[Vision2020] British Historian Brutalized by Atlanta Police

[Debbie Gray]

I don't see that he was brutalized in any way. He
refused to comply to several lawful orders by a
policeman. He refused to identify himself. Do the
police officers know that he is a British historian
out for a casual stroll? No, how would they? Did they
arrest him for 'jaywalking' as many people would
think from the link you sent? No, they arrested him
and
he was subsequently charged with "Failure to Obey a
Police Officer and Physical Obstruction of Police." 
 
Certainly he felt violated, as would anyone who has
been arrested might feel. Certainly there are police
officers out there who abuse their power but for you
to use this example as a way to dismiss the entire law
enforcement profession as a bunch of irrational, rogue
brutes is ridiculous. I wonder how many time a smart
ass has asked that police officer for his
identification? It wouldn't be the first, I'm sure.

Police officers can't read the minds of the people
they interact with. Did the Idaho State Police officer
from Twin Falls who was recently shot in the neck and
paralyzed know much about his assailant? Could he have
been a crazy guy off his meds? Could he have been a
drunk guy on a mission of 'suicide by cop?' Could he
have been an esteemed professor of history from
England? Sure, but how do they know? How did this
professor respond? How could he have responded
differently? Could he take any personal responsibility
for how his actions MIGHT be interpreted as having
something to hide, trying to avoid interaction with
the police for some reason? 

Debbie Gray
> 
> 
> 
> --- nickgier at adelphia.net wrote:
> 
> > Greetings:
> > 
> > I've excerpted these sentences from a much longer
> > piece found at 
> > http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/33876.html.  This
> > man's experience with the court system contrasted
> > dramatically with his brutal treatment by police.
> He
> > was simply crossing a street at a convention
> center,
> > following many others as an example.
> > 
> > "This is a typical American contrast. The
> executive
> > arm of government tends to be dumb, insensitive,
> > violent and dangerous. The judiciary is the
> > citizen's vital guarantee of peace and liberty.
> > 
> > I became a sort of exemplar in miniature of a
> > classic American dilemma: the "balance of the
> > constitution", as Americans call it, between
> > executive power and judicial oversight.
> > 
> > I have long known, as any reasonable person must,
> > that the courts are the citizen's only protection
> > against a rogue executive and rationally
> > uncontrolled security forces."
> > 
> > For years my European friends have thought twice
> > (sometimes three times) before planning trips to
> the
> > U.S. 
> > 
> > Nick Gier
> > 
> > 
> >
>
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> >
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> 
> 
> 
>  
>
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