New Police brutality against an Occupier. From Occupy Fort Worth. : occupywallstreet

Why does it seem so hard to understand that pissing off a cop is not an arrestable offense?

The officer made the arrest in anger, because he could, not out of any sense concern for public order. And the other cops will back him.

I just sent a letter to the Ft Worth mayor:

Dear Ms. Price,

My grandpa, a former Texas Ranger from the 1920’s and 30’s, told me that you can tell a lot about a policeman by whether he describes himself a “Peace Officer” or a “Law Enforcement” officer. That always made a lot of sense to me. I respected the fact that his judgment and common sense had to take the place of actual training, which was in very short supply at the time he served. In the last several years, however, it’s become clear that police training and culture encourages officers to respond with violent and overwhelming force. While this may have started in the interests of the safety of officers, more and more often, it’s apparent that officers are taking advantage of this training to indulge their personal anger, almost always at the expense of the rights, safety and well being of the public that they serve.

I watched with interest and disgust the video recording of the recent harassment and arrest of nonviolent protestors on December 9th at the Occupy Fort Worth site. This action, apparently initiated by FWPD Officers Doshi, Frias and Coleman, began with dialogue between the officers and the protestors, wherein those officers started to remove property of the protestors as “abandoned”, even though the protestors present told them that this wasn’t true.

When one of the protestors then moved to sit on his personal property to keep the police from unlawfully confiscating it, a small U.S. flag attached to his clothing apparently brushed one of the officers, who responded angrily and violently, striking the protestor and knocking him down while shouting at him. When the protestor began to respond verbally at the same tone of voice that the officer himself had set, he was violently arrested. The other officers present acted in support of the offended officer, even though he was clearly acting in anger and not in solid control of his emotions. The video shows that the arrest is clearly being made out of frustration and anger and certainly not in the best interests of public safety, and certainly in violation of the individual’s rights. I loathe the fact that this is precisely the behavior much of the public has come to expect of municipal law officers – that they will proceed as they like, and generate ‘just cause’ for their actions later.

I do not fully support the Occupy movement, but I wholeheartedly support the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, even for those people I don’t agree with, and even if their personal manners aggravate the unholy mess out of me. Without the right of peaceable assembly, the U.S. is just another bunch of idiots, run by brutes. While I understand that you must have the support of your police force I have no doubt that as a public servant, you hold that same constitution in the highest regard.

I hope that you will demonstrate the historical fortitude of other strong Texas women of note and take appropriate action with these officers and in guiding their future involvement with nonviolent protestors, especially when those protestors are actually trying to comply with the law, as they protest.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Leatherhead_Jarneck, Fort Worth homeowner, taxpayer, voter, veteran.

via reddit.com