Police Brutality, Insensitivity and Militarism/Robotism is all the Rage Now!

[Peter Lemkin]

Southern California Police Beat and Taser an Innocent Deaf Man

By MATT REYNOLDS / Courthouse News ServiceFebruary 17th, 2014

Similar case: "Cops Allegedly Beat Deaf Senior Citizen For 7 Minutes!"
LOS ANGELES Clueless Hawthorne police beat and tasered a deaf man as he signaled to them that he was deaf and his friend had loaned him the snowboard he was carrying, the man claims in court.


In a federal complaint for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Jonathan Meister claims the attack could have been avoided had Hawthorne trained its police officers to communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing.
Officers confronted him on Feb. 13 outside a friend's home as he picked up a snowboard and winter clothes for a trip to Utah, Meister says in the lawsuit. Meister says he used hand gestures to try to tell police he is deaf and was lawfully at the home. The cops were having none of it. They "shot Taser darts into Mr. Meister, administered a number of painful electric shocks, struck him with fists and feet, and forcibly took him to the ground," he says in the complaint.
Officers kicked and punched him in the back and stomach, choked and Tasered him, delivering "punishing shocks" and intentionally "burning his flesh," Meister claims.
He says four defendant officers took part in the attack: Jeffrey Salmon, Jeffrey Tysl, Erica Bristow and Mark Hultgren.
After he was knocked unconscious and taken to a hospital, he was cited for assaulting the officers and released, but the charges were dropped.
"This incident occurred in substantial part because the HPD [Hawthorne Police Department] does not provide its officers the training and resources to serve people who are deaf or hard of hearing, including those who communicate primarily through American Sign Language," the lawsuit states.
Meister seeks statutory, treble and punitive damage for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, and civil rights violations. Also named as defendants are the City of Hawthorne, its Police Department and Police Chief Robert Fager. Meister is represented by John Burton of Pasadena.
Hawthorne is part of Greater Los Angeles, between Manhattan Beach and Compton.
Numerous, similar lawsuits have been filed across the country, in which police beat and arrested diabetics suffering from insulin shock, believing, or claiming to believe, that they were drunk.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/02/14/65377.htm

[Peter Lemkin]

....Police officers in Michigan who killed an African-American homeless man accused of stealing a cup of coffee will not face charges. On July 1, 2012, Saginaw police fired 47 shots at Milton Hall, striking him 11 times. Hall had a history of mental illness and reportedly tried to defend himself with a pocket knife, at one point even calling 911 to plead for help as officers surrounded him. On Tuesday, federal officials said there was not enough evidence of willful misconduct to prosecute the officers, who also previously avoided state charges. Milton Hall's mother has filed suit against the city of Saginaw, calling her son's death "execution by firing squad."

[Magda Hassan]

I can't even reacall the last time a police officer went to the slammer for killing any one.

[Peter Lemkin]

I can't even reacall the last time a police officer went to the slammer for killing any one.

Yeah, and sadly they know this fact and act 'accordingly'. Last week the police in another city killed another man [Latino] while his wife watched. The man had NO weapon and offered NO resistance. Five policemen beat him nearly to death and then held him down with great force with his nose and mouth pressing on the pavement - even though he was NOT resisting arrest. He died - apparently of the beating plus asphyxia...with his wife pleading with the police only a few yards away. Something like this happens in the USA several times per week. Rarely to never are those killed rich or white. Found the video of this event - if you want to watch a snuff film...go here.

The chilling video that had been confiscated by police showing five Oklahoma cops piling on top of a man in a movie theater parking lot earlier this month, leading to his death, was released today, showing the cops were struggling with what appeared to have been a dead man for five minutes.After all, Luis Rodriguez, 44, was not only not resisting, he was not even moving during the duration of the video.
But still, you can hear one of the cops say, "calm down, sir," as he pushes his face into the pavement.
Rodriguez's wife, who was video recording, kept pleading for her husband to respond, but he said nothing. It wasn't until several minutes into the video that she realizes he is dead.
One of the cops walks up to her to try and reassure her everything is under control as she is panicking. He ends up grabbing her phone, not in a coercion manner, but she is under no condition to even question this move, having just seen her husband killed.
The incident began when Rodriguez's wife slapped their 19-year-old daughter over an argument, then stormed off, which prompted her husband to run after her.
But the cops intervened, demanded his identification. Family members say he tried to step around them to get to his wife. Police say he became combative.
A surveillance video from the movie theater might have captured the entire incident, but that has not been released.
According to News9:

Police say the 44-year-old Rodriguez became uncooperative when officers questioned him about a possible domestic disturbance. Police handcuffed the man.
Rodriguez's wife and daughter say police then started beating him. Autopsy results are pending.
The Rodriguez family's lawyer released a cellphone video of the incident and a statement at a Tuesday news conference in Oklahoma City.
The video shows 44-year-old Luis Rodriguez on his stomach on the ground outside the theater with five police officers restraining him. One officer holds Rodriguez's head down and the others are on top of him as they handcuff his hands behind his back.
Rodriguez's wife, who shot the video, is later heard screaming and asking if Rodriguez is dead as he is placed on a stretcher.
"He was not involved in the disturbance. However, when police came, they focused their attention on Luis. Taking him face down onto the pavement, pepper-spraying his mouth, nose and eyes and putting the weight of five grown men on top of him, and then handcuffing him as he was unconscious or already dead," said Michael Brooks-Jimenez, attorney for the Rodriguez family.