Well, that would be a more accurate headline for this article, if you ask me. While we don’t know all the facts, we know what was reported — a man complained to police about another man. Police go to the second man’s house and observe he is drunk. Man is beat up by policemen and charged with crimes related to police beating him.
Was the man trespassing? Not at the moment. Was anyone in danger? Not until the police arrived. If anyone other than the police did this, would it be wrong? Yes, and you’d be jailed for a long time. Will the police be held accountable for their actions? Keep dreaming.
I’m not anti-police, but stories like this continue to make me distrust police more and more.
When the police arrived and found the man was drunk, they should have just left him alone. The could have gone back and talked to the first man and suggested he take out a restraining order, or start some other civil process. At the time, they could not arrest him for trespassing, because they did not witness it. When the police continued talking to the man, the police escalated the confrontation. Notice that, according to the report, the officers tried to place the man under arrest — but for what charge? Notice all the charges listed — none of them occurred before the police attacked the man.
So, more accurately, the police accosted a drunk man without reason. He defended himself against physical force and was attacked by two men and thrown in jail. This is what passes for a justice system in America today.