A man filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging he was paralyzed and needed his legs amputated after police officers in St. Petersburg, Florida, put him in restraints, placed him in the back of a police van without a seatbelt and then drove in a reckless manner.
Cuffed in the back of a van with no seatbelts. You can get a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt in your car.
The incident bears similarities to what is known as a “rough ride,” a term used to describe police placing a detained person in the back of a van, without a seatbelt, and then driving erratically. The term came to mass prominence after the controversial 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, who suffered severe injuries as he was being transported in a police van.
Wish we could stop tip-toeing around it. This was clear extrajudicial punishment but everyone from cop to judge will pretend it’s some kind of accident or misunderstanding and ignore the totally systemic source of the problem- that cops have zero accountability.
The murder of Freddie Gray. The cops knew that what they did was dangerous because they have to clean up car accidents. Choosing to give someone a ‘rough ride’ is premeditated murder or attempted murder and anyone other than a cop would be charged.
It is also not in their job description to disperse “justice”, or do anything but apprehend suspects and then allow the Justice System we have in place to deal with that. The second they step outside of that description they should be treated like any other citizen who took vigilante justice into their own hands, being charged and tried as such.
If I remember, Gray didn’t even commit a crime. They arrested him for something the officers didn’t realize was legal in their state, and he wasn’t even doing it any way.
I think it’s great how Americans mistrust the police so they live vigilantes but apparently the police also wants to play vigilante even though they would be in the perfect position to ensure that vigilantism isn’t needed.
Wish we could stop tip-toeing around it. This was clear extrajudicial punishment but everyone from cop to judge will pretend it’s some kind of accident or misunderstanding and ignore the totally systemic source of the problem- that cops have zero accountability.
Speaking of not tip toeing things:
The murder of Freddie Gray. The cops knew that what they did was dangerous because they have to clean up car accidents. Choosing to give someone a ‘rough ride’ is premeditated murder or attempted murder and anyone other than a cop would be charged.
It is also not in their job description to disperse “justice”, or do anything but apprehend suspects and then allow the Justice System we have in place to deal with that. The second they step outside of that description they should be treated like any other citizen who took vigilante justice into their own hands, being charged and tried as such.
If I remember, Gray didn’t even commit a crime. They arrested him for something the officers didn’t realize was legal in their state, and he wasn’t even doing it any way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Freddie_Gray
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I think it’s great how Americans mistrust the police so they live vigilantes but apparently the police also wants to play vigilante even though they would be in the perfect position to ensure that vigilantism isn’t needed.
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