want to get the REAL scoop on American farce enlawment, go read the article you see in the American paper on the UK Daily Mail website.
They usually post fascinating, informative pictures of the roided-up Anger Blimp Blue-Bellies.
I like to count the sheer number of officers, vehicles, SWAT teams and military-type vehicles at the scene.
American newspapers and websites like to spare the delicate sensibilities of their Murkan readers by leaving out such distasteful pics, but the Brit papers never got the memo...
That's why I'll NEVER call the cops in a domestic dispute. Someone HAS to go to jail, regardless of someone pressing charges. Plus, the hordes of cops who show up are so hyped up... they're more likely to incite violence than prevent it.
Taxpayers are getting raped by cops, courts, and jails. It's now part of the "military industrial complex" we were warned about by Eisenhower, but ignored to our own detriment.
You and everyone on this site knows what "Amish" means here. Including the many fellow conservative black Freepers.
This type of police behavior in Galveston is far from rare. It’s getting to be more of a problem that they wish or care to acknowledge. Me thinks it is past time a complete house cleaning in that small beach city police department is sorely needed. They seem to attract the worst kind to their police ranks. They ought to rename their dept “Brutality-R-Us”.
Yup. I recall the story very vividly when it happened having lived in the region. The police were absolutely brutal in their attack and unwillingness to own up to their part in the debacle.
Do you think that is unique to only California?
No.
It’s called “finding the pony in the room”...being optimistic about one’s situation.
No.
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