Pittsburgh Police Brutally Assault Unruly Fan at PNC Park, Using Tasers, Nightsticks

So I take it that you cannot answer the question then. I rest my case

Hope embedding will help, stupid ass youtube keeps asking me to login.... When did they start with that crap?

Ok now that I watched it, what a bunch of pansy pigs. Pigs that like to try and smack people around like that are gonna have a rude awakening.



People are gonna get sick of pigs beating on their fellow humans, I guarantee you this will start happening more and more.

I think those cops better be thankful he didn't fight back after that first shot, I think he probably could have mopped the floor with both of them cowards.

Originally posted by BrokenCircles

Originally posted by MrWendal
If I did that to someone else for any reason at all, it would be considered deadly force. So my question now is... was the level of force warranted? I would have to say no. Deadly force is not acceptable unless there is a threat to your life. What did this man do that warranted deadly force? Not move fast enough? Talk back? Push someone? Last time I checked none of those things caused someone else to die... but striking a person in the head with a night stick on the other hand, has.

Obviously it wasn't deadly force. I also said it did not appear warranted to me.
I just don't like seeing this Witch Hunt/Lynch Mob Mentality where everybody jumps to an instant conclusion without knowing any of the facts aside from a very short 2 minute video.

The overall general consensus from the comments in this thread basically equate to "Kill The Pigs"

edit on 4/11/11 by BrokenCircles because: (no reason given)

I got news for you... striking another person in the head with a night stick is considered deadly or lethal force. If you don't believe me, I beg you to go ask a cop this one simple question....

If you fight with a police officer and you were to disarm him and use his baton to strike him in the head, would it be considered lethal force?

The answer is YES!!!

Here is a case coming out of Fayetteville N.C. A man and his brother get into a fight at an IHOP around 3am. They are drunk, the cops try to arrest and they fight. During this fight, Hiram Graham takes the officers Baton and beats her with it, he hits her "head, spine, torso, and extremities". The officer then pulls out her firearm and threatens to shoot Hiram Graham. The officers are then able to arrest the man and his brother. Now I am not going to debate anything at all. I don't need to. My evidence is not only in what the man was charged with but the statements made by the police.

Hiram is charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated assault, battery 2nd degree, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication. Police say use of a police baton is considered lethal force when it's used to hit the head and spine.

And of course if you wish to view this yourself you can do so by clicking this link for the article and video as it appeared on the news in that area.

So I am sorry to tell you... these officers used deadly force against a man holding a cooler who was talking back. Do you really think that is warranted in this circumstance?

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Ok, so what could there have happened before this downstairs incident that warranted the behaviour? Name even one single thing please.

Originally posted by BrokenCircles
I WILL NOT speculate about what happened.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
So I take it that you cannot answer the question then. I rest my case

I apologize I'm sorry. I didn't mean to use such a big word.
Apparently, I assumed guessed that you knew what "speculate" meant.

spec-u-late:: to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence.

I will even dumb it down a bit, so that you may be able to comprehend understand.

I am not going to make up a fairy tale scenario in order to come to a conclusion that will give the end result that I desire.

This is kinda what I was talking about by, not coming to a conclusion without knowing the facts.

I will give you another chance to get your last witty remark though, because I am done talking to you. I know how this works. Even after you realize that I am right, you still will not admit it, so there is no reason for me to further this discussion with you.

~End transmission~

Now THAT is police brutality.

Totally uncalled for.

Originally posted by MrWendal
So I am sorry to tell you... these officers used deadly force against a man holding a cooler who was talking back. Do you really think that is warranted in this circumstance?

Did I say that I thought the attack was warranted? No, I actually stated the exact opposite.
I am simply saying that if this attack was not performed by men in uniforms, then this Lynch Mob/Kill 'Em All Mentality would not be so overwhelming within this thread. If these attackers weren't in uniforms, some of you would want to see more evidence in addition to this 2 minute video.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


I agree with that. I'm not one of the "kill the cops" crowd. I find that mentality as deplorable as the mentality that leads to abuse of authority.

The fact is that the man was not combative at all with the police and they just beat him and tried to taser him(didn't seem to have much effect) without cause.

This is no way for police to handle business.

Originally posted by violence=answer
these cops are over weight under trained pansies who cant even use the weapons right. nice to know tax dollars are going to fast food. they should be imprisoned for that.

i wonder if these fellows are part-time security with toy privileges, or if they are local LEO's. i live in a little hick town and most of the police are young guys that obviously like to lift weights, they are frickin abnormally huge. maybe thats the problem - 'roid rage! Too much go-go juice at the gym.

re: fast food police. last tickets i got was from a LEO that pulled up behind my car in line at the drive-through of McDonald's. i was getting chores done on an early Saturday morning. the young LEO waited until i left, exited McDonalds, then pulled me over immediately on the highway. because i was in front of him in line for fast food he ran the license plate, found the car DMV inspection was overdue, and my week-end plans changed drastically within minutes. curse you, tasty McDonald's McGriddle !

reply to post by BrokenCircles


What you said was that this was "obviously not deadly force" and what I have done is shown you that it is indeed considered deadly force to use a police baton to strike another person in the head and spine area. Can we now agree that this is deadly force?

The Lynch Mob mentality that surrounds threads such as this is due to the fact... and yes it is a fact, that this type of behavior from police officers has become common place. What has also become common place is that these police officers at most get a slap on the wrist for crimes that they commit. Let us make no mistake about it, what these police officers are doing and getting away with are crimes that you would go to jail for. The hypocrisy is just overwhelming and it should be no surprise to anyone why you see people freely speak negatively about law enforcement. We live in a world where police can drive drunk, on the job, run over people at a stop light, kill them, and spend not a single day in jail. If I were to drive drunk, I would go to jail. If I were to drive drunk, run over people and kill them, I would be staying in jail for a long time. Yet a police officer does the same thing and he walks away on a technicality. You can not enforce law with such a double standard and not cause resentment, and let's face it, people resent the police and this is why. So what do you do when your Government fails? When you legal system fails? Some would call for Vigilante Justice, back in the old Cowboy days Vigilante Justice was known as Lynch Mob Justice.

Why the Lynch Mob mentality? Cause people want to see some Justice.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Ok avoid the question little more. Let's make it simple. Don't speculate on this case. Just in general. What could there possibly be that would warrant such a response in any situation ever?

I'm not jumping to conclusions here. NO ONE recorded the whole incident so I can't say this was police brutality. It looks to me they tasered the guy to keep him from going after the guy he shoved. But afterwards I don't know what to say.

reply to post by anon102


He gave the guy a little shove, then was walking away, you don't hear the zap till he took like 3 steps in the other direction... Dude was causing a minor disturbance obviously, because he was being escorted out, if it was anything more than a minor rucus, they would have been tazing and trying to beat him and cuff him, not escort out.... It was unwarranted, and anyone with some deduction skills can see that. If he had killed and ate a baby upstairs, the rucus would have been upstairs.

I think we can agree that the two officers used force that should not have been used. The question then becomes, "why did this happen?"

Looking beyond police brutality and mob mentality, I think we need to consider the events at Dodgers Stadium during opening day last week, when a Giants fan was brutally beaten (to the point of brain damage) by two Dodgers fans after the game ended. The officers and security presence at Dodgers stadium were put under heavy scrutiny by the MLB and public.

Why did these officers act so harshly? For a variety of reasons. But it is imperative to also take in the beatings earlier and how those events have shaped security and officer presence at ballparks around the country. We will never know if this brutality would have happened if the Dodger beating had not, but I believe that it played a key role in the mindset these officers took.

Why does it matter what happened before what is shown on the video? The guy is just standing there and the cop hits him hard 3 or 4 times with his baton. The police are supposed to be the law not a guy that gets pissed off and decides to give someone a beat down against someone that is not physically threatening or attacking a police officer. I pay taxes that pay these guys' salary and that kind of behavior from a police officer is definitely not OK with me.

And why does it matter what this guy's history is? Doesn't excuse the sort of excessive force (and it most certainly was excessive force) and abuse of power that is clearly shown on this video. I hope this guy sues, that seems to be the only way that police officers are disciplined anymore. While I was watching this video I was thinking "This is something you'd see in another country..." I guess not anymore.

reply to post by yamother44


Sorry but that excuse holds no weight at all. If previous events in the life of Law Enforcement were enough to justify committing a crime, then would not the same hold true for everyone else? If I was mugged by a black man 3 years ago, and today when I was at the ATM a black man approached me and I beat him senseless, could I then blame the events of 3 years ago as my defense and avoid conviction? Of course not.

Yeah the beating of a Giants fan on opening day is making headlines right now, but fights outside of events are nothing new at all. They happen every single year and you never hear a word about it. For sports fan there are certain places that are notorious for handing out a beating to someone wearing the visiting teams apparel. New York, Philadelphia, and L.A. are the first 3 that comes to mind.

Now I can understand increased security after that situation, but that still gives the police no right at all to use deadly force against an unarmed person who is not posing a physical threat. Any way you look at it, the actions of these police officers are criminal and they should be prosecuted.

As a matter of fact, I just read one of teh articles about the Giants fan who was beat outside the stadium. As I said previously, the first 3 cities that come to my mind as a sports fan, that are notorious for fights and other issues if you go to the Stadium wearing the visiting teams apparel are NY, Philadelphia, and LA.

So I read this article and they even point out the same thing I was saying.

Dodgers fans and supporters of other teams who have ventured to Dodger Stadium wearing a rival's cap or shirt have traded stories of incivility for years. A woman tells of her 7-year-old being hassled by an inebriated fan because the child was wearing Giants gear. (The mother was wearing a Dodgers cap.) Another says she was cursed out while 81/2 months pregnant for wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey. But the attack on Stow has roused public and political sentiment in a way that neither a shooting death in the Dodger Stadium parking lot in 2003 nor a death after a fight in the stands at Angel Stadium in neighboring Anaheim in 2009 did. Despite a downward trend in crime across the city, roughly half of all serious crimes in the neighborhood occur on stadium grounds. According to the LAPD, there were 21 serious crimes — which includes rape, homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and burglary — at Dodger Stadium in 2010, down from 32 in 2009.

SOURCE

In no way did I condone the actions taken by the cops. In fact, I said that they were over aggressive and unwarranted.

I brought up the Dodgers fan so we could examine whether or not we felt that had an impact in the way they acted. I personally believe it did. Do I think that is an excuse? Of course not. Do I think they should be punished for their excessive use of force? Of course I do.

I think your example of being beaten by three black men supports that point. If you beat someone because of a previous history, that in no way should be an excuse or a means to avoid conviction. But you did beat him because of what happened to you in the past. In no way is that acceptable, however, it was the reason for your actions.

I don't believe the sole reason for the officers actions were the events that took place at Dodgers Stadium. I do believe, however, that the increase in media coverage over baseball park security played an important role in the decision making process, albeit unfortunate and misguided, taken by the two officers.

I went to school to learn electronics....and...after seeing this I have found a new place I would love to stick my soldiering iron up......If you know what I mean...Punk A$$ cops....

I don't know what is more surprising about that video: the arrest or the number of fans seen at a Pirates game.