YouTube.com Video (of Man Being Beaten by Police) Prompts Probe of LAPD

[truthpusher]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2645350

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CmV4ZklZzg



YouTube.com Video Prompts Probe of LAPD

FBI Investigation Prompted by Video of Man Being Beaten by Police Shows Power of YouTube.com

By ALEX VEIGA
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - An FBI investigation prompted by video footage of a man being punched repeatedly in the face by police has demonstrated anew the power of the Internet sensation of the year, YouTube.com.

In addition to being a monumental time-waster around the office, YouTube could also become a tool for keeping police honest, some say.


This week, a clip on the post-it-yourself video Web site triggered a police-brutality investigation by the FBI. The footage shows the Aug. 11 arrest of alleged gang member William Cardenas, 24. Two Los Angeles officers can be seen holding him down on a Hollywood street; one punches him several times in the face before they are able to handcuff him.


The Los Angeles Police Department is also investigating the officers' conduct.


Police Chief William J. Bratton said he found the video to be "disturbing," but stressed that the 20-second clip amounts to only a fraction of what transpired.


The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that a Superior Court commissioner viewed the video nearly two months ago, heard the officers' testimony, and concluded that their conduct was "more than reasonable" because Cardenas was resisting.


Cop Watch LA, a police watchdog group, posted the video on YouTube, said organizer Joaquin Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos said the video was shot by a neighbor of Cardenas with a cell phone camera. The neighbor gave it to Cardenas' family, who then gave it to Cop Watch, according to Cienfuegos.



link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2645350

[bananas]

1. This is why net neutrality is so important. nt

[Fridays Child]

2. There's NO justification for that. I don't care if it is only a 20-second clip.

The guy was completely subdued. Punching him in the face, repeatedly, was brutal. That cop needs to go to jail.

[Blaq Dem]

3. This happens everyday

Everyone needs to carry a video camera and put this kind of stuff on YouTube.

Notice how this all looks familiar? Yep. Torture, Gitmo, violence...

[Hieronymus]

4. The L.A. police have always been corrupt.

Thank God someone video taped the beating.:bounce:

[phrenzy]

5. One saving grace...

The other cop apparently tried to stop this crap once he realized what the other asshole was doing... At least shows that they are not all sadistic fucks ....

[magellan]

6. Not all, no

I lived in L.A. for eight years and there are good cops there. It's just that it's hard getting decent folks to take that dangerous beat for the pay, and with a department already so stigmatized by corruption that it instantly makes you a target for derision whether you deserve it or not. Honestly, being a cop with the LAPD is not a job I'd want if it was the last one around. The ones who do it and manage to keep their sanity and principles are freakin' heroes.

[Mortis]

7. Good!

This is some sick stuff, no matter what your political affiliation!

[Kingshakabobo]

8. That seems about right.......

......."I can't breath" warrants a knee on the throat and several punches to the face. :sarcasm:

I know the cops are going to say he was resisting....which he was.....but who wouldn't resist having a knee on the throat. Are you supposed to relax and let them crush your esophagus?

I'm sure there is some procedure for "compliance strikes/punches" but I'll hazard a guess that it doesn't include closed fist punches to the face while kneeling on the throat.

[kittykatkoffeekup]

9. ......."I can't breath"

This more common than you think.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1883384,00.html

http://rwor.org/a/1201/nypdmurder.htm

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/act2protect.html

[IntiRaymi]

10. This is a key civil liberties concern in America

No, not necessarily the fact that the victim in this case was black. It has to do with humanizing the various police departments in this country.
As a citizen, the last thing I want to be afraid of is the fucking cops. Unleash the lawyers.