Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Society

“Because I feel like arresting you”: Minneapolis Police Officer Threatens To Break Leg Of Suspect In Videotaped Abusive Stop

Screen Shot 2015-05-06 at 7.49.57 PMA Minneapolis police officer has been relieved of duty while his department investigates a profanity-laced video in an encounter with a man at a car stop. During the abusive confrontation, the officer threatens to break the legs of a suspect if he attempts to escape.

The stop in South Minneapolis was captured on video below and the officer can be heard saying “Plain and simple, if you [expletive] with me, I’m gonna break your legs before you get a chance to run.” It is still unknown what led to the arrest. Indeed, the young man can be heard asking why he was being arrested and the officer responds simply “Because I feel like arresting you.”

Some accounts say that the officer is Officer Rod Webber who has been put on paid leave while an internal investigation.

The videotape is another example of the value of videotape in the proving of police abuse. We have been following the continuing abuse of citizens who are detained or arrested for filming police in public. (For prior columns, click here and here). Despite consistent rulings upholding the right of citizens to film police in public, these abuses continue.

116 thoughts on ““Because I feel like arresting you”: Minneapolis Police Officer Threatens To Break Leg Of Suspect In Videotaped Abusive Stop”

  1. Nick,
    Then she’s no different than any other DA’s or law enforcement types that pile on a bunch of charges hoping something sticks. The DEA loves to do that, then of course offer to reduce charges if the person cooperates.

  2. As I predicted, the preening DA Mosby in Baltimore, looking to advance her career, is going to have to eat some crow. According to CNN, her assertion the arrest was unlawful is wrong. And, evidence is showing that the most serious charge legitimately is manslaughter, against a couple of the cops. Now, these are press reports. We need to be patient. The press gets stuff wrong all the time. But, anyone who has worked in the criminal justice system like I have knew this political animal DA way overplayed her hand. That was obvious on its face. These are the most dangerous DA’s. Using her authority to climb the political ladder on the backs of innocent people.

  3. I have seen the technology develop over 35 years of surveillance. I started w/ a huge shoulder camera attached to a large VHS recorder. They cost over 1K. Now, you can get a pinhole camera, concealed in a key chain, for $150.

  4. Wait. Attorneys need clandestine videotaping. They lie, cheat and steal more than any other profession.

  5. My old man taught me to never trust someone who doesn’t have a sense of humor. In my lifetime, I add don’t trust anyone who says they don’t watch TV.

  6. We need to keep videotaping all professions. Having done surveillance for 35 years now, I know that catching people when they don’t know someone is looking, is the ultimate truth. There are so many disability fraud people out there. Everyone has a story of a relative, neighbor, scamming.

    Videotaping professions as they work will have a chilling effect. But, some are so important it is warranted. Nurses need surveillance, as do docs. I worked many med mal cases and there are some REAL bad ones. But, teachers are the ones that need it even more. Bad teachers hurt kids. They rape them. They berate them. They steal taxpayer money providing inferior education to our children.

  10. I don’t watch TV any more, but read several newspapers and watch movies and read books. So, I feel I have some understanding of the trends. Sometime ago the issue wasn’t so much police overstepping their authority but crooks/baddies manipulating the system and getting away with murder in some cases.

    Cases were thrown out or never made it to court because of some minor technical slip up by law and order. Movies and TV shows used this scenario over and over to create entertainment. The basic gist of it all was how the police were ham strung by the very system they were trying to uphold.

    Since then the instances have diminished and crime has come down. Crooks and baddies have been waxed on sight, along with innocents. Somewhere along the line, it seems to me, changes were made internally. Statistically, these changes may be for the greater good. However, two things need to be addressed. Firstly, as with most other things, one extreme invites an equal and opposite extreme, the pendulum. This must be recognized and attitudes must be adjusted. Secondly and perhaps most importantly the quality of police officers must be improved. Whether it is increasing pay and training or screening more carefully, there are simply too many rogue cops out there. As was seen in the helicopter video of the guy being beaten in the desert near San Bernardino Ca, they line up to get their licks in.

    The public demanded greater security and the police have taken the liberties to provide this security at their discretion.

    A lot of Americans are against a strong central government. One of the results of this desire for autonomy is a multitude of local governments, sacredly autonomous and able to interpret the sacred tenets of the Constitution and other initial statements that were made long ago by a central government. It may be time to realize that the two are not compatible. A society needs transparency but it also needs accountability. It is not a case so much of the size of government but of the form. There are dozens of federal law enforcement agencies when there should, perhaps, be only two or three. The federal government should be, perhaps, a greater power and exercised as such over every two bit local police force. A single large entity federal or state can get out of control and through elections, freedom of the press, and public outcry be revamped to to a better job. This was proven with HUD. However, thousands of local governments with the, ‘They ain’t telling us nothing’ position provide the illusion of that mythical quality Americans all cling to, but the opportunity for rogue cops and corruption.

    There is the concept and the reality. Sometimes the concept is perverted and the reality still goes along believing that the concept is still pure. The US is a socialist country. Perhaps not to the same degree as other countries but still necessarily so. Denying this contributes to the chaos. It’s not the size of something but the quality. Most reactions seem to stop at size.

  11. Threatening to break legs is one thing. Hyperbole, as you folks use the term. Like: “Break a leg” said when you want someone to complete a job quickly. Teachers sometimes threated to break legs if the classroom is not cleaned up after a messy lunch party. In New Orleans there was a bar called The Broken Leg. The picture with the name on the sign showed a broken bar stool leg with a fat guy falling off.

  12. Regardless of the validity of the stop and potential charges, the statements about breaking legs reflect a person who shouldn’t be a police officer.

    1. Tony Sidaway – I would think during a 45 minute stop they were suspected of stealing a car.

  14. I’m glad they are investigating. Now let’s see consistent discipline for these “loose cannons”. Such a threat and explanation given from a nurse to a patient would have the nurse fired in a heartbeat and rightly so. How about some nursing style discipline in the PD? He may sound calm, but threatening to break someone’s legs also sounds insane.

    1. Inga – the officer is trying to control the prisoner. We do not know what went on before or after this. It was a 45 minute stop of which we have less than 1 minute. CAIR has a history of setting things up. They were responsible for the problem on Southwest Airlines where several Muslim passengers were deplaned after alarming the passengers and crew. If CAIR is involved, take it all with a grain of salt.

  15. He says he is just being officer friendly. LOL. Right. So thankful for video cameras. I’ve had cops say similar things and outright lie to me, then deny ever saying it. If we ever lose the right to videotape these encounters, we will be in trouble.

  16. Ah, good. CAIR is at it again. The incident is 45 minutes, the cop sounds very calm. I always get concerned when CAIR shows up.

  19. “Because I feel like arresting you”. Sounds about right. I wih I though he was a loose cannon or a bad apple but many police officers do seem to feel that they can pretty much do anything they want and they know that their actions rarely bring any punishment but they also know that merely arresting the average person can and often does lead to a cascade of problems that can ruin that person’s life. That’s part of the fun it seems.

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