Leaked Video Of Captain Pepper-Spraying Restrained Inmate Riles Maine Officials

[Tx4obama]

Leaked Video Of Captain Pepper-Spraying Restrained Inmate Riles Maine Officials

Over the weekend the Portland Press Herald reported on and released a video of Capt. Shawn Welch at the Maine Correction Center pepper-spraying a restrained inmate in the face and leaving him in distress for more than twenty minutes while he repeatedly pleaded that he could not breath. The inmate was reportedly recovering from a self-inflicted wound and on several medications for bipolar disorder and depression at the time when officers in protective gear placed him in a restraining chair for medical personnel to examine his wounds.

After he was physically restrained in the chair, he struggled as guards pinned his head under an arm, at which point Welch used a pepper spray canister intended for multiple subjects at a 18 to 20 feet range to spray the inmate in the face at close range. Welch was initially fired by the institution’s supervisor, but reinstated with a 30-day suspension by Maine Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte.

Spurred by the leaked video, the Chairman of the Maine Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee is now seeking a review of the incident in the context of use of force by the Maine Department of Corrections – but the Maine Department of Corrections appears more concerned about finding the source of the leak. Citing the privacy of the inmate, they launched an investigation to find out who released the video to reporters, with Associate Commissioner Jody Breton saying the facility “certainly will be tightening up security — where (information) is stored, who has access.”

-snip-

Full article and photo here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/21/1757021/leaked-video-of-captain-pepper-spraying-restrained-inmate-riles-maine-officials/

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Hell yes! Dept of Corrections is correct--Inmates have the right

to be tortured in privacy.

[Ed Suspicious]

2. I fucking hate bad cops! Fucking hate them!

[Ed Suspicious]

3. Torture. Plain and simple. n/t

[Ed Suspicious]

4. When are you gonna pull this off? Only you can decide that. Fuck you!

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. picture of the torture: 'You're not going to win,' Welch is heard saying. 'I will win every time.'

[bvar22]

7. I count 4 other cops who were accessories to abuse (torture).

Those who witnessed this,
and did NOT immediately report it to supervisor are equally guilty.
Until the witnesses are not held to account,
the "code" will remain in effect.
The punishment for Not Reporting needs to be swift and severe.

[47of74]

12. I'd call these guys a bunch of fucking pigs

That would be insulting to fucking pigs though.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. pic of mom and sister watching the torture video

'Certainly from an outsider's point of view it looks horrific,' Welch himself said, according to the reports shared in the Press Herald.

The investigator concluded that Welch continued to 'brow beat' Schlosser, suggesting it was personal. He also noted that Welch escalated the situation, rather than attempt to stop it.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297060/Leaked-video-shows-police-pepper-spraying-restrained-inmate-face.html

[RedstDem]

8. from a country that glamorizes prison rape

I don't expect much, and even worse we have private prisons!, we have fucking privately owned prisons!
can you believe that?

[Ikonoklast]

9. There are others he deliberately tortured, bet on it.

Hopefully they will come forward.

[jerseyjack]

10. Shit. This ain't nothin'. N.J. prison has an episode going on. Prisoner is on hunger strike.

He was disciplined for an infraction he says he didn't commit. Says his innocence for the infraction is documented in the prison log book. Authorities won't release the log book. He won't eat until the book is opened.

He is now down to 90+ pounds.

[Historic NY]

11. They're more concernd about the leak than anything else...

thats the message the sender must been conveying.