Cop punches woman in the face at Atlanta IHOP

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Run time: 01:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pw-bEwEUvI   Posted on YouTube: April 26, 2011 By YouTube Member: Tcrumril Views on YouTube: 147152   Posted on DU: April 27, 2011 By DU Member: Amerigo Vespucci Views on DU: 4010

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/04/shock-video-cop-punches-woman-in-the-face-at-atlanta-ihop/

Posted on 04.27.11
By Stephen C. Webster
Categories: Nation

Talk about bad pancakes.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Cynthia Freeman and an off-duty police officer got into a scuffle at an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) in Atlanta. What happened next was caught on tape, in a violent bit of footage that some viewers will find shocking.

It is impossible to say, just judging from the footage, what sparked the conflict or why the officer reacted so violently. Freeman’s attorney told reporters that she was unaware the man was an officer.

The police department said they were investigating the incident.

[Taverner]

1. Um call me Authoritarian, but she did swing first

The alternative would be pepper spray, which I would think is worse

[KansDem]

3. It looks like he swung first (0'04")

I don't know, it seems to me if cops don't want a fight, they shouldn't be slugging citizens...:shrug:

[Taverner]

5. Thing is, by protocol he should have used pepper spray

That's the quickest way to take an unarmed assailant out of comission

But if you ask me, I'd rather be slugged than pepper sprayed...

[midnight]

8. I think you are right to call yourself Authoritarian... You sound like this

behavior is justified...

[Taverner]

10. Retract those claws, and tell me honestly:

If you were a cop, what would you have done to stop someone who swung at you twice, and was still trying to hit you

You could use pepper spray, which is the standard reaction from law enforcement. Keep in mind this would make the person unable to do much but curl into a fetal position for the next 30 minutes

Or would you slug them, not hard but only so much as to put them into a position where they could be cuffed

I know speaking for someone who has been slugged and pepper sprayed, I would chose the former


But that's just me

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. um ...you need to get your eyes checked.....he swung first

[Taverner]

13. At 0:04 she swings hard

Before that the other cop is securely holding her hand, and trying to stop her from swinging

At 0:06 she swings again. Granted it is more of a 'slapping' motion, but do not think that it has no force behind it. She hits hard with the heel of her palm.

[votesparks]

23. he resisted her physically interfering

with a two-finger shove/slap.

I am the first to complain about police brutality, but this isn't it.

[Prana69]

32. GARBAGE!

You are seeing only what you want to see, and deliberately ignoring what is clear to others.

The police officer was applying physical force to an individual in the corner. For what reason, we do not know. The female who was subsequently hit and restrained by the officer, was clearly distressed that the individual was being restrained in the corner and was trying to prevent the officer from applying that restraint. She places her hand on his upper arm to hold him back (0:02), and looks him directly in the face, like she is trying to reason with him to "be reasonable". But she does NOT take a swing at him. Instead, when she is looking him directly in the face, the officer takes the first swing (0:04), hitting her with great force with what looks like an open hand. That's when the female retaliates. Who wouldn't? It was such an unnecessary escalation and heavy-handed response from the officer, and clearly totally unexpected - which is why the female retaliated so aggressively. After that, the officer grabbed her shoulder with his left hand to hold her directly in front of him, and slugged her with a closed fist, hitting her in the face - though it looks to me like the punch did not connect 100% because with the force that he swung, had it connected clean it would have broken her jaw / nose and probably knocked her out cold. Which it did not.

I don't know how an honest, objective person could view this video any differently.

If a 250 pound gorilla needs to punch a 90 pound woman in the face to restrain her, then there is something seriously wrong with that police officer's mental state and devotion to civic duty, and the training he received.

Thug. It's that simple.

P69

[votesparks]

41. what you said

she interfered at :02, like you said.

It's all over from there. I'm REALLY trying to see where he's in the wrong. But going by the standard of the law (that's strictly where I'm at), I am willing to bet you money that that tape will be used to convict her.

[Prana69]

45. No you're not.

You are deliberately choosing not to see. You've drawn a conclusion and are now cherry picking only the evidence that fits your conclusion.

Disproportionate force used against an individual who was not the target of the original issue, but who had come to the assistance of an individual who appears to also be the target of unnecessary force by that same officer.

But just ignore that. Cops rule, OK!

P69

[neoralme]

12. No, he swung first, a slap. I hope he loses his job and is never

hired as a police person again. I am searching for a website to form.

[Taverner]

14. He has his hand in a ready mode, but has not officially 'swung'

Look at 0:04

Between 0:00 and 0:04 he merely has his arm in attack position

that is not swinging

[neoralme]

18. I stand by my post. And my intentions. The man is an animal and

shouldn't be in police work.

[Control-Z]

35. It looked to me like he swung first. n/t

[vaberella]

43. She didn't swing first. She touched him and then he slapped her.

Then she hit back.

[wtmusic]

2. Unaware the man was an officer?

:eyes:

[nilram]

37. Sure, he wore a uniform. A police uniform. Had a badge. It was shiny. But he mighta been a rookie.

And rookies get outa control sometimes. That's why they call them rookies. So I had to hit him.

[KurtNYC]

4. what ?! "It is impossible to say, just judging from the footage, ....why the officer reacted so

violently."

Um, how about because she grabbed his collar or neck and then punched him and swung 2 more times. That usually sets off a police officer. Sets off most people.

[tootrueleft]

6. The cop struck the woman first. She struck him back so he punched her straight in the face.

I wonder does his wife receive likewise if she gets 'uppity' after a warning slap.

[Ken Burch]

20. Cops are often batterers....so you're probably right.

Not all are...but it is there.

[midnight]

7. I'm not sure why our civilization believes this is acceptable...

It appears that this behavior is ok, and that it's justified because it was a cop and because there is nothing to indicate how the altercation started so it might be somehow justified? Or from the women's statement that she didn't know the man who was punching her was a cop. Crap we are in so much trouble...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

11. That fat fucker needs to be fired...he acted very unprofessional

[Taverner]

15. unprofessional

not on professional


sorry, these things bug me

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. Thank you, fixed......it must be that "authoritarian" bug ....

:evilgrin:

[Taverner]

19. Pthhhpt!

Double ackkk and thpt!

[buddysmellgood]

17. I don't think men should hit women. He wasn't trying to restrain her, he was trying to hurt her.

[DRex]

21. I don't know what it would take to make me hit a woman...

I'm sure there's a point where chivalry becomes idiotic and masochistic, but it would certainly take a lot more than that. And this guy punches a woman full force in the face. I would never dream of it, totally unthinkable. This pig really wanted to hit her, he just needed an excuse. The way he handled her there, you could tell he was enjoying it. It definitely wasn't necessary, that's for sure, so why else was he doing it?
Did that 90lb waif really pose a physical threat to him?

And that's what we see again and again in these videos, that the police have apparently been given carte blanche, and either the profession attracts or creates this violent tendency that is so sickening to watch.

And we continue to let police forces sweep these guys under the rug, when what we really need is public discourse on this, to make it clear that we aren't to be treated as dogs in the street.

That little fuck should be ashamed of himself. No kind of a man at all.

[votesparks]

24. he resisted her physically interfering

and then reacted in the way a officer should when being assaulted.

[buddysmellgood]

31. Like a coward? You better watch that video again.

[Control-Z]

36. He assaulted her.

She reacted to that assault, just as any normal person would.

[votesparks]

42. he pushed her away from interfering with an arrest

and then when assaulted, he responded in kind to end the assault and subdue the suspect.

That's how the court will see it.

She will need to plea bargain for a break from a felony for assaulting a police officer.

[Prana69]

46. Now, you're assuming crap to cover your story.

Where is the evidence that the officer was in the process of making an arrest?

If the officer was making an arrest, why did he not walk around the booth and stand directly in front of the original target and apprehend her, rather than reaching over the booth and pushing a second individual into the target?

If the officer was in the process of making an arrest, why was his partner physically restraining him prior to the altercation with the individual who was eventually arrested? Pretty strange that one officer would be holding back his partner who, in your perception, was in the process of making an arrest.

The officer seriously over-reacted and through poor decision making, caused what was probably a minor altercation to escalate into a serious situation. That individual does not have the right skills or temperament to be a police officer.

P69

[ElsewheresDaughter]

48. if that the way you think that's the way an officer "should react" I hope the hell you

are never put in any position of authority or judgment

[backscatter712]

27. Not to mention cops are supposed to be trained to subdue people without hurting them.

And this cop was at least twice as big as the lady, and had another cop right next to him, so in my view, there's absolutely no excuse for hitting her like that.

This Limbaugh-listening, wife-beating, roid-raging, micropenised thug should be fired and prosecuted.

[votesparks]

22. She is guilty of interfering with police business, and assaulting a police officer

Here she is interfering with an arrest and assaulted a police officer (who lightly shoved her back with two fingers to stop her interference). Once she began attacking him after he has shoved her off from trying to interfere, he was certainly within' his rights to do what he did.

This video will help prosecutors seal the OBVIOUS slam dunk case against her.

Guilty as charged.

[CrawlingChaos]

25. Here's another view

http://youtu.be/9shJZCnPr9s

You can't see the first blow being thrown by the cop (clearly seen in the other video) but you can see here that he was being very rough with the girl in the booth, making it understandable why her friends would be reflexively trying to protect her.

To see this THUG punch that small woman full force in the face with his fist makes me sick to my stomach. Who would defend this jackboot authoritarianism?? Soon the cops will be more of a threat to our safety than criminals on the street.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. That view also shows him shoving the original "suspect" into her

friend who was seated and had no way of moving. This view also shows that his partner tried to haul him away. I hope he loses his job and is tried for this.

[tblue37]

34. In that video, while the violent cop is still being unnecessarily

rough with the first woman, before ever hitting the second one, the bald cop, his partner, is clearly trying to restrain him and pull him off the African-American woman, so I think even the bald cop knows his partner is losing it and being unnecessarily rough from the very beginning!

[Butch350]

26. You open up the ole Proverbial can of worms...

when you take a swing at a cop.

She was trying to slap, hit, scratch. He has the right to protect himself.

Interfering with a cop doing his duty and resisting arrest.

Poor innocent girl.

[democracy1st]

28. Both were totally in the wrong,you cannot under any circumstances interfere with a

police officer doing his job.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. In no way should he have been shoving the original girl into the other

girl that was seated. You can see in the other video that even his partner was trying to drag him away from the booth. This "officer" is one of those who give true and honorable police officers a bad name. Sorry, he wasn't doing a job. He was letting testosterone get the best of him.

[democracy1st]

33. true but I guarantee you she's going to be charged with assaulting a police officer.

[nilram]

38. He was just grumpy because IHOP was out of donuts.

Chocolate-chip pancakes don't cut it.

[pacalo]

39. What a jerk. It looks like the girl got agitated after the cop manhandled her friend sitting in the

booth. Awful display of a policeman who doesn't seem to know how to diffuse a situation without using violence. And at the end it looked like he was putting on those handcuffs as tightly as he possibly could. Quite a contrast in police behavior when compared to the police in Wisconsin dealing with a massive crowd of protestors.

No excuse for punching that woman. Holding her arms to prevent her from swinging should have been sufficient.

[Keith Bee]

40. It was IHOP, for Pete's sake!

They were both probably cranked up on sugar.

[ecstatic]

44. He was off duty. The girl was trying to protect her friend whose arm was

being broken by the "officer." I'm not surprised people are defending the subhuman thug cop.

[demwing]

47. I want to know what the fuck the cop was doing, pushing the first girl into the corner?

Was SHE being arrested? If so, then PULL HER OUT, don't push her IN.

If she was not being arrested, what the HELL was the cop doing?

[BrandonVilner]

49. Tyrants

Cops, for the most part, are only cops because they were too dumb to be anything else. I'm sick of this attitude we have in this country that we all have to "respect" police officers. Ok. Give me a damn reason to respect you and I will. It doesn't take courage to be a cop. You get to walk around with a gun all day and wrestle drunk women..... ohhhh boy theres some courage.