Driving while black and diabetic gets man a police-delivered beating

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A diabetic suffering "a medical emergency caused by dangerously low sugar levels" was pulled over by Hamilton County Sheriff's officers, Tasered repeatedly, "violently dragged from the vehicle, thrown on the ground, kicked in the head by a boot, and stomped mercilessly while lying on his back," the man claims in Federal Court.

Let's see what else happened, shall we?

Quote :

Sheriff's officers pulled him over after seeing his vehicle weaving, according to the complaint. Defendant Patrol Officer Ryan Wolf then "approached Harmon's vehicle with his gun drawn along with a second patrol officer, Matthew Wissel," the complaint states. "Without giving Harmon an opportunity to comply with any order, if, in fact, any order was given, Wolf shattered the driver's side window of Harmon's vehicle, spraying Harmon's face and body with broken glass. As this was occurring, a third patrol officer, defendant [John] Haynes, arrived at the scene.

"Almost immediately, Harmon was Tased by defendant Wissel. The officers attempted to remove Harmon from his vehicle by violently pulling on his neck.

That's, uhh... not how necks work. I'm actually surprised the poor man didn't end up with a broken or otherwise severely injured neck.

Quote :

Harmon was then Tased again. They were unable to remove Harmon because Harmon was caught in his seatbelt. Defendant Wissel cut Harmon's seatbelt in order to remove him from the vehicle.

"Harmon was then violently dragged from the vehicle, thrown on the ground, kicked in the head by a boot, and stomped mercilessly while lying on his back. In the process, Harmon suffered numerous injuries, including a severely dislocated elbow and trauma to his shoulder and thumb. During the course of these events, which lasted approximately two minutes and twenty seconds, he was Tased seven times."

Harmon was taken to a hospital, where Patrol Officer Shawn Cox refused to let him use the bathroom. This "eventually resulted in Harmon being deeply humiliated and embarrassed when he urinated on himself," according to the complaint.

WTF. It's almost like these guys want to be seen as sadists.

And isn't it great that in a lot of the US, it's illegal for citizens to videotape police actions or police brutality? Isn't that just great?

Those bozos should have their badges revoked...along with their citizenship.

Chris91 wrote:

Those bozos should have their badges revoked...along with their citizenship.

Yeeaaaah, that won't happen. They'll be suspended with pay for a week then go back to work like nothing happened. Police officers can kill black men and get away with barely a slap on the wrist.

Dear Shitheads,

Thanks a lot for not only being brutal to this guy, but also making other cops even more unsafe. Do you really think people who distrust or even hate cops are going to distinguish between them and you?

Signed,
Logic

What the hell? What's wrong with these douchebags? I hope they get sued into the ground.

I_Lam_Edhellen wrote:

What the hell? What's wrong with these douchebags? I hope they get sued into the ground.

Along with the police department if it thinks keeping these goons on their payroll is a great idea.

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings, but stories like this make me trust them less and less.

What I'm appalled by (well, I'm appalled by the whole thing) is that it apparently never even occurred to them there might be some other reason he was driving the way he was that didn't involve alcohol. My mom and my sister were both diabetics, as is my brother, and when your blood sugar drops below a certain level, it CAN produce disorientation and make it seem like a person might be drunk. On the other hand, if they'd had any training at all (and this is why I think police should have basic medical training), simply sniffing his breath would have told them whether he was drunk. Low blood sugar in diabetics causes there breath to spell vaguely fruity (my brother told me once it's how he knows if his blood sugar is too low-he can taste it in his mouth). There's a big difference between that and the breath of an alcoholic (trust me, I've smelled both, and it's a noticeable difference).

But of course he was a black man who resisted arrest...except how did he resist it? They never even gave him a chance to resist it. The broke out the fuckin' driver's side window and tased him, for chrissakes! Even if he WAS drunk, how much resistance could an elderly drunk man put up?

And isn't it amazing how, once they noticed the diabetes kit on the floor, they all of a sudden called 911 and took him to the hospital?

The defendent is right-the only reason this happened was because he was a black man driving an expensive-looking sports utility vehicle through a white section of town at night.

What I find sad is that this still happens. I remember my niece, who lived in California, telling me back in the mid-1980s that her boss (who was black) was constantly stopped by police officers on his way to work and while driving home at the end of the day. Why? Because he owned a flashy sports car, and obviously, she said, the only way a black man could be driving a flashy sports car was if he'd stolen it. It wasn't like he could own his own business, earn a good living and BUY ONE, right? No, it obviously had to be stolen.

What we need is an effective means to remove these racist idiots from the gene pool. Otherwise, they'll just keep breeding and producing more racist idiots.

Here is another story on it, with video.

Azzandra wrote:

Chris91 wrote:

Those bozos should have their badges revoked...along with their citizenship.

Yeeaaaah, that won't happen. They'll be suspended with pay for a week then go back to work like nothing happened.

Yep, they got "disciplined" by the Sheriff's Department. But they remain on the force.

NichoMas wrote:

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings...

You're wrong, then. Really, the only reason people join the force is either for the money or so they can treat people however they want, especially if it happens to be a black person (note how the cops are always white in these incidents).

KGarrett wrote:

NichoMas wrote:

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings...

You're wrong, then.

As someone who has friends on the police force, I really think you should reconsider that point-of-view. Because it's gravely insulting to the thousands upon thousands of cops who do their jobs the right way without using their badge as an excuse to do whatever they want.

Spotts1701 wrote:

KGarrett wrote:

NichoMas wrote:

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings...

You're wrong, then.

As someone who has friends on the police force, I really think you should reconsider that point-of-view. Because it's gravely insulting to the thousands upon thousands of cops who do their jobs the right way without using their badge as an excuse to do whatever they want.

My maternal grandfather was a cop. He was an honest and fair one, too.

KGarrett wrote:

NichoMas wrote:

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings...

You're wrong, then. Really, the only reason people join the force is either for the money or so they can treat people however they want, especially if it happens to be a black person (note how the cops are always white in these incidents).

... people join the police force for the money?

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

KGarrett wrote:

NichoMas wrote:

I know that not all cops are evil/corrupt/horrible excuses for human beings...

You're wrong, then. Really, the only reason people join the force is either for the money or so they can treat people however they want, especially if it happens to be a black person (note how the cops are always white in these incidents).

LOL white people.

Yeah, that bit was uncalled for, sorry. But in any case, you give anyone power and the ability to get away with doing so, they'll abuse it as much as possible and generally be completely rotten. So we really shouldn't be surprised when these things happen; it's when they don't that something's up.

KGarrett wrote:

Yeah, that bit was uncalled for, sorry. But in any case, you give anyone power and the ability to get away with doing so, they'll abuse it as much as possible and generally be completely rotten. So we really shouldn't be surprised when these things happen; it's when they don't that something's up.

Yeah, no. Stop.

Every day, thousands of police officers (or other "people with power" or authority) do their jobs just fine. Do they get a medal for not being the most fucked up cop on the force? Do they get recognition for it? No, they don't. Ever hear the saying "one bad apple spoils the rest"? It's a case like this. Yes, there are people who abuse their positions and power, and yes, being a cop is one of the most common "authority" position... which leads to the logical conclusion that it will be one of the most abused positions. None of us are denying there are cops who do these things... just look at our news section!

However, making sweeping generalizations about people is BAD. One would think people would know this by now, especially on such a liberal board. You are doing a disservice to those officers who don't abuse their positions, just like when the cops make generalizations about a black person driving a nice car. Ending prejudice of any kind starts with recognizing that while stereotypes may have a grain of truth in them, they do NOT speak for all people of that profession/race/gender/religion/etc... and acting accordingly.

... this PSA comes to you by zombies. Zombies. 100% Post consumer-human. Reduce. Reuse. Reanimate.

Max is right. Before my brother managed to get his diabetes under control, he was stopped several times by the police because of his erratic driving (turned out the idiot was taking his insulin, then waiting till he got to the office to eat breakfast). In one case, he actually passed out due to low blood sugar and crashed his car, resulting in a cut to the head that had to be stitched up in the ER.

In all the cases, he explained to the policeman that he was a diabetic, showed him the card he was carrying, and was let off with a warning (except for the one where he crashed the car, where he received a minor citation). He eventually learned that you don't wait half-an-hour to eat breakfast after you take your insulin, and to carry Glucogen in his car at all times.

He always said the police were very personable and understanding. And since he lives in Georgia, a good many of them were black. At no point did any of them, regardless of their race, treat him as if they'd already decided he was a dangerous criminal.

The moral of the story? Idiots, alas, come in all colors and from all creeds.

KGarrett wrote:

Yeah, that bit was uncalled for, sorry. But in any case, you give anyone power and the ability to get away with doing so, they'll abuse it as much as possible and generally be completely rotten. So we really shouldn't be surprised when these things happen; it's when they don't that something's up.

You sound like a lolbertarian.

Maximilia wrote:

However, making sweeping generalizations about people is BAD. One would think people would know this by now, especially on such a liberal board. You are doing a disservice to those officers who don't abuse their positions, just like when the cops make generalizations about a black person driving a nice car. Ending prejudice of any kind starts with recognizing that while stereotypes may have a grain of truth in them, they do NOT speak for all people of that profession/race/gender/religion/etc... and acting accordingly.

One would think so especially considering the nature of this board as a place to gather for the purposes of making fun of the world's rampant and unbelievable stupidity, most of which is born from the tendency of people to over-generalize everything instead of ever recognizing individuality in a subject.

I'm starting to think of human nature itself as the biggest troll of all.