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Victim Card Gets Trumped by the Truth
My most recent contribution over at PJ Media concerns a firefighter in Oakland, California who played his victim card against a police officer. Sadly for him, he didn’t know the officer was holding the better hand: The incident was recorded on the officer’s body camera, and when the police released the video the world was able to see the firefighter’s accusations were groundless. He made a very public, very serious, and very false accusation, and if he’s any kind of man at all, he’ll make a very public apology.
But then, if he was any kind of man at all, he wouldn’t have made the accusation in the first place.
Published in General
Hopefully this video will make its way into a lot of police headquarters, prompting mass buys of body cameras in the next year or so. This kind of video can get rid of a lot of he-said, she-said “evidence” around police encounters.
I think a disability claim from the firefighter will occur long before an apology.
His only disability is he’s unable to tell the truth.
“Alas for Mr. Jones, there will be no Al Sharpton, no Eric Holder, no FBI, and no action…”
Cynic that I am, I feel he may have been counting on the above, with the book deal meaning a new house, and possibly retiring off the settlement from the city.
On a semi-related note, Messrs Dunphy and Watt, do you think there is any possibility that a Medical Examiner might not release potential findings of gunshot residue on Michael Brown resulting from what may have transpired with the discharge in Officer Wilson’s car, just due to massive outside political pressure?
No I don’t think so. First of all there have been multiple autopsies. Second of all that would be false swearing, or in testimony perjury. Once you credibility is gone as a witness in a criminal case you will never work again because your testimony will be impeached based upon that lie in future cases.
Should have been “your credibility”.
Thanks, Doug. My fear has been that the ME autopsy seems to be the only one not requested by a party with a particular interest in the outcome.
I concur with Doug. I can’t envision anyone playing fast and loose with the autopsy. In time, all will be revealed. And if the grand jury does indict Officer Wilson, I stand by my prediction that he’ll never be convicted of anything.
Jack,
Given the level of ideological nonsense that is now commonplace, even direct from the White House, I think the body camera may turn out to be the professional police officer’s best friend.
Regards,
Jim
You may be right. But what happens when the equipment malfunctions, as it sometimes will? Will no cop ever be believed if the incident isn’t on video?
Thanks for your input, too, Jack. He has already been convicted by the New Black Panther Party and others, and I think such folk are pushing every incident since Trayvon Martin harder and faster, and I think they are trying to eventually create a (not quite literally) nuclear explosion before any fact is known in some upcoming situation.
Jack,
Really good comment on our hopelessly negative culture. Maybe enough videos of policemen doing there job, helping people, showing restraint when provoked, and stopping really bad actors will get people to realize what the word civilization is all about.
Regards,
Jim
I don’t think they’ll be any more satisfied with the outcome of this case than they were with Martin-Zimmerman.
Jack,
I don’t want to go far a field. However, I think there is a theme running through Martin-Zimmerman and Brown-Wilson. They were both sold as hate crimes and in a way this is true. The police officers in both cases showed no hate whatsoever and were both trying hard to do a job. Instead the hate for the officers was very evident in the behavior of both so-called victims. In both cases the so-called victim’s obsession with punishing the police officer resulted in their own demise.
Hate doesn’t conform to someone’s preconceived idea. Hate is what it is and where you find it.
Regards,
Jim
Zimmerman was a private citizen not a police officer. Maybe I’m not understanding, or misreading the comment.
Doug,
You are quite right that he wasn’t a police officer. However, Zimmerman was following the procedures taught him by the community watch. He had assumed the role of an intervening authority. To me Martin’s reaction was wrapped up in a hatred for anyone, police, community watch or otherwise that was the symbol of authority. He was all the more angry with Zimmerman because he wasn’t a police officer and wasn’t being paid to do it. Zimmerman did not have his gun drawn. He was violently attacked first. The intention of the attack was to punish, to teach Zimmerman a lesson. That’s hatred. The fact that the series of burglaries that everyone knew about had terrorized the community didn’t give Zimmerman the right to be on community watch in Martin’s mind. It was all about his total freedom. Zimmerman was just a creep that needed to be taught a lesson. That’s hatred.
Regards,
Jim
Okay I understand where you are going with the comment. Martin could have walked away or run away. He didn’t. He decided to confront Zimmerman and beat him into submission.
Doug,
Exactly, in both cases if the alleged victim hadn’t been intent on punishing the police officer (authority figure) they would have been alive today. There may be a thousand other angles but I think this is what really happened in these two cases. That in both cases the Administration chose to wade right in and claim that it was the officer who was full of hate makes you really wonder just how crazy our fearless leadership really is.
Regards,
Jim
Its a good thing Obama ushered in the era of post racial America. Could you imagine how bed it would be if he hadn’t?
I was going to try to post a comment embedding every other comment in this thread.
Instead, I will simply link to this highly amusing article about an actress from Django: Unchained who, according to her, was unjustly harassed by a racist LAPD officer (who, if you can believe it, did not know who she was!) and racists in the office building across from which she was in a car making the beast with two backs in broad daylight.
I certainly hope Eric Holder will rush to Studio City and commence the obligatory civil rights investigation.
Jack Dunphy, as a former LAPD guy, what say you about this horrible instance of police overreach? Aren’t you guys supposed to memorize who the actors are so they are not disturbed?
One of the involved cops was on KFI radio this afternoon. I hope they put up the podcast. It was on the John and Ken Show at about 5:30 Pacific Time. He has the entire incident on audio tape, and the woman comes away looking quite foolish. Even more foolish than the Oakland firefighter.
My daughter was a Portland Police Officer. Every summer they have a children’s parade and when officers barricade the street no traffic is allowed to cross the parade route. A city commissioner rolled up to the barricade and told her to move the barricade so he could get his car across the street. She told him that he couldn’t drive across the street. He said do you know who I am. She said I know exactly who you are and you’ll have to turn around. Then she said how about this headline, City Commissioner runs over children at Children’s Parade. He turned around. A traffic sergeant heard the whole conversation. She got an atta girl from the seregeant.
misspelled sergeant.
In both instances (as with Ferguson) the common thread is playing to the assumption that white racism is somewhere at the core of any confrontation between a white cop and a black citizen. And how much rope the media gives that “narrative” without regard for the facts. Pathetic. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than a few embarrassing instances like these to correct that bias.