Video of Seattle Police Officer Punching Teen Girl

Speed Read! Cop Caught Punching Woman on Tape

June 16, 2010

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37 Comments

Sloane, I think you're misunderstanding why she was being arrested. If he was arresting them for jaywalking, that would be extreme and I would probably agree with your assessment... at least so far as that he's on a power-trip.That isn't what happened. He was trying to issue her a ticket for jaywalking. He wasn't arresting her for jaywalking. She walked away and (obviously) wanted nothing to do with him. If you don't allow the police officer to serve the ticket (walking/driving away), or don't sign the ticket then most States send you down to the police station. When he started putting her into the car, she resisted. She not only resisted, she flipped out. If you watch it (here's a link to the full video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGAI4r3X6lk ) it's obvious he was trying to talk to her, and trying to subdue her, and could not. She was taunting him, calling him "weak." These girls deserve what they got, and that would hold just as true for white girls.

lilegwene 2 years 47 weeks

Sloane, I think you're misunderstanding why she was being arrested. If he was arresting them for jaywalking, that would be extreme and I would probably agree with your assessment... at least so far as that he's on a power-trip. That isn't what happened. He was trying to issue her a ticket for jaywalking. He wasn't arresting her for jaywalking. She walked away and (obviously) wanted nothing to do with him. If you don't allow the police officer to serve the ticket (walking/driving away), or don't sign the ticket then most States send you down to the police station. When he started putting her into the car, she resisted. She not only resisted, she flipped out. If you watch it (here's a link to the full video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGAI4r3X6lk ) it's obvious he was trying to talk to her, and trying to subdue her, and could not. She was taunting him, calling him "weak." These girls deserve what they got, and that would hold just as true for white girls.

2 years 47 weeks

The comments of Sloane220 are spot on. The cop immediately began grabbing the first girl, shoving her body into the patrol car and all-around man-handling her. By law, a trivial jaywalking charge can result in a ticket at most; writing a ticket did not require him to lay a finger on the girl!! He was harrassing her, and so understandably the witnesses were upset. When the friend tried to impede his physical contact with the first girl, he could have easily restrained her. The sick punk chose to punch a girl in the face. He has severe anger issues and has no respect for his duties to serve and protect nor Black citizens. I have seen numerous cop video of intoxicated white women kicking and hitting cops (the Black girls in Seattle were trying to move away from the cop), yet none of those white women were punched in the face by arresting officers.

sloane220 2 years 47 weeks

Lilgwene, if what you say is true, then how is arresting someone for jaywalking a logical, legal arrest? Get real, no one gets arrested for that. I love that you don’t think that she was black was a factor in why he tried to stop her for jaywalking AT ALL. Oh please. He was arresting her for being rude, which is absurd and not illegal. As I have said, many people don’t like police officers and they fomented an atmosphere of disrespect and hostility with the way they treat people of color. Since a lot of people fear the police, not respect them, the dislike is going to manifest itself as some point, even through the fear. He should’ve have given her a ticket and LET IT GO. Or hell, if she really was walking away, he could’ve just let her walk away, because jaywalking is just a violation anyway. Then he wouldn’t have worried about his little power trip turning against him, trying to arrest someone for jaywalking in the middle of a crowd, who by the way WASN’T INTERFERING. He put himself in that situation. He is an adult police officer, and they are teenagers. Who do you think had more responsibility for their behavior here? POLICE OFFICERS, who are civil servants that work for US, have training on how to handle rude people, communicating affectively with citizens, and diffusing situations. Not to mention RESTRAINING PEOPLE. TEENAGERS DON’T. He used none of his training and resorted acting like he was in a street brawl/boxing match and punching this girl with a closed fist. He doesn’t need to be policing anyone.

sloane220 2 years 47 weeks

@ spacekat- well thank you for being open enough to listen.

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

@sloaneYeah. You know, I was thinking at the gym tonight about this thread. I think straight people can be so fraking oblivious to what it's like to be gay. I think men can be freaking oblivious to what things are like for women. And, I would imagine I, as a white person, am probably sometimes oblivious to what it's like to be black in America.It's not intentional. You know what you know. I guess I never considered that side of it.

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

@sloane Yeah. You know, I was thinking at the gym tonight about this thread. I think straight people can be so fraking oblivious to what it's like to be gay. I think men can be freaking oblivious to what things are like for women. And, I would imagine I, as a white person, am probably sometimes oblivious to what it's like to be black in America. It's not intentional. You know what you know. I guess I never considered that side of it.

sloane220 2 years 48 weeks

@spacekat- i do think you're privileged in this sense because you are white, and because you grew up in an affluent neighborhood. police behave in a more civilized manner in afluent white neighborhoods. with people of color, no matter where they are, cops tend to discriminate against them. i grew up in a middle class mixed neighborhood, and honestly i've never had a personal issue with the police, but EVERY single male in my family has, including my younger teenage brother. pretty much every black family, no matter how rich they are, makes it a point to have a discussion with their sons about the police, and how to behave themselves when encountering them so they don't end up arrested or dead. do many white families HAVE to have this kind of discussion or even think about the police as a threat? i agree it is better to be polite with ANYONE, particularly the police, but police officers can't go around arresting people for being rude because a lot of people don't like them in the first place and it's going to manifest itself. they need to be able to let rude behavior go, because they're not gods and a lot of people don't respect them, and the police fomented that attitude with their extralegal behavior. they are supposedly screened to make sure they can keep a level head and think logically enough not violate somone's rights, and they have training on how to diffuse situations and communicate with citizens. if an officer pulls this kind of crap, despite all his training, then he's not a good officer and shouldn't be a cop.

lilegwene 2 years 48 weeks

These things probably won't affect anyone's opinion about whether this was justified or not, but I think they should.1) The area where this took place is a busy intersection on a 5-lane road where jaywalking is a real problem. The school nearby (Franklin High) requested additional police presence to curb the jaywalking, presumably because they were tired of scraping students off the cement.2) In addition to increased police presence, a pedestrian overpass was built not 1/2 block away from where this girl or group was jaywalking (you can see it in the video).3) When the cop asked to speak with the girl in the dark shirt, she immediately started walking in the other direction, which is why the cop went after her.4) When the girl in the dark shirt acted like a complete idiot and resisted a perfectly legal arrest, her friend assaulted him; while he is alone in an increasingly contrary crowd.White, black, it doesn't matter. Is this how you would've acted? What would you expect to happen?

lilegwene 2 years 48 weeks

These things probably won't affect anyone's opinion about whether this was justified or not, but I think they should. 1) The area where this took place is a busy intersection on a 5-lane road where jaywalking is a real problem. The school nearby (Franklin High) requested additional police presence to curb the jaywalking, presumably because they were tired of scraping students off the cement. 2) In addition to increased police presence, a pedestrian overpass was built not 1/2 block away from where this girl or group was jaywalking (you can see it in the video). 3) When the cop asked to speak with the girl in the dark shirt, she immediately started walking in the other direction, which is why the cop went after her. 4) When the girl in the dark shirt acted like a complete idiot and resisted a perfectly legal arrest, her friend assaulted him; while he is alone in an increasingly contrary crowd. White, black, it doesn't matter. Is this how you would've acted? What would you expect to happen?

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

I don't know, Sloane. We have so much in common, but I grew up in a rich, white neighborhood. I can't really know what it's like to grow up in a black one. In my experience, meaning for just me personally, I've never had any trouble with police. I've never had so much a speeding ticket. Every time I've ever dealt with the police, I feel like politeness has been what they really wanted. I am certain some police abuse their power. I am certain black neighborhoods are treated unfairly. I know this because black people get so much more prison time that white people for the same offenses. But - with all of that said, I still don't think giving a cop violence will get you anything but violence in return.

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

sloane220 2 years 48 weeks

@honeybrown19- not with me. i have a healthy distrust of the police, like many people of color, and THEY fomented the atmosphere of hostility and distrust by pulling sh*t like this.

sloane220 2 years 48 weeks

imagine if this was miley cyrus and taylor swift, who are about the same age as the girls here, or any two other white teenage girls. would this officer be prone to launch back and punch one of them with a closed fist in the same situation? this jackass obviously felt the stigma of hitting a teenage girl was lowered in this case, because the girl was black, and because he felt he had the law on his side. he is an officer supposedly trained in community relations, diffusing a situation, and restraining people. he used NONE of his training and resorted to punching a girl in the face. he is not fit to be policing ANYONE. i encourage everyone to follow the jezebel link and read the comments with people discussing their ecounters with power hungry officers and racist police officers.

chillchic 2 years 48 weeks

After watching several times, my opinion didn't change. He was wrong, wrong, wrong. Pushing her, grabbing her, calling for backup fine. But to haul off and deck her like that..no no no. He croosed the line from just doing his job. This was personal. He was mad and reacted like a person does when they are mad. Which would be fine, except for the fact that he's a cop. He should have acted WAY more responsibly. If he gets fired, it's his own fault. Another thing, I have jay walked IN FRONT OF COPS, many many times. I've never gotten so much of a warning. That's because normal people who are not on power trips don't really give a crap. He used his position to try and intimidate someone and when it didn't work, he snapped. This is why so many cops get a bad rep. I know, because I'm one of those people who is always spreading the word about cops and how bad/evil/corrupt so many officers are. One again, my point is proven.

chillchic 2 years 48 weeks

HoneyBrown1976 2 years 48 weeks

Yep, Sloane. That's the upside. She didn't get shot. But, of course, the cop was just doing his job and gets the benefit of the doubt.

HoneyBrown1976 2 years 48 weeks

Yep, Sloane. That's the upside. She didn't get shot. But, of course, the cop was just doing his job and gets the benefit of the doubt.

sloane220 2 years 48 weeks

why am i not shocked that this girl was black? first of all, who the hell gets arrested for jaywalking? the reality that black people are more likely to be arrested while doing ANYTHING, including walking (walking while black), is illustrated by this situation. and we also can’t ignore that the police force has a habit of attracting violent, power hungry, sociopaths who like the fact that they are given license to get away with a multitude of things the average person wouldnt( like the off duty cop who shot at people for hitting his car with snowballs). These two things contribute to why we have overcrowding in jails, and why people of color tend disproportionately represent prison populations. people get arrested for the most trivial and ridiculous things because a police officer feels like going on a power trip. police officers aren't gods, if she was being belligerent when the officer was discussing jaywalking with her, all he had to do was give her a ticket and let her be on her way. Getting arrested for jaywalking is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. What she obviously got arrested for was talking back and possibly being rude, while being black. and most men in society know better then to purposefully launch back and punch a woman in dead the face in ANY situation because men are generally stronger then women. most men i know would restrain a woman. as an officer, this jackass knows more about restraining someone then the average person, so why the hell didn’t he do that? It is not like she was punching HIM, she was pushing him away. Maybe he felt less compunction about punching the hell out of a black face, it didn’t matter if it was a woman’s. either way, he doesn’t need to be an officer working with the public. I wouldn’t trust him in my neighborhood. I guess the upside is that he didn’t shoot her, like many other officers have shot unarmed black people.

sloane220 2 years 48 weeks

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

She was probably being ticketed for jaywalking, started acting like this other idiot, and it turned into an arrest. Besides, it's not up to the cops to prosecute people. That's up to the district attorney, so I'd imagine it will be dropped. He was probably trying to cool down the situation. When I think of the law students I have known that are now working as prosecutors, they're all cool, methodical people. Think of Runningesq here on Sugar. Does she strike you as a hothead? It will be up to people like her to make sure the law is followed. Jaywalking has nothing to do with laying your hands on a cop making an arrest.

spacekatgal 2 years 48 weeks

2 years 48 weeks

omg the people with the "arressted for jaywalking talk"..its against the law to jaywalk and can be very dangerous! He was doing his job.

zeze 2 years 48 weeks

..arrested for jaywalking? I kinda of think the officer went looking for trouble and wanted to let out some anger...That said, as for the LEGAL issues alone...Yes the officer should know better then to respond with a punch to the face of a teen girl...he should be trained to know better...but was he acting unreasonably enough to warrant formal reprimand given how aggressive the girls were behaving - I'd say no. His boss needs to give him a few days off to think about it his quick trigger before his issues cause a literal quick trigger next time.

zeze 2 years 48 weeks

..arrested for jaywalking? I kinda of think the officer went looking for trouble and wanted to let out some anger... That said, as for the LEGAL issues alone...Yes the officer should know better then to respond with a punch to the face of a teen girl...he should be trained to know better...but was he acting unreasonably enough to warrant formal reprimand given how aggressive the girls were behaving - I'd say no. His boss needs to give him a few days off to think about it his quick trigger before his issues cause a literal quick trigger next time.

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