Gates, Tasers, and Busting Heads

We've gone over the Gates incident already, but a few more recent pieces deserve attention. As predicted, Roy Edroso's Village Voice column this week covered it. His summary (see the originals for the links):

NEW VOICE COLUMN UP about the Gates controversy, which in the Bizarro universe that is my beat is all about the racism of Henry Louis Gates and Barack Obama, and the necessity of absolute deference to authority unless you're Tea Partying, in which case it's all groovy revolution. Since I wrote it I see that the 911 caller in the case has denied making a racial classification of the suspect, which leads Legal Insurrection to suspect intimidation: "Whalen has been pilloried by the blogosphere as being a white racist neighbor (actually passer-by)... So it is natural, but unfortunate, that Whalen falls into the trap of playing the skin-tone game." Thus do our liberal racists thwart conservative attempts to get beyond race. Jack Dunphy does his bit by explaining to Obama and his "Ivy League pals" that if "you're running your mouth about your rights and your history of oppression and what have you" to a cop, you're likely to get shot. Somehow I think they already knew that.

From the column itself, "Rightbloggers Will Tell You Who The Real Racists Are in the Henry Louis Gates Case":

One of the great themes of the current conservative movement is Liberal Fascism -- the idea, promoted by Jonah Goldberg's book of that name, that liberals are the true heirs of Hitler and Mussolini, and that they effect fascist outrages in the present day via their "speech police," "thought police," "eco-police," etc.

You may be tempted by this to imagine that conservatives would also be concerned with the actions of actual police when they make questionable arrests. But when Henry Louis Gates had his now-famous run-in with the Cambridge Police in and in front of his own home, rightbloggers were generally disinclined to argue that the officers overstepped their authority by hauling Gates in for disturbing the peace.

In fact, they in the main they saw in the affair a justification of aggressive policing -- provided it is used on black history professors, not in the interests of environmentalism or anything like that -- and proof of the racism and treachery of Professor Gates and President Obama.

As usual, read the whole thing. Two items really stood out for me, though. Here's number one:

Tasers were also on the mind Wizbang, who was reminded of a woman who was tasered by an officer in Texas earlier this year. She claimed to have been cooperative at her traffic stop, but a video showed she was not. "In both cases the punishment may be excessive," said Wizbang, "but all indications are that they both brought there subsequent arrests upon themselves by their actions." (The video of the tasering of the woman, who is 72 years old, is a fascinating choice of example.)

Here's that video:



As I wrote over at Roy's, I had heard about this incident, but I hadn't seen the video. Sadly, it's not the worst tasering video I've seen. But even without factoring in age, the cop has a foot in height and about 100 pounds on this woman. It's not as if he's ever in danger, and he could probably restrain and handcuff her pretty easily if he needed to. Watch that push. He was just annoyed, and wanted to show this woman who's boss. He tasers her, then yells at her for not being able to move to his liking. She probably can't after being tasered. There's no doubt she's argumentative, and without knowing the laws of the state, I'll assume the cop has legal cause to arrest her. That's fine. But this guy has completely lost his cool and he's shot a 72-year-old woman full of electricity strong enough to knock her to the ground. We truly live in different worlds, if Kevin at Wizbang can see that and say, essentially, 'She had it coming.' As we discussed with Gates, consider the competing stakes and the power dynamics. We have the horrible transgression of someone mouthing off to a cop versus a cop knocking someone to the ground with electricity. How is "transgression" #1 possibly worse? Go ahead, arrest her, but the cop has the power and responsibility here. Claiming the tasering was "necessary" is a hard sell. What would he have done without a taser? Smacked her with a billy club? Shot her? I swear, sometimes I think these guys watch Cool Hand Luke and Shawshank Redemption and root for the wardens.

Digby's got a Colbert segment that features the same incident. She also relates the story of a deaf, mentally handicapped man the police tasered. Tasering is not a "no harm" option. People have died as a result of being tasered, it is a physical assault, and an attack on someone's dignity. It's not to be done lightly. Cops obviously have the right to defend themselves, and given a legitimate threat, tasering or even lethal force is justifiable. However, the reality is that cops are using tasers cavalierly and abusively, when they're annoyed, to force compliance, instead of only when they or someone else is in real danger. Digby's followed this stuff diligently, and the high use of tasers on children is particularly appalling. The shock first-ask questions later attitude is very, very dangerous and should not be legal. Here's another incident, featuring a 14-year old girl, from an earlier Digby post, "It's Just Too Easy"



He had no choice?!? Has this cop never dealt with young teens? Again, what are the stakes, here? An upset 14-year old girl doesn't comply with a cop and runs away? Most likely, she cools down and comes back eventually. Instead, she suffers pretty severe injuries, apparently. Good cops help de-escalate a situation. That's confrontation training 101. Instead, this ego-driven cop needs to assert his dominance. Look, anyone who's dealt with teens extensively understands some of them can be extremely frustrating at times. However, there are responsibilities that come with being an adult, especially in a position of power. This isn't an escaping robber we're talking about. Where is the concern for the girl in all this? What are the lessons taught? The ideal lesson should be, calm down and talk things though with your mother and other trustworthy adults. The cop's intended lesson is, do what you're told, obey authority, don't mess with cops, or we'll hurt you. And the lesson the kid probably actually learned is something close to that – don't trust authority – they will hurt you if you disobey.

Taserings like this should not be legal. The police deserve support when they do a good job, but this attitude is extremely dangerous, and has to be fought. (I'm also not fond of that microwave crowd-dispersing weapon. These things should not be accepted without question.)

I've wandered far a field, but item number two, from Roy's summary, is tough talk from a man at the National Review who claims to be an L.A. cop:

So, since the president is keen on offering instruction, here is what I would advise he teach his Ivy League pals, and anyone else who may find himself unexpectedly confronted by a police officer: You may be as pure as the driven snow itself, but you have no idea what horrible crime that police officer might suspect you of committing. You may be tooling along on a Sunday drive in your 1932 Hupmobile when, quite unknown to you, someone else in a 1932 Hupmobile knocks off the nearby Piggly Wiggly. A passing police officer sees you and, asking himself how many 1932 Hupmobiles can there be around here, pulls you over. At that moment I can assure you the officer is not all that concerned with trying not to offend you. He is instead concerned with protecting his mortal hide from having holes placed in it where God did not intend. And you, if in asserting your constitutional right to be free from unlawful search and seizure fail to do as the officer asks, run the risk of having such holes placed in your own.

When the officer has satisfied himself that it was not you and your Hupmobile that were involved in the Piggly Wiggly heist, he owes you an explanation for the stop and an apology for the inconvenience, but if you’re running your mouth about your rights and your history of oppression and what have you, you’re likely to get neither.

— Jack Dunphy is an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. “Jack Dunphy” is the author's nom de cyber. The opinions expressed are his own and almost certainly do not reflect those of the LAPD management.

I'll assume this guy actually is a cop, since this attitude is sadly still not uncommon on the LAPD. It remind me of the police misconduct on May Day 2007 here in Los Angeles, where one cop summed up the attitude when he said, "I don't care if they're not throwing stuff at us now, we get to roll." (The subsequent police report was a huge step forward in candor, though.)

I imagine Dunphy's writing partially for shock effect, but he's offering both a straw man and a threat. No one's saying cops don't have a right to defend themselves, but there's a big gap between that and saying, "Dare to defend your civil liberties and I'll shoot you." A good police captain would suspend a cop like this and review all noteworthy incidents in his past, because such a cop is a public menace. Seriously – stop and think about what this tough guy's written. An officer of the law says he doesn't give a damn about the law, and is threatening to shoot anyone who cites it. And National Review, true to the chickenhawk braggadocio that makes it obnoxious and dangerous and not merely obtuse, callous and sleazy, posts it. It sure does put that "liberal" fascism in perspective, doesn't it?

The Gates Incident

The Gates incident, where Professor Henry Gates was arrested at his own home, has been well covered by now, but it remains troubling. President Obama held a follow-up press conference and Gates, Police Sergeant Crowley and Obama will be meeting for a beer. Obama wasn't inaccurate saying "stupidly," but it was impolitic and kicked up another furor rather than damping things down. Here's hoping Gates, Crowley and Obama at least can come to some settlement.

Obama's response on Gates also derailed discussion of health care. We have a press corps that will say: "Honest question: Is there a point when the president knows too much about an issue?" Most of them hate policy, and they will frame things from a conservative or at least establishmentarian perspective. Given their shallowness, it's dangerous to give them any opening to veer off substance (The Daily Show captures this very well).

You can read the police report on Gates here, and Gates' lawyer, Charles Ogletree, has given his account:



The basic narrative is fairly clear, but there are some discrepancies. Crooked Timber had a police captain offer his perspective on the incident and the broader principles, but his timeline appears to be off on a crucial point or two. Lowry Heussler provides a careful analysis of the police report and concludes "Sgt. Crowley's report almost certainly contains intentional falsehoods, but even accepting his account at face value, the report tells us all we need to conclude that Crowley was in the wrong here, and by a large factor." If the charges were dropped, how can the police department insist that it was right to arrest Gates in the first place? I can fully believe it's standard operating procedure for a cop to arrest someone who annoys him, but that doesn't make it legal or right. The police were doing their job responding, and asking Gates for ID, but after his identity was established and it was clear he was in his own house, everything should have ended. Whether Gates got heated or not, it seems pretty clear that Crowley took things personally and abused his power. It's not that Gates was a danger – except to Crowley's pride.

Roy Edroso covers conservative reaction in "Why Libertarianism is Basically a White Thing," and I'd be surprised if his wingnut roundup tomorrow doesn't cover more of this. I shouldn't be surprised by conservative inconsistency/ hypocrisy/ authoritarianism on the incident, but I'm still disappointed. In the comment thread, Aimai, who lives in the area, makes some good observations about class dynamics of the region, although she still thinks race and civil liberties are key.

Bob Somerby covers class issues in the coverage, and Phantom Negro and Pam Spaulding cover class in relation to Gates' reaction. While these three pieces offer some good observations, I do think they miss the bigger picture. While race and gender are important issues (although often discussed obtusely by the mainstream media), class and power are frequently more important, but not as often discussed in America. I'm glad to see any pieces discussing class. But in this case, Gates may have belonged to a higher "class," but Crowley had the power. And apparently he abused it.

There are good cops (even here in Los Angeles), and it can be a dangerous job. But you have to be pretty cloistered to believe that cops never abuse their power. Sure, the wisest course of action for Gates was to be as polite as possible. However, none of that changes that Crowley abused his position. And it doesn't change that, given a worse cop in the same situation, Gates being polite in the same situation wouldn't have made a difference. As it is, apparently Crowley didn't follow the law. More importantly, the stakes aren't remotely equivalent. The cop in this situation, after Gates' identity and residency are established, risks a bruised ego. With a really bad cop, Gates could have wound up tasered, beaten or dead.

I remain troubled by acceptance of authoritarianism in some reactions to the Gates incident. I'm glad some others see it the same way. Matt Yglesias put it well:

Meanwhile, note that racial motivations or there absence have really nothing to do with the nature of Officer Crowley’s misconduct. What happened basically is that Crowley accused Gates, whether for good reason or not, of breaking into his own home. Gates, pissed off, offended Crowley. At which point Crowley, even though he was now perfectly aware that Gates was not guilty of anything, decided to exact revenge by manipulating the situation to create a trumped-up disorderly conduct charge. That’s not professional policing, and it’s not a good use of the City of Cambridge’s law enforcement resources. That’s why the charges were dropped, and that’s why it’s fair to say that Crowley was acting stupidly racial issues aside.*

Meanwhile, we see here yet another instance of one of my favorite themes on this blog. The conservative movement, which never ever ever dedicates any time or energy to the problem of racial discrimination suffered by non-whites, thinks it’s very important to draw attention to the social crisis of white people burdened by accusations of racism.

* To consider a race-free instance, I was actually treated extremely rudely by an MPDC officer yesterday. I, wisely, just decided to not worry about it and move on. But suppose I’d decided to respond to him being rude by overreacting and blowing up at him. And then he decided to respond to me being rude by finding some pretext on which to arrest me. Neither the fact that the cop’s not a racist nor the fact that I had overreacted would make retaliating with a trumped-up charge the right way for the cop to respond.

DDay:

The cop baited the guy into leaving the house so he could arrest him for making a cop feel bad.

I appreciate the work of law enforcement. But regardless of race, too many cops have the belief that if they get insulted, they have the right to turn that into an arresting offense. That's not the law whatsoever, nor should it be. It creates a chilling effect among the public not to call out bad behavior in law enforcement or raise your voice in any way. I know we're all supposed to believe that cops are saintly, but I live in LA. Police misconduct happens all the time, and we should be vigilant when it does.

Instead, the media takes the soccer ball and chases it into the corner, without any semblance of factual records or perspective. It becomes an emotional argument instead of a factual record of misconduct. We pay cops with tax money. We should not risk arrest when arguing with them.

A Talking Points Memo reader who's a lawyer writes:

We all know (maybe not Prof. Gates) not to anger a police officer. I had so many cases in which someone cursed at an officer or made a gesture to an officer and ended up spending the night in jail. Prof. Gates spent four hours in jail. Even though his charge was dropped, I'm sure that time in jail for a law-abiding citizen was utterly horrendous. There simply is no reason to arrest someone for hurting your feelings or making an ugly gesture at you. It is not against the law in most contexts. In addition, I can assure you that most people who walk into a court room in a case in which it is the officer's word against him or her (a law-abiding citizen) is at a superior disadvantage. An overwhelming majority of judges simply will not believe the law-abiding citizen over the police officer. So, along with the rightful adoration we reserve for our police officers, our society needs to acknowledge that their power is awesome and must be wielded in a cautious and prudent manner. Not only can a police officer throw you in jail or hold a judge's trust on the witness stand, he or she can use deadly force. It is an awesome power that is almost unparalleled in our society. It is important that this kind of power have a check and balance. This discussion is important. As for Obama digging in on his statement, he worded it better the second time. Cooler heads should've prevailed indeed.

Josh Marshall comments:

Race can't be separated from what happened in Cambridge. But even taking race out of the equation, there are cops out there, and I fear sometimes that it's crept into the culture of policing in some jurisdictions, who think that a citizen treating them in a disrespectful way amounts to a crime.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, after Obama's follow-up:

It's worth watching Obama's statement. I really can't begrudge him--his priority is health-care. Me, on the other hand, I'm pretty exhausted. What follows is the raw. Not much logic. Just some thoughts on how it feels...

The rest of us are left with a country where, by all appearances, officers are well within their rights to arrest you for sassing them. Which is where we started. I can't explain why, but this is the sort of thing that makes you reflect on your own precarious citizenship. I mean, the end of all of this scares the hell out of me...

When we think about the cops, it's scary, on one level, to conclude that a cop can basically arrest you on a whim. It's scarier still to think that this is what Americans want, that this country is as we've made it. And then finally it's even scarier to understand that no president can change that. It's not why he's there. He is there to pass health-reform--not make us post-racist, or post-police power, or post-whatever. Only the people can do that. And they don't seem particularly inclined. Here is what the election of Barack Obama says about race--white people, in general, are willing to hire a black guy for the ultimate job. That's a big step. But it isn't any more than what it says.

Digby:

...This situation actually has far broader implications about all citizens' relationship to the police and the way we are expected to respond to authority, regardless of race. I've watched too many taser videos over the past few years featuring people of all races and both genders being put to the ground screaming in pain, not because they were dangerous or threatening and not because they were so out of control there was no other way to deal with them, but because they were arguing with police and the officer perceived a lack of respect for the badge.

I have discovered that my hackles automatically going up at such authoritarian behavior is not necessarily the common reaction among my fellow Americans, not even my fellow liberals...

The police are supposed to be the good guys who follow the rules and the law and don't expect innocent citizens to bow to their brute power the same way that a street gang would do. The police are not supposed wield what is essentially brute force on the entire population.

And yet, that's what we are told we are supposed to accept. Not only can they arrest us merely for being argumentative as they did with Gates, they are now allowed to shoot us full of electricity to make us comply with their demands to submit...

It is very rude of citizens to do that, to be sure. But it is not a crime. The idea that people should not get angry, should not pull rank, should be rude to others is an issue for sociologists and Miss Manners, not the cops. Humans often behave badly, but that doesn't make it illegal. For people with such tremendous power as police officers to be coddled into thinking that these are behaviors that allow them to arrest people (or worse) seems to be to far more dangerous than allowing a foolish person or two to set a bad example in the public square...

At this point we are seeing a tipping in the other direction. Police are emboldened when they repeatedly get away with using bullying, abusive tactics against average citizens who have not been convicted of any crimes...

And I would suggest that it is just that attitude that led to people in this country recently endorsing unilateral illegal invasions, torture of prisoners and the rest. You remember the line --- "the constitution isn't a suicide pact." To which many of us replied with the old Benjamin Franklin quote: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

The principles here are the same. Sure, we should treat the cops with respect and society shouldn't encourage people to be reflexively hostile to police. They have a tough job, and we should all be properly respectful of people who are doing a dangerous and necessary job for the community. But when a citizen doesn't behave well, if not illegally, as will happen in a free society, it is incumbent upon the police, the ones with the tasers and the handcuffs and the guns, to exercise discretion wisely and professionally. And when they don't, we shouldn't make excuses for them. It's far more corrosive to society to allow authority figures to abuse their power than the other way around.

As usual, read the whole thing, especially for Digby's examples.

Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald connects these attitudes with the Cheney gang's efforts to deploy military personnel domestically, in clear violation of the law. I'll try to get to those stories sometime later this week, but I agree it's on a continuum, and if you've read Angler or were paying attention during the Bush administration, it won't be a surprise. One can argue about the best term for these people - authoritarians, monarchists, para-fascists or something else - but they have been, and remain, extremely dangerous.

Gates and Crowley may both be decent people who had bad days and made bad calls. I hope that's the case, and that their meeting will be helpful. However, I'm still troubled by widespread acceptance of authoritarianism. There have to be checks on those forces. In addition to the law itself as a warning, we need enforcement of it: systems of oversight and accountability, investigations where warranted, and prosecutions where necessary. However, the most important check may remain societal attitudes toward the abuse of power – and I think there's room for plenty of more soul-searching and reflection there.

Update 7/28/09: I have a followup post, of sorts.

Call to Free Amy Goodman (Updated)

Respected journalist Amy Goodman has been arrested. Here's the video:



As you can see, she's an extremely intimidating physical presence, and obviously a clear and present danger to all in the vicinity, most of all the multiple cops in riot gear. Given that peaceful activists targeted in earlier house raids were called "anarchists" by the police, and too many in the press has repeated that uncritically, I wonder how this incident will be reported. Let's work to make sure it's reported accurately, as the abuse of power it is.

Here's the press release, emphasis added:

September 1, 2008
Contact:
Dennis Moynihan
Mike Burke

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman’s crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sherrif Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman’s office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amenmdent rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism’s top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar is a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists from the nation’s leading independent news outlet.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Personally, I'm really, really sick of this shit. The raids in the Twin Cities are even worse than some of the police abuses in Denver. Not all cops are like this, of course, but this is entirely too commonplace. It defies belief that these cops don't know that they, officers of the law, are breaking the law. I want to see some people fired over this. I want to see it spelled out loudly and plainly that what all these people harassed and arrested were doing, peaceful activism in public places, was legal and protected under fundamental rights of the Constitution. I don't want to see this crap every again. I don't have much hope of that, but one key step to stopping it in the long term is stopping it now, and making sure those that have abused power pay a price for it.

Update: Via Cernig at C&L, Democracy Now reports that Amy Goodman, and now her producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, have all been released, although all were mistreated. Democracy Now will be airing more footage tomorrow. Meanwhile, tear gas was also used on protestors:



Democracy Now also reports:

During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, including a photographer for the Associated Press.

Cernig writes:

Democracy Now! is standing by the three and calling what happened today “a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists” and “a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.”

(Cross-posted at The Blue Herald)

Cops in Los Angeles

(Cross-posted at The Blue Herald)


Monday I received a last minute invite to a Dodgers game that night. The four of us had great seats, the best I've ever had a baseball game, right behind home plate, only three rows back (not counting the super special section in front of us!). Too bad the Dodgers stunk up the joint, with the Diamondbacks winning 9-1 (apparently the Dodgers had played a 17-inning game the previous day).

Two guys in front of us were really friendly, filling us in on a few players and the recent Dodgers record, making jokes, even giving us a spare beer they weren't going to drink — and ball park beer ain't cheap! It turns out they were both cops, from Bakersfield (about 100 miles north of Dodgers Stadium!), and probably the nicest cops I've ever met.

In very sharp contrast, the local news has been airing footage of the police assaulting journalists and demonstrators here in town at a May Day rally this past Tuesday. It's a pretty big local story that only now seems to be trickling into national coverage.

Think Progress has some of the video from CNN here. Photos from The Los Angeles Times are here. Jim Swanson has a short post on it here, and will be covering it in this weekend's Blue Herald podcast.

The Los Angeles Times featured several important stories on these events. From "Police action on journalists at melee is assailed":

One day after several reporters and camera operators were injured while covering an altercation at an immigrant rights rally in MacArthur Park, news organizations condemned the Los Angeles Police Department for its use of batons and riot guns against members of the media, and some said they were considering legal options.

"We are sorry for what happened to our employees and find it unacceptable that they would be abused in that way when they were doing their job," said Alfredo Richard, spokesman for the Spanish-language network Telemundo, of the anchor and the reporter who were hurt during the evening rally.

Other members of the media who were injured included four employees of KVEA-TV Channel 52, a KTTV-TV Channel 11 news reporter who suffered a minor shoulder injury, a camerawoman who has a broken wrist and a reporter for KPCC-FM (89.3) who was bruised by a police baton.

"I was dumbfounded," said the KPCC reporter, Patricia Nazario. "I've covered riots. I've covered chaos. I was never hit or struck or humiliated the way the LAPD violated me yesterday."

Nazario said she was walking away from riot police when she was hit in the back.

Wearing a press pass and holding a microphone, she turned around and told the officer, "Why did you hit me? I'm moving. I'm a reporter," Nazario recalled.

Then the officer hit her on the left leg, she said, knocking her to the ground and sending her cellphone flying.

"I was shocked, trying to scramble to my feet," she said. "At that point, I just started crying…. I just felt totally vulnerable.

This was far from an isolated incident:

Pedro Sevcec was anchoring the evening news for Telemundo when he saw the riot police moving slowly toward the news crews.

A few dozen people had gathered to watch Sevcec do his live broadcast.

"The next thing I heard was the shotguns," he said.

Police knocked over monitors and lights and hit reporters and camera operators with batons, he said.

Sevcec said police hit him three times and pointed a riot gun at his face before pushing him out of the park.

An emergency anchor in Miami took over the broadcast.

"It was so ridiculous," Sevcec said. "They know what a TV camera is. This is not a secret weapon."

Telemundo reporter Carlos Botifoll said he was hit by a baton as he was waiting to go live on the broadcast.

He was carrying a microphone and standing in front of a camera.

"We were obviously reporters," he said. "There could not have been any doubt whatsoever."

The cops also knocked over lights, grabbed cameras and threw them. The article continues:

Peter Eliasberg, an ACLU lawyer who helped negotiate the settlement, said that based on broadcast news reports he has heard and viewed, "the police went way over the line," using force that "violates the law and the Constitution."

Marc Cooper, associate director of the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice in Journalism, said the video he viewed of the clash led him to believe that the use of force by police was "unjustifiable and excessive."

"From what I saw, it just seemed gratuitous to go after the reporters," Cooper said. "They weren't really in the way, they didn't really pose a threat and, of course, they were trying to do their job."

L.A. Police Chief William Bratton has expressed his displeasure. From "Chief vows full inquiry into violence":

"The treatment you received yesterday from some Los Angeles police officers … we can't tolerate and won't tolerate," Bratton told reporters at a City Hall news conference, extending his remarks to members of the public also caught up in the incident.

[...]

Questions also were raised about the large number of projectiles fired by officers attempting to control the crowd. At least 240 rounds made of foam, sponge or fiber were fired as police swept through the park about 6:15 p.m. The move came after police clashed with a small group of protesters near the intersection of 7th and Alvarado streets.

"Two hundred and forty rounds with no arrests is of grave concern to me," Bratton said, acknowledging that none of the rounds fired were directly related to the arrests of eight adults and one juvenile during the rally on charges that included assault with a deadly weapon in a rock-throwing incident and public drunkenness. The chief labeled some of the officers' actions "inappropriate."

[...]

In footage shot by Fox News and Telemundo reporters, police officers can be seen grabbing Fox reporter Christina Gonzalez and forcefully pushing her out of the way as she crouched to protect her camerawoman, who had fallen after being struck by a police baton. "I am helping her move, sir!" Gonzalez said, her voice agitated.

The officer is heard saying: "Move her back away from the skirmish line or you're under arrest."

As Gonzalez, whose husband is a retired LAPD officer, struggled to regain her footing, an officer pushed her by the shoulders, spinning her around.

"You can't do that," Gonzalez yelled at an officer, jabbing a finger in his direction. "You cannot do that and you know it."

Jill Leovy, a Los Angeles Times reporter who was at the scene, gives her account here. (The Google map of MacArthur Park is here. You can also switch to a satellite photo view.) Meanwhile, Warren Olney discussed the events on local NPR show Which Way L.A.? (30 minutes long).

This is infuriating behavior by the police. Being a cop can be very dangerous, but when a cop pushes a woman in the back who's already walking away, or grabs a video camera and throws it, or clubs a person who's no threat, absolutely these cops know what they're doing, and they know what they're doing is wrong. It's inexcusable. Some people cannot be trusted with power. A good cop tries to keep the peace and builds community ties. Bad cops abuse their position of authority. Sadly, there have always been people happy for any excuse to beat someone else up, and even more sadly, there always seems to be a percentage of those people in the police force, in the armed forces, and among prison guards. The Brits refer to that attitude as hooliganism (even if they generally don't apply it to cops). Dress a thug in a uniform and give him a badge, but it doesn't make the attitude any more honorable, despite the veneer of respectability. He's still a thug. It's only a question of who he's working for.

According to the Los Angeles Times, there were 25,000-some demonstrators, but only a small percentage were being disruptive. The original rally at City Hall was reportedly much larger, but also overwhelmingly peaceful. Demonstrators shouldn't assault the police either, but throwing a plastic bottle at cops in riot gear isn't remotely comparable to hitting someone with a baton or firing a rubber bullet at him or her — especially when that person didn't throw the bottle! I have no problem with the police arresting those people who reportedly threw debris and such. However, the police went far beyond that, and the video doesn't lie.

New questions continue to emerge and the FBI is now investigating as well. It's encouraging that Bratton, the FBI and others are looking into this, but it's discouraging that it's necessary in the first place.

I'm thinking the Bakersfield Police Department should come down and teach the LAPD something about community relations. This incident has really damaged them here.

Some of the comments on the Los Angeles Times forums about the incident pretty disturbing. It shouldn't be forgotten the L.A. police had a choice. They did not have to react the way they did. Compare the ugly tone they set with the lovely one they destroyed, as described in this Los Angeles Times editorial:

THE TENS OF THOUSANDS who gathered at the base of Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday bore a blend of messages. Many urged comprehensive immigration reform and complained about the demonization of migrants. Some called for amnesty. Smatterings pleaded for sundry fringe political causes.

But overwhelming all other displays was a sea of U.S. flags, waved cheerfully by people asking to join a country conflicted about their welcome. Other than a Fourth of July on the Washington Mall, it's hard to think of a more full-throated pledge of allegiance.

Choosing between those two tones shouldn't be that hard.

Make sure to listen to further coverage via Jim Swanson's Week in Review podcast, available at 5am this Saturday, 5/5.