Friday, February 03, 2006

A chase, a beating, the coverage and an investigation...


A bitch’s sister scored Sudafed last night! Three cheers for C-Money! A bitch woke up this morning with clear sinuses, fired up and full of bitchitude…

2 cups coffee with Splenda and 1% yummy organic milk, 2 Sudafed, 1 Claritin and cigs…





A chase, a beating, the coverage and an investigation…
As many of you know, this bitch has trained my TiVo not to record anything on FOX. A bitch can’t stand FOX and my ass is pretty sure watching it would be bad for my health. But last night the local FOX affiliate was the only news channel to show the entire tape of the recent police chase and beating incident by Maplewood police officers in St. Louis city. Reluctantly, this bitch watched.

For those of you who are unaware, this incident is being investigated by the FBI. There were possible civil rights violations. Also, Maplewood is a border city to St. Louis city and there are rules that apply to police chases entering other jurisdictions.

This bitch and my sister C-Money watched the entire tape last night. Prior to airing the tape, the local FOX news…ummm…people (they aren’t exactly reporters…trust a bitch) felt compelled to spin the shit out of this story. Blah, blah, blah…the suspect was driving like a madman…he passed several school busses and put chil’ren in danger…it took several attempts to bring him to a stop…he ran and may have been armed…and police clearly had their hands full subduing him.

Most of this jived with what we could see on film…minus the rather liberal use of yellow that peppered the commentary.

One St. Louis city cop was clearly visible during the take down and subsequent beating.

And then something curious was overheard…something very clear and very telling…a single sentence that was of the moment and amazingly observant…

“They’ve just spotted the helicopter, so they’re going to cool it.”

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

“They’ve just spotted the helicopter, so they’re going to cool it.”

Hmmm. Ain’t no amount of yellow laced bullshit gonna spin through that. This might be a case of an extreme beat down that was only a serious beat down because FOX, of all stations, decided to follow a police chase.

This bitch will continue to follow this incident. My ass is thrilled to have several local sources, including a new local find Pub Def who is following this and all things local and political. The issues on the table are potential civil rights violations, whether excessive force was used, whether any violations occurred when Maplewood police continued to pursue into the city, whether any violations occurred when police engaged in an extended chase through city streets and whether St. Louis city police utilized their resources correctly in this incident.

Just one more thing…during their 9pm news-like show FOX 2 covered, and a bitch uses that term loosely, a recent threat posted to a St. Louis independent media site. They wanted the public to know that a posted comment called upon local blacks to attack white police officers and their families. True to form, FOX failed to mention the fact that the comment could not be traced to a black person nor could the race of the person be verified. They did mention that the comment was anonymous. And the local NAACP president came on to voice his concern…which a bitch found odd since we can not confirm that this comment was made by a black person and it may have been posted to get the very new coverage it did.

For the record, we are all upset and concerned…but there have been no incidents of violence against anyone in relation to this. This bitch hopes that holds, but my ass doesn’t expect FOX or any other news channel to cover the lack of retaliatory violence…peaceful protest and non-violent action just doesn’t stir up those ratings does it? Assholes.

A bitch is proud of the way St. Louis has handled this so far. We have a long history of contentious relations between city residents and the police. This incident is under investigation by multiple agencies and community organizations.

And we can and we will handle this together...St. Louisans working together to address this shit in our city.

Tell that to your money hungry tyrannical boss, FOX 2!

5 comments:

BarefootCajun said...

I don't care what crime he may have committed. I don't care how he drove during the pursuit. I don't care how far they had to chase him. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can justify beating the snot out of an offender. Especially since this was at least 4:1. Now, if it's 1:1 and he/she's putting up a hell of a fight then somebody's probably going to get hurt but multiple officers beating a suspect that's on the ground cannot be defended. Period.

I can clear up the issue of Maplewood officers continuing to pursue into the city. As long as the chase is still active and the offender is still in sight, they have the right to continue the chase into other jurisdictions. They also have the right to make the stop and arrest. They must, however, involve the local agency(s) and the offender must be booked into the detention facility of the jurisdiction where the arrest was made before transferring him/her back to the original jurisdiction.

I hate it when shit like this happens. Dammit, I spent 17 years wearing a badge. I never beat the snot out of anyone. In fact, the only time I laid a hand on anyone was in self-defense and it was just enough force to subdue the individual. Cops cannot let their temper rule their actions. Folks with anger issues should never be allowed to be cops.

BarefootCajun said...

I want to clear up that last paragraph. I should have stated that the only time I ever laid a hand on anyone was in either self-defense or in the defense of another individual and it was just enough force to subdue the offender.

Hammer said...

Hey ABB!

Brava!

FIrst, let me say that I saw the IMC info 'covered' on fox. Very very funny. All in the name of, as you said, ratings.
Hate that no one really questions these reporters when it comes to validity and interpretation of news stories. It's like, come on people, aren't we over this shit. Unfortunately we are in 'that place' right now. Americans are watching more 'reality' television, etc. We love the drama. Personally, I'm over it.

Second, I am nto suprised fox caught this all on tape. THe police forces in the US have been sending a clea, public message..."we will hurt, kill and disappear anyone who stands in our way." Of course, the orders come directly from Dubya in the form of the Miami model, etc. Bush has created his gestapo-esque police state.

Also, I find it interesting that citizens of Missouri say things like "we're suprised any action is being taken" in regards to the police man shooting and killing two young men in their truck (I think back in October) after the truck "rolled back onto a police car." The same force that was used to kill Rigoberto Alpizar on the plane in Florida...police force is growing out of control...plain and simple...why?

Do you know why? I have my theories...ugh

Thanks for blogging ABB!

Craig (Che/Hammer)

CRT Law Mama said...

Has it made national outlets? Cuz this bitch (oops, Mom) is trying to figure out why I haven't heard of this...


curiously absent from the debate- in detroit,

thanks sis for keeping my brain fed with truth- it's hard to find..

Shark-Fu said...

Barefoot Cajun...your insight is always helpful!

Che...a bitch hears that!

Law_Mom...yes, this was covered on CNN but not with much follow-up (surprise.

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