Road (crossing) rage

[Gob]

This is the moment a white American police officer punches a teenage black girl in the face after a dispute about how she and her friend crossed the road.

Video footage of Officer Ian Walsh lashing out at the 17-year-old in Seattle has shocked the U.S.

The teenager reels backwards in shock from the blow before clutching her face while a bystander can be heard asking: ‘Are you serious?’

Police arrested the girl, Angel Rosenthal, and her friend, 19-year-old Marilyn Ellen Levias, both of whom have criminal records.

Seattle Police chiefs have launched an investigation into the alleged assault after viewing the video footage.

Civil rights activists are outraged and say the punch was an action of anger not self-defence.

The incident comes weeks after another two Seattle officers seen kicking a Hispanic robbery suspect who later turned out to be innocent.

James Kelly, who heads the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle group, said of the police: ‘Shame on you. The use of violence in the form of a full-blown fist to the face was wrong.

‘What the 17-year-old did was wrong,’ he told ABC News. ‘I'm not making any excuses for her, but two wrongs don't make a right.’

And a woman with whom the 17-year-old lives echoed his statements.

‘She's not a criminal,’ the woman, who would not give her name, said as she waited for a juvenile court hearing for the teen yesterday.

‘She ran into a situation that maybe wasn't right, but two wrongs don't make a right.’
Rodney King video

The confrontation began after Walsh spotted a man jaywalking - the American term for not crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or junction controlled by lights - and went to speak to him.

According to the police report a group of four girls were also spotted doing the same and the officer called them over to his patrol car.

The women became verbally abusive and started to walk away ignoring the Walsh’s instructions to remain where they stood.

When he tried to stop the teen two of them began grappling with him.

As the 17-year-old, wearing a pink top, tried to push away Walsh, he lashed out with his fist.

Other officers who had answered a call for help arrived on the scene and handcuffed the 19-year-old.

Both teens were charged with jaywalking and assaulting a police officer.

The case echoes the case of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by police prompted the Los Angeles race riots in 1992.

A police spokesman said they will review the video tape but said punching is a trained tactic for police officers.

‘There will be a thorough investigation into this incident,’ said a spokesman.

Both girls have now been released from custody.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0r3pITVom

[dales]

First, who ever wrote this article knows very little of race relations in the United States.

The case echoes the case of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by police prompted the Los Angeles race riots in 1992.

HUH?.......................ARE YOU SERIOUS?.....ARE YOU SERIOUS?.....ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Both sides were wrong.

Better training would've resulted in the officer utilizing a simple TASER device being utilized to "calm and neutralize" the suspect(s). And better parenting (if there was any) would've resulted in those brats being taught to obey the law! When "the man" tells you to do something, you do it or risk getting your dome caved in.

[Sean]

I trust she will be prosecuted for viciouly striking his fist with her jaw. That could cause severe bruising to the knuckle area.

[Lord Jim]

I agree with every word Dale said....

And as for the Chris Rock video....



I had to stop it and back it up twice because I was laughing so hard I was missing too much...

Chris Rock is a genius....

[@meric@nwom@n]

Black females are frequently nuts.

[Big RR]

When "the man" tells you to do something, you do it or risk getting your dome caved in.

Yep, teaching blind obedience to authority is always a good thing; especially if it's drop your pants or show me your boobs. What about teaching the police and other authroity figures not to get all pumped up and let it go to their heads? I think most good police officers could hav handled this without any real violence, but the bullies, the little Napoleon's who insist they must not be disrespected (and a lot of them are drawn to law enforcement), would punch, tase, or do whatever they thought they had to do to soothe their bruised egos. Beating the crap out of someone for jaywalking? Please.

[Lord Jim]

Dale had it exactly right; the way he was being assaulted tazing would have been the appropriate action for the cop to take.

What I see that he did really wrong though, was to get involved in this physical tussle, by himself with a crowd of her friends around...

He put himself in a position where his gun could easily have been taken had someone been so inclined....

After she assaulted him, he certainly needed to arrest her...

But the best move probably would have been to immediately call for back up and then arrest her once he had someone there to hold off the crowd....

[Crackpot]

there's alot of assumptions going since we didn't see the beginning of this incident. To me it appears that the cop was acting like a prick even before he threw the punch and more importantly being unclear about his intentions. Cops do not have the right to manhandle at will and at the time the video started he was grabbing at the suspects in such a manner where the defensive smacks which were being delivered could have been justified. We simply don't have the information from that clip. The only thing that is entirely certain from that clip is that the officer was in the wrong with that punch. Beyond that we need more information.

[Sue U]

This ain't a Rodney King beat-down, but the cop is way way way out of bounds. Having any kind of physical confrontation in a jaywalking case is almost by definition improper procedure. Punching a teenage girl in the face? Completely beyond the pale. To the extent this cop isn't fired outright, he should be driving a desk for the rest of his career, as he so obviously lacks the capability to deal with the public.

[Gob]

Another interesting thing is the number of people stood around recording this farrago on mobile phones and the like. Totally detached from the event, just wanting 15 minutes of fame on youtube?

[Crackpot]

I don't know about that. What's better? starting civil unrest/a riot or recording events for future justice in the courts?

[Gob]

Fair point. But so many onlookers recording it just seems like overkill to me

Were none of them able to assist the girls in calming down?

[Crackpot]

Not really. Too many variables that could get them in trouble. Cops aren't always (quite possibly rightfully so) happy to have outside involvement in a situation.

[Timster]

As evidenced by the video...

[Gob]

Do people really find that Chris Rock stuff funny? That was dreadful...

[Lord Jim]

Do people really find that Chris Rock stuff funny? That was dreadful...

I thought it was hysterical....

But then Strop, you're the guy who said he thought The Godfather was crap, so you ain't exactly my go to guy when it comes to judging performance quality....

[Gob]

I really cannot see anything funny in that Jim. It's just him stating the bloody obvious.

[Lord Jim]

What makes it funny, is that it's done in the style of those 50's era whitebread "do's and don'ts" etiquette and safety films that used to be shown to school kids in this country.

[Sean]

I actually found it quite amusing. It is indeed stating the obvious but implying that the obvious isn't very obvious to some black people.

[Gob]

Ah well, each to their own eh?