The video below gives an insight into the challenges that police face on a daily basis after a mob formed quickly after the police arrested a man accused of threatening a Jewish man and hurling anti-Semitic slurs. Almost immediately, a group formed accusing the police of abuse and obstructing their lawful arrest. There is no sign of abusive police conduct in the video.
The arrested teen, Stephan Stowe, 17, reportedly approached the man wearing a yarmulke with eight friends and said “Assalamu Alaikum,” or “Peace be with you.” The man ignored the greeting and Stowe reportedly turned abusive and is quoted as saying “You think you’re better than me?” The teen says “We are cousins” but the man says that they are not and told him to leave him alone. That escalated the confrontation, particularly after the man took out his cell phone and took a photo of Stowe. Stowe snatched the phone and deleted the photo. He then reportedly said “I’m going to kill you right now” and “They should have killed all of you.” That would be enough for a lawful arrest if true.
The reaction of the crowd however shows the dangers faced by police. The officers had a viable criminal complaint and probable cause for an arrest on these facts. They are quickly surrounded however by a belligerent crowd. This leads to the arrest of Sheniqua Joseph, 22, who is charged with disorderly conduct during the incident. Joseph is accused of throwing a punch and kicking an officer during the melee.
While we often show videos that display police misconduct, this is a video that seems to support the officers — an interesting twist given the trend of cases where police arrest citizens for videotaping them in public.
Source: NY Daily
Hey look, it’s the religion of peace again.
I’m inclined to suggest that the history of the NYPD’s stop and frisk harassment of the black community added to the mobs resentment of another black person’s arrest. Lawful as it may have been, the resentment is still palpable, especially in the black community who’ve been the target of the NYPD for some time now. The NYPD ought to expect some backlash, not just in court, but by the average Joe on the street. I’m not defending the mob, just trying to explain why they may react to incidences like this.
NYPD on Trial: “Stop and Frisk.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dominic-carter/nypd-on-trial-stop-and-fr_b_2978881.html
Are the cops rookies, not yet corrupted or jaded over time?
That might explain them doing their job properly.
P Smith If you have read the book Serpico or seen the movie, you must admit NYCPD has markedly improved since then. For those who have not, I have to remind folks that Serpico was only TWO of good cops on the whole force back then. After the Knapp Commission tried to whitewash the severity of the problem, Serpico had to flee from the US because the cops of that police force put out a contract on his life!
He went to the only place he would be safe in a small town in Switzerland in the Italian speaking canton. He let the police know who he was and they allowed him to carry his pistol, and so any killer coming for him would stick out. Then Serpico could defend himself and the local cops would back him up. After many decades he was able to return to the US when he felt is was safe.
Jewish Man votes reliably democrat…
democrats empower racial identity politics…
nurture black resentment…
Jewish man suffers beatdown…
CIRCLE OF LIFE
Kudos to the cops for defusing that situation as much as possible and for maintaining their cool among people who were clearly trying to get them to lose it. I think we saw here how people can get caught up in a mob action kind of thing with very little (apparent) provocation.
My bad, you have said, “most.” However, if you read your original comment it did not have that qualifier. From my end, we’re cool. I suspect you don’t feel the same..and that’s cool also.
randyjet, I accept your experience and personal knowledge of Houston cops is far superior to mine. And, unlike many here, I respect life experiences and anecdotes. I never represented myself being “an expert.” My sister lived in Houston back in the 80’s. She too had a poor view of Houston police. I only visited Houston ~5-6 times and had no experiences. We could end this if you would very simply add a critical qualifier like, “many”, or even “most” Houston cops. That is my only beef.
nick back in the 70s I would say that ALL HPD cops were thugs and criminals. In fact, if I ever were elected to any position of power, I would take away the pensions of all the HFP cops who were on the force back then. While much progress has been made and the HPD is far better now, they are still a bad bunch in the main. One instance of few years ago illustrates this.
A young black man who was mentally disturbed stood out in front of the HPD headquarters downtown and was swinging a long sword. There were about 15 or so cops looking on and joking. It was near shift change time, so rather than tase the guy or even distract him so others could tackle him, they pulled out their guns and shot and killed him on the spot. It was great sport for them. Just recently the HPD was chasing a crook who was fleeing. A cop car cut the crook off, and knocked him down. The rest of the cops came up while the kid was on the ground with his hands at his side, and they proceeded to beat the hell out of him. They got in trouble because an outside security camera caught the whole thing on tape. So now instead of saying ALL HPD cops are thugs who would not act like the great NYCPD cops did in this instance, I have to say that only MOST HPD cops will act in this unprofessional manner. So I welcome this improvement
I am also personally acquainted with the Sheriff of Harris County, and he is an outstanding person and professional. He has changed the old boy kind of crap that used to go on. So I am even more pleased at the improvement in that department. In short after having personally lived under a terrorist police state, I have little sympathy for the chicken littles of this world who scream every time about we are going to the hell of a police state today. I KNOW things are getting better, not worse.
Very impressed. I would think there were a number of folk could have been arrested for interfering with the dties of an officer.
This appears to be primarily younger people and high percentage African Americans and sadly they have learned from too many bad actors that the police are the bad guys and always assume the worst first.
Kudos to these officers. There was real potential for rioting and possibly injury had they not kept their calm and done their job in a professional way.
Hoopola is for basketball.
Is “randyjet” an alter ego of Arthur Randolph Erb? Because I was responding to Arthur, and his statement vis a vis Houston cops was unequivocal. He did give some other “Texas” cops the possibility of not being craven. And, if you have two names under which you comment I would suggest “Chickenshit” or “Horseshit” as your alias.
I don’t know how the mix up happend nick. I see that you think you are an expert on Houston cops. Since I have lived on and off in Houston since 1972, I have had personal experience with the cops in Houston when they were basically the armed terrorists of the city. When I first came to Houston, the cops and the KKK were one and the same. In fact, Chief Short said that he thought the KKK was a fine patriotic organization, all the while the KKK was conducting a bombing campaign of terror in the city. We later found out the HPD knew who was doing the bombings, and they protected them.
I suggest you learn something about the Randall Webster case in which the cops arrested a kid who had stolen a van and lead them on a car chase. They caught the kid, cuffed him, then a cop was so pissed off, he pulled his gun out, and blew the kids brains out. The problem was a cab driver who saw the van and was following the chase was on scene when this happened. Fortunately the cabbie knew one of the cops there, and his friend told him to get out of there because the cops were discussing how to kill the cabbie to cover up what they had done. This was near Pearland, and the cabbie had a friend who was a cop there. So he got in his cab and drove to the police station to seek protection from his buddy.
The cops made a big mistake because the throw down gun they used was last found in the HPD property room. They also made a mistake because the kids father was wealthy and could and did get an independent autopsy which the Harris County coroner had falsified to cover up for the murder. The Harris County DA refused to prosecute the cops, so the father went to the US Attorney who did prosecute. The cops got a slap on the wrist, but they did lose their jobs. I could go on for thirty pages or more of the misdeeds of Houston cops.
I will have to say that the HPD has improved over the years, thanks mainly to former mayor and chief Lee Brown. The first black chief in Houston. I will never forget the interviews TV did with the rank and file when they found out about that! I have to admit I was laughing my ass off at their reaction.
As for your name calling I thank you for letting us all know the kind of person you are. You have proved yourself to be incapable of rational thought or discourse. I suggest you consult a mental health professional and keep on your meds if you are on them now. I most certainly hope you are not allowed to own firearms or are involved in law enforcment.
If your primary contact with police is stop and frisk or similar activities, you’re not as likely to give the cops the benefit of the doubt. It’s really nice to see cops doing their duty in a truly professional way. The bad cops are the ones giving the good cops a hard time
“There is a very dark side to all the surveillance we are under today (and it will get worse) but the up side can be a better society.” -Frankly
Bears repeating. Right on point.
I wasn’t aware ALL cops in Houston were abusive and trigger happy.
I hears on the NPR station that I listen to that tomorrow is the date of birth of Adolph Hitler……hmmmmmm
If you disagree with the cops, you argue in court. You don’t throw kicks and punches and resist arrest.
nick I did not say ALL, just most are. While most of my encounters with the cops have been reasonable, there are too many who are basically Nazis, KKK and proud of it. In fact, the standard procedure for cops in Houston for those who flee in a car, and are then captured, is to beat the living hell out of the perp. It is so prevalent that the news helicopter crews know to get out of the way when the cops do their thing on the crook,and they turn off their cameras.
A black co-worker of mine who was a career Navy man who was a good law and order type was changed from being that to hating Houston cops. He was on his own front lawn one summer day, and the cops were down the street arresting a man. He was told by a cop to get his black ass back inside his home. He told the cop he was on his own property and was only watching and posed no problem. The cops jumped him, arrested him, cuffed his hands, cut off circulation in his hands. He then put him in the squad car with the windows ALL rolled up with the engine and A/C off for a half hour in the hot Houston sun. Poor JT survived, but barely, All charges were dropped. I told him to file charges against the cops, but he was unable to do so. As he later said, If I ever see a cop shot and he is bleeding on the ground, I will get down, lap up his blood and tell him to give it up and DIE.
While I have a poor opinion of many cops, I have to say I am seriously impressed by these cops. If this had been in Houston or most places in Texas, there would be blood and bodies all over the platform. So my opinion of NYC cops has taken a big jump upwards. They did a superb job in using only the minimum amount of force required, kept their cool, and did their job under incredibly difficult circumstances. Bravo! They did a far better job than I ever could under similar circumstance.
Nick,
I’m with you on this one…..
Video, particularly as ubiquitous as it is today will be both boon and bane to the police and to society. I have no doubt that a cops job has some very crappy moments, like those shown here. I am sure they will be grateful for the evidence and they really should be just a pleased when video shows bad behavior as sullying the uniform by one cop smears all the others too.
There is a very dark side to all the surveillance we are under today (and it will get worse) but the up side can be a better society.
This guy belongs behind bars and kudos to the cops in handling the mob.
Looks like a bit of “Fair and Balanced” from Mr. Turley.