Joe Bennett stopped to film Jeffersontown Police as they surrounded a car.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Adam K. Raymond
@adamkraymond
·
Nov 27, 2020
Joe Bennett stopped to film Jeffersontown Police as they surrounded a car. He said he was doing his "due diligence as a citizen."

Then one of the officers walked across the parking lot and punched him.



Adam K. Raymond
@adamkraymond
Bennett was cited for menacing and resisting arrest.

Read @guildford56's full report:

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. ACAB.

[ret5hd]

2. Well, Joe just made a good paycheck.

FTP
ACAB

[LizBeth]

3. Said bystander pointed him out. Cops were talking to each other, not a bystander.

[Nevilledog]

4. They're just trying to CYA

[Voltaire2]

7. Are you seriously defending the cops here?

[lapucelle]

11. Nope. N/T

[Voltaire2]

12. Well I guess you aren't now.

[lapucelle]

13. Neither was I then.

[Voltaire2]

14. If you say so.

[lapucelle]

16. I do.

Last edited Fri Nov 27, 2020, 09:03 PM - Edit history (2)

Mr. Bennett's statements to the press were made to Spectrum 1 media which I thought might be a right wing source. (It's not.) The only further report I saw was in in the right wing rag The New York Post.

Here's what Spectrum1 reported based on the video:

Three minutes into the video, two officers approached Bennett. One of the men asked to see Bennett's ID. When Bennett refused and asked why, the officer can be heard saying, "You're filming a crime scene investigation... and you're involved."

When Bennett again refused to present his ID, the officer quickly grabbed for his phone and, at some point while he tried to get Bennett on the ground, the officer struck Bennett. One of the two officers then got ahold of Bennett's phone and ended the live stream.

snip================================================================================

Here's what the police chief later told Spectrum1:

In a phone conversation with Lt. Col. Steve Schmidt of the Jeffersontown Police Department, he said, echoing the citation details, his officers were in the area investigating and making arrests related to a check fraud scheme thwarted at the Citizens Union Bank across the street from the McDonalds.

One of the detained suspects, Schmidt said, pointed Bennett out — while he leaned against his Jeep and filmed from across the parking lot — as the driver involved in the alleged crime.

Here's what Mr. Bennett told Spectrum1:

“[Doing] proper police work, they should have approached me gently. I wasn’t going anywhere, I wasn’t in my vehicle, I wasn’t gonna flee. They certainly shouldn’t have hit me first and asked questions later."

https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2020/11/26/man-hit-by-officer-while-filming

The description of the encounter in the tweet in the OP is entirely inaccurate.

Things to ponder:

- What would Mr. Bennett consider a "gentle" approach, given what the video shows?

- Does asking to see identification twice count as "asking questions first"?

- Now that he knows that the police were investigating and making arrests for a check fraud scheme at a bank, does he still think that the presence of five squad cars was excessive?

Hence the

[Bettie]

17. Check fraud is not a violent crime

so, yes, five squad cars probably is excessive.

I guess he should just be happy he isn't dead.

[lapucelle]

18. That puts you on the record as having the opinion that five squad cars is an excessive

use of police resources for investigating and making arrests when a check fraud scheme is discovered at a bank.

It still doesn't answer the question about what Mr. Bennett would think knowing that the police activity wasn't a response to the traffic stop that he assumed it to be as per his commentary in his due diligence video.

Thing to ponder:

Would victims of check fraud schemes think sending five squad cars to investigate and make arrests was an appropriate or excessive use of police resources?

[Dem4Life1102]

19. Yes

Anyone with a shred of common sense would think so.

[lapucelle]

21. That puts you on the record as having the opinion that any person with a shred of common sense

would agree that sending five squad cars to investigate and make arrests when a check fraud scheme is discovered at a bank is an excessive use of police resources.

Thing to ponder:

What is the standard for police best practices concerning manpower when investigating and making arrests in check fraud schemes discovered at banks?

[Dem4Life1102]

22. Yes it is excessive

Check fraud is a white collar non-violent crime.

[lapucelle]

38. So is the argument that police resources should be conserved when investigating white collar crime?

[Dem4Life1102]

45. No the argument is

There is no need for an excessive, over the top response for a non-violent white collar crime.

[panader0]

51. Are you a law enforcement officer, or aspiring to be one?

[lapucelle]

54. Nope. N/T

[cwydro]

20. It's hard to keep up with DU's options of the cops.

One day it’s ACAB, and other days it’s “they need to enforce mask wearing and lockdowns.” “They need to throw that Karen in jail.”

Never mind the hundreds of times I’ve read comments like “Bury him under the jail.” “Hope he rots in jail.”

This place is fun to read.

[xmas74]

23. When I was a dispatcher

I wouldn't send five units for check kiting. There's always something in pending that needs three of those units.

2 units max unless there was a threat of violence.

[lapucelle]

30. I guess the next questions would be

Was this particular check fraud scheme check kiting, were all five units dispatched at the initial report, and was there any threat of violence?

[xmas74]

33. No next question.

I just informed you of most policies. There are always cases in pending-always.

Quit defending them.

[lapucelle]

39. You informed me of your judgement call when you were a dispatcher

if the crime were check kiting and there was no violence involved.

[BGBD]

48. Nothing

[BGBD]

50. Nothing

That you are talking about is pertinent to this.

The only central question is if filming the police in public is probable cause to search someone who is not interfering with the officers ability to make the arrest.

Filming a public place is a 1st amendment protected activity and what the officer did is a violation of the filmers 4th amendment rights against unlawful search.

How many officers were there and the original call are all irrelevant.

[lapucelle]

53. Your contention is that the only central question is if filming the police in public

is probable cause to search someone who is not interfering with an officer's ability to make an arrest.

Things to ponder:

- Was it constitutional for the police to ask Mr. Bennett for identification given the totality of the circumstances?
- If it was constitutional, what (if any) legal inferences were police permitted to make based on his refusal to do so?
- Would probable cause or reasonable suspicion be the governing standard in this specific situation?
- What does KY statutory and case law actually say on the matter? What about US Constitutional law?

[Bettie]

26. He was filming the police

and that made them angry.

I do not believe for one second that they honestly believed he was involved.

[uponit7771]

29. +1, especially to go over and punch the guy. Too many people accept the unprofessionalism of LEO in

... America.

[lapucelle]

34. According to the local CBS affiliate news report

One of the officers confronts Bennett, telling him that he's filming a crime scene investigation and that he's apparently involved. The officer asks for Bennett's ID before trying to grab the phone from him.

The officer and Bennett can be seen in the video fighting over the device before Bennett is pushed to the ground and the stream ends. It was during the encounter that the officer apparently struck Bennett, leaving him with a minor injury.

"When you're watching this video, the first movement of that camera, when it goes, that's him hitting me," Bennett said. "As you can see, I got the black eye."

Chief Sanders said that the officers were investigating and making arrests in the check fraud scheme at the Citizens Union Bank, across from McDonald's. He told WLKY that one of the detained suspects pointed Bennett out as he was livestreaming, telling the officers that Bennett was the driver in the crime.

https://www.wlky.com/article/livestream-captures-encounter-between-man-and-jeffersontown-officer-who-struck-him/34807656

[uponit7771]

35. Yep, punched that guy multiple times. Leo should be charged with assault at least cause who in their

... right minds are going to be involved in a crime and film the damn crime scene in the first place !??!

A reasonable person can conclude that's not very likely to happen at all, that a person knowing LEOs are coming and can go away will.

Too many people excuse, minimize and encourage (through normalization) the criminality of LEOs in America

[lapucelle]

40. Where did you read/hear that they punched the guy multiple times? N/T

[uponit7771]

57. The tweet in the link, a lot more credible than criminal LEOs

[lapucelle]

58. That's not what the tweet in the link says. N/T

[uponit7771]

59. "Then one of the officers walked across the parking lot and punched him."

[lapucelle]

60. "Punched that guy multiple times" is not in the tweet.

[uponit7771]

61. Cause needlessly detaining then punching the person just once makes their actions better? The ...

... relative minutia of how many times a person is punched in relating criminal actions shouldn't be a focus at all.

I don't see being apologetic towards criminal cops is going to help LEO's build better relationships in America's communities.

[lapucelle]

62. Facts are our friends.

The Grio and Yahoo News reported that Joe Bennett is a Black man.

https://thegrio.com/2020/11/28/cop-assaults-man-videotaping-police-stop/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cop-assaults-man-videotaping-police-182230417.html

TMZ reported that Bennett was filming the traffic stop of a Black driver.

https://www.tmz.com/2020/11/28/cops-attack-slug-man-filming-police-stop-black-driver-live-stream/

Cops punched Joe Bennett, a Black man, several times because he was filming the traffic stop of a Black driver.

Are those the facts or are they assumptions and embellishments? Is the initial tweet an accurate synopsis of the almost four minute video?

Caveat lector.

[uponit7771]

66. Elevating minutia is a form of deflection and sense criminal cops like these can't be trusted I'd ..

... error on the side of witness's not thug police.

[lapucelle]

42. That's not what the the local CBS news affiliate reported. Where did you read/hear that? N/T

[uponit7771]

31. The LEO's actions were at minimum assault seeing none of them are denying they punched Bennet. Too

... many people in America accept unprofessionalism of LEOs as doing their jobs, that's some bullshit there.

[USALiberal]

72. Why delete then???

[lapucelle]

73. The post was an excerpt from Spectrum News 1 that consisted of two direct quotes from Mr. Bennett.

When the only other outlet to pick up the Spectrum story was The New York Post, I deleted thinking Spectrum might be a right wing source. It's not.

Didn't you see all that in the subthread?

https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/lexington/news/2020/11/26/man-hit-by-officer-while-filming

[Bayard]

6. I guess if he was black, they would have shot him

You can tell by the way the cop walked toward him, this man was in trouble.

I don't know that this is happening any more frequently in my home town, Louisville, than it used to. I definitely think they're in the spotlight now. Many years ago, I dated a guy who was the son of a Louisville police detective. He told me of suspects roughed up, and evidence planted. No excuse, but I bet that happens in most cities.......30+ years ago anyway.

[uponit7771]

36. +1

[PatSeg]

8. I guess they needed the extra police

in case someone is videotaping them?

I am amazed at how many cops show up these days for even the most trivial incident. It is unnerving. It feels like they don't have a whole lot to do.

[xmas74]

24. I used to dispatch.

There were always calls in pending, just "boring" calls like health and safety checks, keep the peace, custody handoffs, etc.

[PatSeg]

37. I think that

we need different kinds of people for different kinds of responses. One size doesn't fit all. I can't count how many times I've seen video of six or more cops responding to a relatively minor offenses. When Eric Garner was killed, six officers arrived apparently because they thought he was selling loosies.

Time and time again, we see a squad arrive on the scene of the most insignificant incidents. I remember stories from my brother and before him, my father about how bored the job was 95% of the time, so when they did get a call, it really got the adrenalin pumping.

[lapucelle]

43. At the time of Eric Garner's death, local news reported that it was the NYPD Chief of the Department

who specifically directed the crackdown on the sale of loose cigarettes in that Staten Island neighborhood. That might explain why so many cops were sent to the scene

An order to crack down on the illegal sale of 75-cent cigarettes in Staten Island came directly from Police Headquarters, setting off a chain of events that ended in Eric Garner's death, the Daily News has learned.

Chief of Department Philip Banks — the highest-ranking uniformed cop in the city — sent a sergeant from his office at 1 Police Plaza in July to investigate complaints of untaxed cigarettes being sold in the Tompkinsville neighborhood, a source close to the investigation told The News.

" (Banks) set the whole thing in motion," the source said.

The sale of loosies had been on Banks' radar since at least March, when it was discussed at a meeting at Police Headquarters about quality-of-life issues, a police source said.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/wife-man-filmed-chokehold-arrested-article-1.1893790

[PatSeg]

44. Okay, that's pathetic

Clearly, there no longer is any real crime in New York City, because so many cops could show up for one guy.

[lapucelle]

56. Not only did so many cops show up, the precinct sergeant was at the scene as a supervising officer.

That sergeant gave testimony to the grand jury in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

The ultimate outcome for the sergeant for her role in Garner's death was the loss of 20 paid vacation days. Chief of the Department Banks retired with full benefits and pension a few months following Garner's death, after refusing a promotion that would have made him the number two man in the NYPD, but would have also removed him from a tactical command role.

As for the impetus for the crackdown on selling loose cigarettes, the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island is very diverse with many minority-owned small businesses. There was discussion at the time that there were complaints from those business owners that they weren't getting the same degree of "quality of life" effort and protection from police that neighborhoods with white-owned businesses enjoyed.

https://www.silive.com/news/2019/08/sgt-kizzy-adonis-pleads-guilty-to-nypd-charges-loses-20-vacation-days-for-role-in-garner-case.html

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4DCBo4i7WHcJ:https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-charges-sergeant-eric-garner-death-investigation-article-1.2489975+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-chief-department-philip-banks-resigns-sources-article-1.1994283

[PatSeg]

63. A loss of 20 vacation days?

And Garner lost his life!

The lack of accountability is appalling. I think police should be held to a higher standard than the people they serve, not a lower one. I also think police unions have far too much power.

[lapucelle]

65. The Garner family was furious with that outcome, and rightfully so. N/T

[PatSeg]

67. Yes, it is heartbreaking

and didn't need to happen. They are so callous with other people's lives. Every pointless death affects countless other people - spouses, parents, siblings, children, and friends. There is a special place in hell for people who treat other people's lives so carelessly, as if they don't matter.

Then when a police officer dies in the line of duty, they are buried with great honor and their families treated with respect and generosity. I don't begrudge them that, but their victims and their loved ones are treated as insignificant throw-aways. "Oh well, shit happens."

[Dustlawyer]

9. Two weeks ago I went to the corner store by my house before work.

As soon as I got out of my truck a man is in my face asking me why I was following him. I denied it and he pointed to three other cars that were also following him, they were getting gas. I made it inside and told the clerk that I know. He said he had already called police as the man had pulled a gun on a young mother with two small kids in the car. She drove through bushes to escape.

The cops arrived soon with three units and began questioning the man. I went to my truck parked next to the man’s truck and one cop asks another to get the gun out of the perp’s truck. The perp says it is a pellet gun. The cop pulls out a 44 magnum revolver fully loaded from the drivers seat. The perp was paranoid due to a lot of Meth use. He could not recall the last time he had slept.

I left and returned to the store after work. I was told the cops let him go and kept his expensive gun. The perp came back that afternoon asking where his $250 in cash was. If he really had the money I am sure the cops took that too. Now I have a methed out freak running around my neighborhood that should be locked up except for the fact that the cops chose to pad their pay instead of doing their job.

[uponit7771]

32. +1, and I bet good money the person what white. Anyone of color would've been shot for having a gun

... in the first place and being paranoid on meth.

[PatSeg]

46. And 12 year old Tamir Rice

was shot playing with a toy gun. Other black people have been shot for holding a cell phone. Clearly meth guy was a serious threat and he was released with a slap on the hand. I agree, if he were a person of color, he'd either dead by now or in jail for a long time.

[lapucelle]

41. You should go to a reporter at trusted local news source and blow the whistle on the story. N/T

[Baitball Blogger]

10. That cop just lost his job.

[MustLoveBeagles]

15. Good

[xmas74]

25. He'll have a glowing recommendation

And be hired at another department.

I wish it wasn't true but I personally saw it happen several times. Sexually harass female dispatchers to the point of physical violence? You can resign and get a new job 30 minutes from here. Kicked someone under arrest, breaking a rib? A department 45 minutes away needs a patrol deputy. Arrested someone who had $3500 in cash after submitting proof they sold a motorcycle, only to have $500 actually be submitted with personal belongings? The police chief 20 miles down the road will hire.

[Baitball Blogger]

27. I agree with you.

I saw city employees that were doing the work asked of them from their superiors, which got them in trouble with locals, just get a promotion to another city. Their willingness to follow orders, even illegal ones, was a job skill.

[uponit7771]

28. but will be rehired in the next MAGA PD district, this is the issue we have with policing in America

[Renew Deal]

64. You have a link for that?

[Baitball Blogger]

69. No sir. I didn't state it as a fact. I stated it as a forgone conclusion.

My way of saying that what I saw on that video should have resulted in an automatic dismissal, especially if the video goes viral.

[Renew Deal]

70. I get what you mean but...

Look at the responses.

[Baitball Blogger]

71. Got distracted by a lot of spoken truth.

Even if he does get fired, which is what I expect will happen, he will land on his feet in another police precinct.

[hunter]

47. There ought to be a national violent cop registry just as we have sex offender registries.

Fire all the violent cops and make sure they never get jobs as law enforcement officers or security guards ever again. Take away their guns.

I think many police departments in the U.S.A. need to be disbanded and rebuilt from the ground up.

Hell yes I am comparing violent cops, especially violent racist cops, to the worst sort of sex offenders.

I'm sure some Republican assholes will try to smear the entire Democratic Party with the radical opinions of some guy on the internet named hunter, but whatever. They are morons who will eat any shit their authoritarian masters serve them. They talk of freedom but freedom is something they fear.

[DFW]

49. I think the violent cop registry is an excellent idea

With a built in safety valve, though. It would be the easiest thing in the world for bad cops to remove „problem“ good cops by faking records of assaults that never happened. There should be a mandatory ten years for framing good cops, so the rotten apples can‘t get away with criminal CYA conspiracy.

[uponit7771]

55. THIS !!!

[Vinca]

52. How many lawyers have lined up outside Joe Bennett's house offering to represent him in the lawsuit?

[radius777]

68. Many cops are unqualified thin-skinned crybabies

who have the same type of mentality as their Orange hero. They expect people to kiss their feet, don't think the law applies to them, and view their own lives as far more valuable than the citizens who pay their salary.

The police need to be broken down entirely and rebuilt, where only the best and most qualified individuals are hired, and extensive psychological testing is done to weed out the psychopaths.