Fensch Sordid Hypocrisy of to Protect and to Serve

Police Brutality, Corruption and Oppression in America
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9963154-4-9
Verlag: New Century Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

This book traces police brutality, corruption and oppression in police departments in major American cities: from the Rodney King beating, caught on videotape in Los Angeles in 1991; corruption in the Albuquerque Police Department; a 62-police vehicle chase in Cleveland which resulted in the deaths of two unarmed suspects; the chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island; the death of Michael Harris in Ferguson, Missouri and police and civic corruption in Ferguson; the death of 12-year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland; the death of Freddie Grey in Baltimore and others. It contains two complete U. S. Department of Justice investigations: police corruption in Albuquerque, New Mexico and police and city government corruption in Ferguson, Missouri. The book also lists the multi-millions of dollars paid out in wrongful-death lawsuits in recent years in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Oakland, and Philadelphia; public funds which could have been far better spent on civic improvements: schools, parks, infrastructure projects, social programs and the like. This book is truly a horrific indictment of police misconduct throughout the United States. This is a companion book to 'At the Dangerous Edge of Social Justice: Race , Violence and Death in America,' by the same author, published in 2013. It is also available as an e-book,.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fensch, Thomas

Leseproben

Chapter 1 March 3, 1991, Los Angeles:
The LAPD and the Rodney King Videotape While the videotapes of Bull Conner’s southern brutalities—1961-1963—during the Civil Rights decade of the 1960s have largely faded into the past, the 1991 Rodney King videotape and riots have remained etched in the American psyche … Rodney King was born in Sacramento April 2, 1965; he grew up in Altadena, California. In November, 1989, he robbed a store in Monterey Park, wielding an iron bar. He threatened a Korean store owner with the iron bar; he was caught, convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. He was paroled after one year. In the evening of March 3, 1991, he and two companions, Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving west on the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angles. At 12:30 a.m., officers Tim and Melanie Singer, husband-and-wife team members of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King’s car speeding. They pursued King, but he refused to pull over; King later stated that he refused to pull over because a charge of driving under the influence (of alcohol) would violate his parole for his earlier robbery conviction. King left the Freeway and the high-speed pursuit continued. After about eight miles, officers cornered King in his car. The LAPD arrived—officer Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Rolando Solano. Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his passengers to leave the car—the two others, Allen and Helms, did so and were arrested without incident. King got out, acted in a bizarre manner and waved to a police helicopter now hovering overhead. He grabbed his buttocks, which officer Melanie Singer believed to mean he was reaching for a weapon. She drew her weapon and approached him, preparing to arrest him. At this point, Stacey Koon, the ranking member of the LAPD announced that the LAPD would be in charge. He ordered the other LAPD officers to holster their weapons; LAPD officers are instructed not to approach a suspect with weapons drawn, as a suspect may attempt to grab an officer’s weapon. Koon then ordered the LAPD officers to “swarm” King. King was able to throw Powell and Briseno off his back; LAPD officers then believed that King has taken the drug phencyclidine (PCP)—common street name Angel Dust—although a toxicology test later proved negative for that drug. King was then hit by high-voltage Taser weapons twice and overcame both electrical charges. At this point, George Holliday watching from nearby, began videotaping the incident. He eventually had nine minutes of black-and-white videotape. King is shown in the tape, rising, and moving to attack officer Powell or to escape. King and Powell collide; Powell hits King with his baton and King falls to the ground. Powell hits him several more times; Briseno moves in attempting to stop Powell from hitting King again. Koon apparently says “that’s enough,” but Powell and Wind are seen on the tape, continuing to hit King. Koon then ordered the continuing use of the batons—ordering Powell and Wind to hit King with “power strokes.” Koon ordered the officers to “hit his joints, hit his wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles.” Holliday continued videotaping the assault. The officers miss occasionally, but hit Kong 33 blows, plus six kicks. They again “swarm” him, this time with eight officers, and finally subdue his arms and legs. King is dragged on his stomach to the side of the road to await the arrival of an EMS van. Two days later George Holliday told he LAPD about his videotape and then took it to Los Angeles television station KTLA which broadcast it immediately. The tape was broadcast again and again, over and over and over and over. And nationally, again and again, over and over. And internationally again and again, over and over. It became an example of “people power”—individuals with video cams (and now cellphones), which can record and transmit events as they are happening. And with video cams and cellphones, citizens can now disprove fraudulent, self-serving, contradictory statements or outright lies by officials. King was taken to Pacifica Hospital. When he was examined, he had suffered a fractured facial bone, a broken right ankle, and multiple bruises and lacerations, King sued the City of Los Angeles and claimed he suffered “11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken (bones and teeth), kidney damage and emotional and physical stress.” Tests indicated he was intoxicated under California law. The tests also showed a minor amount of marijuana in his system, but nothing else. Pacifica nurses reported that officers who took King to the hospital bragged about the number of times King had been hit. A jury awarded him $3.8 million and an additional $1.7 million in legal fees. The Los Angeles District Attorney charged officers Koon, Powell, Briseno and Wind with use of excessive force. Koon had not hit King, but had used a Taser. The trial was moved out of Los Angeles to Simi Valley, a largely white enclave -suburb of Los Angeles, where some white LAPD officers lived. The jury consisted of nine white members, one black, one Latino and one Asian. Despite the Holliday tape, which Los Angeles television continued to replay, on April 29, 1992, the jury acquainted all four officers of assault and could not agree on an excessive force charge against Powell. Rioting began the same day as the Simi Valley verdicts. The verdicts were announced at 3:15 p,m. By 3:45 more than 300 protestors had gathered at the Los Angeles County Courthouse building. Others gathered at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in south central Los Angeles. More appeared at the Police Department headquarters at Parker Center. They were quickly named the Rodney King riots and also, the South Central riots. On the second day, April 30, violence, looting and destruction as apparent throughout Los Angeles County. There were open gun battles in the Koreatown area, between store owners and looters, Fire crews began being escorted by police; California Highway Patrol units were airlifted to the city. The California National Guard loaned equipment to other law enforcement units and 2,000 members of the National Guard were called into service, but were delayed for 24 hours by a lack of equipment and available ammunition. On the third day, May 1, Rodney King made an appeal in front of his attorney’s office. “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?” The “Can we all get along?” statement was allegedly supplied by his attorney; King was apparently too inarticulate to ad-lib even a short speech. National Guard troops were doubled to 4,000 and eventually to 10,000. A variety of 1,700 federal law enforcement officers from different agencies began to arrive to protect federal facilities. President George H.W. Bush addressed the nation, condemning “random terror and lawlessness.” He ordered the Justice Department to review the case. Professional games involving the Los Angeles Lakers and the L.A. Clippers were postponed. The baseball Dodgers also postponed games. A curfew in San Francisco caused a game with the San Francisco Giants and the Phillies to be postponed. Horse racing was not held; a Van Halen concert was cancelled. Bus service halted. Some freeways closed. The World Wrestling Federation cancelled events in Long Beach and Fresno. On the fourth day (Saturday, May 2), 2,000 members of the 7th Infantry Division, from Fort Ord arrived, as did 1,500 Marines from Camp Pendleton. A total of 13,500 U.S. military forces were now helping support law enforcement. The Justice Department announced it would begin an investigation. The sum total: 53 died during the riots, including 10 who were shot dead by police or military forces; over 2,383 were injured. The total estimates in property damage ranged from $800 million to $ 1 billion. There were more than 7,000 fires; 3,767 buildings were set on fire. Korean and Asian immigrants seemed to be widely targeted. Some buildings were never rebuilt. Half of those arrested and more than half killed were Hispanic. Although the Rodney King videotape and the not guilty verdicts seemed to be the tipping point, later analysis pointed to high unemployment in minority communities, poor housing, conflicts between the black population and the Hispanic population of Los Angeles, and other sociological problems as contributing factors. There were also riots in: San Francisco; Las Vegas; Atlanta and even as far away as Toronto, Canada. A t-shirt was sold throughout the Los Angeles area: on the front it read LAPD with a large LAPD logo. On the back it read: THEY TREAT YOU LIKE A KING Weeks after the rioting, 11,000 people continued to be arrested. After the riots, extensive and prolonged civic debate began, at the local, state and national level. The Justice Department did, as promised, re-open the case and filed federal civil rights charges against LAPD officers Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodor Briseno. Rodney King testified in the case. Koon and Powell were found guilty and sentenced to 32 months in prison; Wind and Briseno were acquitted of all charges. None returned to the LAPD. In his article “Rodney King and M.L.K.,” in the book Inside the L.A. Riots: What Really Happened and Why It Will Happen Again, Harvey Wasserman wrote: Nearly a quarter...