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Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
The Phillies are in a very tight race for the NL wildcard, but all local Philadelphians know they’ll blow it right at the bitter end. And the Eagles are just coming off one of the most heartbreaking collapses in recent memory. So it’s understandable that tensions are high in my hometown, where folks live and die by sports (particularly the Iggles).
Those tensions have now culminated in a nice little police brutality fracas. In the early hours of Saturday morning (which was before the Eagles loss, so I guess my theory there is kinda’ crapped out), a ruckus started outside of a downtown night club. This led to the arrest of two men, and part of one man’s arrest was caught on a cellphone camera, and that video is now enjoying a home on YouTube. In the video, the man, 24-year-old Durwin Jones, is seen being told he’s under arrest. He shoves the cops, who then throw him to the ground and beat on him, to the severe dissatisfaction of the surrounding crowd.
Now, I have very little trust for the police in these types of situations. However, the video seems to confirm the police spokesman’s statement:
What escalated this incident to the level seen on tape was the man was told he was under arrest and the officers were attempting to place him in handcuffs and he struggled, shoving the officer.
It’s suggested that Jones did nothing which warranted his arrest in the first place, and that very well may be. And if that’s the case, and if they used unnecessary force from the get-go, maybe he’s got himself a lawsuit. But just because he’s being cuffed when he doesn’t think he should be, that doesn’t mean he gets to resist arrest and shove the cops. So truth be told, when I watch the low quality video, I don’t see an excessive response by the cops here, despite the crowd’s protestations. Now, if the Internal Affairs review comes back otherwise, or a more convincing story or video comes along, I’m all for jumping on the Police Brutality bandwagon. But there is such a thing as the justified use of force, and I think that’s what we have here. But watch the video and judge for yourself:
