Original on Daily Kos.
The old guy wasn’t drunk. And he was a retired New Orleans schoolteacher.
Robert Davis said he had returned to New Orleans to check on property his family owns in the storm-ravaged city, and was out looking to buy cigarettes when he was beaten and arrested Saturday night in the French Quarter.
Police have alleged that the 64-year-old Davis was publicly intoxicated, a charge he strongly denied as he stood on the street corner where the incident played out Saturday.
“I haven’t had a drink in 25 years,” Davis said. He had stitches beneath his left eye, a bandage on his left hand and complained of soreness in his back and aches in his left shoulder.
New Orleans cops, imho, have issues. And that is putting it mildly.
Davis–and his attorney–doesn’t think that the attack was about race. But he still doesn’t understand why he was hit in the back of the head.
Davis said he had been walking in the French Quarter and approached a mounted police officer to ask about the curfew in the city when another officer interrupted.
“This other guy interfered and I said he shouldn’t,” Davis said. “I started to cross the street and — bam — I got it. … All I know is this guy attacked me and said, `I will kick your ass,’ and they proceeded to do it.”
Normally, a sixty-four year old guy is no fool. Of any race. He’s not someone looking for an opportunity to act up. And certainly not with some cops/Federal agents/Guard/Blackwater mercs. If he is a former New Orleans schoolteacher, then he knows how to speak to people: to ask questions politely and moderately and then go about his business.
This guy could have been my stepfather, who will be returning himself to New Orleans to see about damage to his home(s). He is 72.
Just what was Davis ‘interfering with’ before the video cameras rolled?
Two city officers accused in the beating, and a third officer accused of grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped document the confrontation, pleaded not guilty Monday to battery charges.
Trial was set at a hearing Monday for Jan. 11. Afterward, officers Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith were released on bond. They left without commenting.
Of course, the NO police union chief says Schilling, Smith and Evangelist were confident that they ‘justified’ in banging Davis up.
Unfortunately, I think that the cops are going to get more support over this incident: “Poor guys, they are stressed, they don’t know what they’re doing, their houses are gone, their families are gone…”
Excuse me, but I think that they do know what they are doing. This guy was there to assess his own losses. A black man asking innocent questions is going to set them off on a beating spree? What exactly was he doing? What is it about black men that cops feel justified beating them up for any reason?
I was hoping you’d cover this, after I saw it on the news yesterday.
The version we got up here in MN was sympathetic to the victim, which was pleasant for a change. Of course, he was still a drunk in this version.
That’s why I’m glad you’re giving us the truth. Its wrong to beat up a drunk surly old man. It’s wrong to beat up a drunk old man (TV news version here). Its wrong to beat up a retired schoolteacher asking a question. The differences are how easily the press can slide some sympathy to the cops. There’s very little room in the last (true) version.
Wish I could say the same for NPR. They were more in line with what you suggest. I heard them say it was wrong, but I also heard all the stuff about their families being miles away, little sleep for 26 days straight, etc. Ah well, if you’re feeling bad, go beat up an old man, I guess. Pathetic excuses.
(the local TV news then followed the report up with the investigation into reports the cops were looting car dealerships before and as the hurricane approached — no sympathy or excuses offered, either. They even interviewed the dealership owner, who wasn’t too pleased or inclined to make excuses for the bad cops either. I may have to actually watch more local TV news if they keep this up.)
The story will repeat for a few days, and we’ll feel sorry for everybody. But never ask the right question “What is it about cops?” How do we keep the bad guys from becoming cops and soldiers?
I think it’s the love of guns and power that draws them, rather than a desire to serve. Mabe we if we looked for an answer to that, we could get back our control of the government.
link
How does your state measure up?
Are your police committing enough crimes?
The first thing I thought of was this:
Since when did the police arrest anyone for public intoxication…in the French Quarter???
Hell, it seems like public intoxination was practically encouraged–the better to separate fools from their money…er, ahem–make tourist dollars.
And now, it seems they’ve made that story up out of whole cloth. I don’t care what pressure they’re under…other folks are under pressure, too.
As one letter to the editor said today in the Times Picayune (www.nola.com), this is par for the course, only, it was finally caught on tape.
Nagin and the City Council have done nothing, nothing, when it comes to addressing violence by the NOPD towards New Orleans citizens. THis past summer, as I’ve said, was a summer of violence: between citizens, and directed towards citizens by the NOPD. This past spring was very violent also.
Driving around the city last night, I was much more afraid of the numerous cops that I saw, then any crime, which, except for sporadic looting, is non-existent.
Citizens in New Orleans are afraid of the cops, which speaks volumes.
cameras for the duration of the “reconstruction” period.