Professor Gates, Harvard's Pride

[Aliantha]

I was just answering your question.

[TheMercenary]

Zen! You got to do a poll!

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

I'm sick of people acting like cops are wild animals, and if you don't tiptoe around them you deserve what you get.

This.

Images from Texas where the cop pulls granny over and gives her a ticket, but she refuses to sign it. (It's her right not to sign it.)

Cop doesn't see it that way, so he physically pulls her out of the car, pushes her to the side and SCREAMS at her. She yells, fine, I'll sign it. He's pushing her again.

She gets pissed he's shoving on her, and screams right back. He decides he's gonna get control of the situation, so after a few warnings, (and her trying to get back in the truck), he finally tazes her, then yells at her to get on the ground.

At first, I thought, well, she should have just signed the damn ticket. Then, she should have just complied with the officer, and none of that would have happened.

Then I realized, wait a minute. She chose not to sign the ticket, which is well within her rights. That cop should have just said ok ma'am, have a good day and left. As soon as she exercised her right to NOT sign that ticket, he got it in his head that she was "a trouble maker". And he wasn't having that. No 72 year old woman is going to give him trouble. No siree.

As soon as he put his hands on her and forced her out of her truck, he committed a crime: assault, and technically, kidnapping. She had broken NO law, he had NO probable cause to pull her from that vehicle.

At that very moment, he STOPPED being a police officer, protecting the public safety, and became a thug. Abuse of power, no?

This woman did NOT deserve to be tasered. She was beligerent, yes, but aren't cops trained on how to handle beligerent people? Isn't that kind of the down side to being a cop? I mean, wouldn't one think the vast majority of criminals are beligerent in the first place?

(And I'm too lazy to look up beligerent at the moment.)

Gates, while a cock, should not have been arrested. He was not in a public place, he was in his yard. Private property, yes? The cop, after finally getting ID on this cock, should have said, ok sir, have a good night, and walked away. Gates did NOTHING against the law, and I think he should sue the fuck out of Cambridge PD. Not because of the race issue, but because he didn't break any laws and got arrested anyway.

This wasn't a case of racism, it was case of cop-ism.

[richlevy]

Actually, if you listen closely at the point where the officer is telling her that he will taser her, you can hear her say "I dare you".

The shove did serve to get them away from traffic.

All of that being said, the issue was escalated by the deputy who had filled out the ticket and should have handed it to her and left. I believe Onyx is correct that she was not required to sign the ticket, but I am not a lawyer and Texas law may be different (sometimes I'm not sure it's part of the US).

The woman was argumentative but was not combative under any definition of the word I can find.

On the face of it, the officer chose to escalate.

And now for something in really bad taste:

You may be a redneck if your mother does not remove the Marlboro from her lips before telling the state patrolman to kiss her ass.

[morethanpretty]

Originally Posted by OnyxCougar

This.

Images from Texas where the cop pulls granny over and gives her a ticket, but she refuses to sign it. (It's her right not to sign it.)

Then I realized, wait a minute. She chose not to sign the ticket, which is well within her rights. That cop should have just said ok ma'am, have a good day and left.

Sure its her right not to, and in that case it is the cops duty to give her a nice ride to jail.

Do not argue your case on the side of the road, save that for court. Also you must sign the ticket or you will receive a free taxi ride to the local jail. Signing is not an admission of guilt, just a promise to appear in court. You do not have the right to see the radar readout and it does not matter anyway.

From:
http://www.speedingticketcentral.com...ng-ticket.html

Or to be more technical:

§ 543.004. NOTICE TO APPEAR REQUIRED: CERTAIN
OFFENSES. (a) An officer shall issue a written notice to appear
if:
(1) the offense charged is speeding or a violation of
the open container law, Section 49.03, Penal Code; and
(2) the person makes a written promise to appear in
court as provided by Section 543.005.
(b) If the person is a resident of or is operating a vehicle
licensed in a state or country other than this state, Subsection (a)
applies only as provided by Chapter 703.
(c) The offenses specified by Subsection (a) are the only
offenses for which issuance of a written notice to appear is
mandatory.


§ 543.005. PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE. To secure
release, the person arrested must make a written promise to appear
in court by signing the written notice prepared by the arresting
officer. The signature may be obtained on a duplicate form or on an
electronic device capable of creating a copy of the signed notice.
The arresting officer shall retain the paper or electronic original
of the notice and deliver the copy of the notice to the person
arrested. The officer shall then promptly release the person from
custody.

From:
http://law.onecle.com/texas/transpor...hapter543.html


Still think the cop was an asshole for trying to get her to sign, and then trying to arrest her, as was his JOB?

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by morethanpretty

Sure its her right not to, and in that case it is the cops duty to give her a nice ride to jail.

From:
http://www.speedingticketcentral.com...ng-ticket.html

Or to be more technical:

From:
http://law.onecle.com/texas/transpor...hapter543.html


Still think the cop was an asshole for trying to get her to sign, and then trying to arrest her, as was his JOB?

Assuming your facts are all accurate, then Yes, he was an asshole. He wouldn't be an asshole if he had just given her a nice ride to jail. He should not have assaulted her or tased her.

[morethanpretty]

According to everything I found, yes my facts are right.

Looks like she was resisting arrest to me. Taze the bitch. His life isn't worth less than hers. Just because she's old, doesn't make her a non-threat.
This is TEXAS, where everyone has a gun rack in their car, a gun on their side and another in their boot...if they're goin light that day.

Oh and the shoving or assaulting he does that you're referencing: he is clearly telling her to step back behind the truck. After repeated telling and pointing, he finally pushes her there, she doesn't fall and doesn't stumble, he must not have done it very forcefully, just enough to make her move.
Know how many cops get hit by cars on these routine stops? I don't, but enough that Texas has made it a law that you either have to change lanes or slow by 20mph when passing a cop on the side of the road. (Not very enforceable law though.) Again, he shouldn't have to lose his life over this old lady, he had every right to move himself and her out of danger.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

I'm trying to imagine the questionnaire you'll need for that study:

(1) Please identify yourself
(a) Honky
(b) Spic
(c) Nigger
(d) Slope
(e) towel-head
(f) other darkie

(2) Are you an asshole?
(a) yes
(b) no

(3) Who do you blame for bad things in your life?
(a) yourself
(b) other people today
(c) historical injustices
(d) government conspiracy
(e) meddling kids

(4) If a pig busted you, would you:
(a) call your lawyer
(b) call you congressman
(c) call your homies
(d) call your momma
(e) pop a cap in his fat ass

Thank you for participating in this survey. All results are confidential. Unless you answered (d) to question (3), but we know who you are anyway.

1) a
2) a
3) b
4) a

[Alibar]

Gates behaved like a man with a huge chip on his shoulder. It was a surprise to learn he is supposed to be an expert of race relations. What a laugh. Too bad he didn't behave like an adult. It could have easily been taken care of with no harm.

[classicman]

Is there a term for ahole-ism.
Not related to this case specifically, but shouldn't there be a term for when aholes get treated like aholes....

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by classicman

Is there a term for ahole-ism.
Not related to this case specifically, but shouldn't there be a term for when aholes get treated like aholes....

There is. It's called Poetic Justice.

[classicman]

HAGGIS!

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Alibar

Too bad he didn't behave like an adult. It could have easily been taken care of with no harm.

By the cops. Once they determined there was nothing to take care of, they should have left. Too bad they didn't behave like adults.

[classicman]

BS.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

By the cops. Once they determined there was nothing to take care of, they should have left. Too bad they didn't behave like adults.

It's been my experience--and countless others'--that if you are polite to the cops, things go smoothly even if you're in the wrong, and if you're a dick to the cops, you may expect it to go badly for you no matter what. Anyone who still doesn't understand this basic reality after 50-60 years on this planet deserves what they get.