Officer Suspended, Others Could Be Fired in Brutality Case

[coyote]

Source: News Channel 8 Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - One Prince George's County police officer has been suspended and several others could be fired after a video surfaced showing a group of officers beating a University of Maryland student during a celebration when Maryland defeated Duke at the Comcast Center.

Prince George's County Police Chief Roberto Hylton is taking a hard look at what happened on Knox Road on March 3. He says the officers involved were wrong.

Investigators are working to identify other officers involved in the incident.

Video obtained by ABC 7 News appears to support a University of Maryland student's claim that he was attacked -- unprovoked -- by Prince George's County police during the civil disturbance that followed the Terps' victory over Duke last month, ABC 7 reports.



Read more: http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0410/724880.html

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Just another day of police brutality. Find video at link....video supports student's police brutality claim.

[WillParkinson]

1. I am a huge backer of the Police...

But if the facts in the video weigh out in court I agree that they should go to jail.

I watched the video at the link and the family statement at the end is rational and well thought out. Kudos to them and my sympathies to the student.

[SkyDaddy7]

3. I use to be a "huge supporter of the police"

However, that trust & bond has been shattered by not only the actions of my local police but the overall actions of the police around the country! There is an ongoing trend that police do no wrong unless caught on tape! However, I worked in the Criminal Justice "arena" and saw first hand how the cops are treated when caught on tape beating citizens, or lying in court, on police reports or being racist, or tazzering anyone who does not completely submit to the EGO of an individual cop...Cops negative/illegal actions are either defended by their Chiefs or simply ignored. Judges do not punish cops who get caught lying or changing police reports even when caught red handed by a sharp defense team. And politicians can't and won't try to introduce police reform anywhere due to the high risk of being labeled "soft on crime" or even "unpatriotic". Only when there is a video tape is there even a slight chance cops will be punished and then most of the time cops are forced to "resign" not get "fired"...Resigning allows the cops to go to the next town over and get hired.

And then there is the LIE the public was sold when it comes to cops being allowed to use Tazzers on the public...Tazzers were sold to the public as a means for cops to use ONLY in cases where they would normally have shot someone. (Like someone with a knife or high on meth or whatever). However, cops are still shooting people at the same or higher rates across the country and tazzing 72 yr old women & 10 year old girls!

There is no one policing the police!

[RKP5637]

24. As we slide further and further into being a police state... n/t

[Iowa]

26. A HUGE backer...

"I am a huge backer of the Police"

I know a psychologist who occasionally evaluates cops before they're allowed entry into the job. He doesn't make the call; he just does the testing and sends it on. Most of the cops he tests aren't much different than criminals. They're alpha-males with sadistic and psychopathic tendencies.

The news bears this out every day, with cops terrorizing and brutalizing old ladies, pregnant women, children, and just regular citizens who aren't sufficiently ingratiating toward them. And while not all police are psychopaths, almost all cover for the ones who are. It's a filthy rat's nest that needs to be cleaned out.

Cops clearly don't have enough genuine police work to do if they have the time to harass citizens who pose no real threat. We should slash their funding and reduce their numbers dramatically. When we stop hearing about police crimes, we'll know we have slashed enough. Until then, no citizen who wants to live in a free country should proclaim themselves to be a "a huge backer of the Police".

[No Elephants]

2. Videos often seem to support the accusation, yet justice does not get done.

[tomm2thumbs]

4. Youtube Link to Full Video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at1q3lIpK3c

speaks for itself

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Just more proof that the testilying pigs should be REQUIRED by federal law ...

.. to be equipped with tamper-proof cameras mounted on their person every time they strap on the badge and gun.

While we are at it, how about a federal law requiring the pigs to wear their badge number in large block characters on their riot gear?

The pigs that don't come forward and admit to being involved should be summarily fired when ultimately identified.

[happygoluckytoyou]

6. IN A RELATED STORY-- sales for cameras go up in poor and racially mixed areas

[happygoluckytoyou]

7. HERE ARE THE EMAILS..... send them your opinions

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

SO HERE ARE THE ADDRESSES OF THE TOWNSHIP LEADERS ....

MAYBE THEY ARE THE ONES YOU SHOULD BE ASKING----- EXACTLY WHAT PROOF DOES IT TAKE TO ACTUALLY FIRE A BAD COP

[Flaneur]

8. The PG cops are notorious for this kind of shit.

Someone needs to rein them in.

[LiberalEsto]

9. Just what I was going to write

Prince Georges County cops have been running wild for years without any serious efforts to stop them. Remember when they shot two dogs belonging to the mayor of Berwyn Heights during a mistaken drug raid? Their internal affairs investigators keep whitewashing everything the cops do, and I suspect local judges are terrified of them.

I refuse to set foot in PG County because I am scared of their police.

[Jkid]

10. I may have video of the riot, and possibly the brutalitiy incident.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. University of Maryland Student Brutally Beaten By Police After Basketball Game

Source: ABC New

Newly-released video showing police officers brutally beating a University of Maryland student is raising questions as to whether the officers lied in a sworn statement to cover up their actions. The video directly contradicts the officers' sworn statements after the events, and already, one officer has been stripped of his powers as the Prince George's County police chief promises a full investigation.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/video-shows-university-maryland-student-beaten-county-police/story?id=10362033

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Challenge: defend this mess.

[Hawkeye-X]

12. Not defending it - but cops cover their own asses all the time

so I'd get IAB to begin the investigation first, then the criminal/civil lawsuits will be against the cops once they are fired.

Hawkeye-X

[stray cat]

13. The police are investigating - so they are not even defending it -

[Rapier09]

14. There is an art to dealing with cops

Being defenseless isn't part of that art.

Heads will roll over this and then they will be replaced by the same kind of dumb expendable loons.

[RKP5637]

15. Looked like they walked up and beat the crap out of him for no reason at all. Some cops

are dangerous animals just waiting/lurking to inflict pain and misery, they like that line of work and do it if given a chance...

[arcane1]

16. "officers involved in the beating will likely be fired"

Must be nice! I'd go to jail for the same actions.

[Downtown Hound]

18. No shit

Things like this will never stop until cops are held to the laws that all of us are bound to. Even then they won't really stop, but I have a hunch you'd see a lot less of them than we do now. It seems like every week there's a new video like this popping up.

When cops do shit like this, they get fired and MAYBE sued, and the taxpayer usually pays for that tab. When we do it, we go to jail or prison and have criminal records follow us around for the rest of our lives.

[cyndensco]

17. So, some of the local cops might be stripped of their guns and badges?

I hope they also might be stripped of their freedom.

[Blue_Tires]

19. Anyone who has lived in P.G. County knows the police reputation there

They have a nice, LONG history of ineptitude, corruption, handcuffed suspects dying in "tragic accidents" and general fuckwittery...

[RKP5637]

23. Yep! Going back decades and decades they were thugs then too for the most part... n/t

[Flaneur]

20. PG cops are notorious thugs.

The litany of their abuses is endless.

Siccing dogs on people.

Beating the shit out of people.

Or how about Ronnie White? Anyone remember him? He killed a cop in PG with a car. He was caught and jailed in a cell by himself. Then somebody broke his neck in jail and he died. No one was ever charged.

[tkmorris]

21. I grew up playing hide and seek from PG County cops

They are notorious thugs and have been for a long time. It's about time they got caught on tape.

[The Wizard]

22. Insane bastards with bad attitudes

and loaded weapons in a police state environment. A recipe for legal chaos.

[LibertyLover]

25. Just ask Cheye Calvo who in 2008 was mayor of Berwyn Heights

in PG County how he feels about the PG County police. I'm sure he'd be able to tell more stories then just the one where the SWAT team raided his house, shot his 2 Labrador dogs and detained the family for hours. Seems a group of drug smugglers were shipping marijuana via Fedex to random houses. They would give their contacts the address and they would show up to grab the box before the family arrived home. The PG police knew what the deal was and that Calvo and his wife, to whom the package was actually addressed, were innocent, but Calvo had questioned the police budget and they wanted to get back at him. So they let the raid go down. First rule of the SWAT team was kill any dogs, no exceptions. They shot the dogs in front of the mayor's elderly mother-in-law. Lovely bunch of people. Calvo sued but lost. A few days ago the PG County Sheriff, Michael Jackson, kicked off his campaign for County Executive and at the event he claimed the team was totally justified in how they behaved - from shooting the dogs to detaining the mayor and his family - even though they knew about the smuggling ring's operations. Calvo said that he identified himself to the SWAT team but that they didn't appear to believe he was the town's mayor. Later it came out that the team knew exactly who he was.

[Blue_Tires]

28. I was always curious what role the county exec or council played in that...

[struggle4progress]

27. Video of confrontation after U-Md. basketball game shows police beating (WaPo)

The Prince George's County prosecutors have dropped charges against two University of Maryland students they claimed struck mounted Park Police officers and their horses after a basketball game in March. A video shot by another student, meanwhile, shows police beating one of those students without apparent provocation ...

Charging documents sworn out by county police Officer Sean McAleavey alleged that McKenna and Donat were running and screaming in the middle of Route 1, prompting an unruly crowd to form ...

As two officers on horseback from the Maryland-National Capital Park Police attempted to regain order, McKenna and Donat “struck those officers and their horses causing minor injuries,” McAleavey wrote.

McKenna and Donat “were both kicked by the horses and sustained minor injuries,” the charging document alleged. Donat, however, is not in the video and does not appear to be nearby. A private investigator hired by the teenagers’ lawyer said Donat was injured by police about a block away from where McKenna was beaten. The lawyer said the two do not know each other ...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/video-of-confrontation-after-u.html