The local media in Memphis captured a video of police chasing a man who surrendered, only for the Memphis police officer to strike him with a baton and kick him twice before planting his foot on the suspect’s back and handcuffing him.
It was a clear case of police brutality because the man had surrendered.
But ABC 24 was still not certain, so they had to turn to their “experts” to educate them.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem with corporate media these days.
Rather than state the obvious, they had to turn to their so-called experts in order to appear “objective.”
This station is so objective that it blurred the faces of the cops involved as well as the face of the suspect (but only because they wanted to protect the cops.)
And who were these experts?
The head of the Memphis police union, of course.
And can you guess what Michael Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association, said?
Mike Williams said it is important to consider the incident from the officer’s point of view.
“Yes they were they were rough because he has already had indications that he did not want to comply with authority so until he is in custody he is going to be treated as such. Period,” Williams said.
In a later article, they were able to contact more experts, who had varying opinions.
State Representative G.A. Hardaway watched the video and said he was outraged by what he saw.
“There’s obviously some abuse going on here, excessive force. When I’m looking at a young man that’s on the ground and supporting himself with one arm laying down, that is not a position where he’s a threat to anybody standing,” said Hardaway.
Steve Mulroy, a former federal prosecutor and civil rights lawyer for the Department of Justice, agrees.
“When the suspect was already down on the ground with his arms indicating that he was going to comply, offering no resistance and not failing to obey any commands from the officer, it was not justified for the officer to strike him with the nightstick or to kick him,” said Mulroy.
Not everyone agrees. Out for a walk with his wife and son, James Richey witnessed the arrest. He was pleased with the officer’s response.
“They pretty much followed standard procedures that an MPD officer would follow, took him down. You had the other officers detain him,” said Richey.
According to the police report, the suspect in this case hit a woman and in the process hit his child. The report says he fought with police.
So there you have it. A split decision between the experts with the police union president and some random guy in the neighborhood saying it was justified and a state representative and a former prosecutor saying it was not justified.
But the real problem is that ABC 24 was unable to come out and state the obvious.
