Attorney arrested, says D.C. officer called him (slur)

Warning! This may be offensive. I didn't make it up, I'm just posting it. It contains a word that may and probably WILL be offensive to some. It is in the external source. I don't agree with it's usage, but it is part of the story.

Gay man was ‘joking’ with friends about his dislike of police

WashingtonBlade

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has ordered an internal investigation into a gay man’s arrest for disorderly conduct after the man filed a complaint alleging that an officer detained and arrested him for expressing his dislike for police.

Be careful what you say. Duh.

Hughes said the arresting officer's version of what happened would be reflected in a police report at the Second District police station, but the report is not a public document and isn't available to the media or public.

It's convenient when you don't have to make police reports available to the public.

In an e-mail to Lanier, Tuma said that after repeating twice to his friends in a “sing-song” voice, “I hate the police,” an officer “charged 40-50 feet towards us while yelling at me phrases like ‘who do you think you are’ and ‘who do you think you’re talking to.’”

Probably just having a bad day.

“As Officer Culp moved me toward a police cruiser, he told me to ‘just shut up, faggot,’” Tuma told Lanier in his e-mail.

Whether he said that or not, I think it speaks volumes about both sides of this coin.

D.C. attorney Luke Platzer, one of Tuma’s two friends to witness the arrest, said he and a second friend, attorney Dave Stetson, were approached by a D.C. police sergeant shortly after police drove Tuma to the station to process his arrest. Platzer said the sergeant, whose last name is Geer, told them he observed Tuma attempting to “resist” arrest in a disorderly way and asked them if they would give a statement confirming his observation.

“We said, ‘No, we did not see that at all,’” Platzer told the Blade. “We thought he was trying to trick us into saying that there was physical resistance by Pepin to the arrest. That is not true.”

Trying to intimidate or coerce a witness?

“As a general proposition, saying the police are no good or that you hate the police — that’s not grounds for a disorderly conduct charge,” Block said. “There are court decisions holding that you can’t be charged with disorderly conduct by merely insulting or even cursing at a police officer.”

Now, why don't the cops on the beat know this?

“Generally speaking, Chief Lanier takes allegations such as this very seriously. She has stated publicly, in the past, she will not tolerate discrimination, abuse of power or unprofessional behavior,” Parson said. “I have every reason to believe she will take appropriate action should the investigation determine members of our department have acted in such a manner.”

I guess we should be thankful that there ARE Internal Affairs departments and that things get investigated. Refreshing to not hear the standard 'acted according to policy' crap.

This could very well have been a few lawyers trying to set something up to make some easy money, but aren't cops supposed to be above this type of thing?

Who's more at fault? is it the gay lawyer that 'provoked' the cop, or the cop, who was supposed to be able to maintain his composure?

Just an example of the rift that exists; the opportunists, and the victim. Which is which?

It's alright guys! They just need to call the President and ask him if they can share a nice cold one with him. Problem solved . But yeah, sounds like the cop overreacted just a little bit and that the person arrested maybe should have looked around them before saying what they said or maybe kept it to a whisper. Both parties are at fault IMO.

Be careful what you say. Duh.

No, he's got a right to say whatever he wants, even if it is offensive to the police. The officer had no right to arrest this guy on the grounds of his stating that he hated the police. That is no crime. The cop was abusing his authority by arresting him. He was out of line.

Having said that, it is generally unwise to antagonize *anyone* who is armed with a pistol, a night stick, handcuffs, pepper spray, sometimes a taser gun, who is trained to subdue unruly people, and who can easily call for backup.

So if you hate cops, keep it to yourself when they're around. If they're as bad as you think, then you're going to get hurt or worse. If they leave you alone, then your hatred of them is without basis. Either way, you lose.

Originally posted by chiron613

Be careful what you say. Duh.

No, he's got a right to say whatever he wants, even if it is offensive to the police. The officer had no right to arrest this guy on the grounds of his stating that he hated the police. That is no crime. The cop was abusing his authority by arresting him. He was out of line.

Having said that, it is generally unwise to antagonize *anyone* who is armed with a pistol, a night stick, handcuffs, pepper spray, sometimes a taser gun, who is trained to subdue unruly people, and who can easily call for backup.

So if you hate cops, keep it to yourself when they're around. If they're as bad as you think, then you're going to get hurt or worse. If they leave you alone, then your hatred of them is without basis. Either way, you lose.

I DO agree with you...but did you read what you said? He has the right to say whatever he wants, but he should keep it to himself? Waffle much?

I guess that's what concerns me most about this and the other instances I am aware of when our right to free speech has been eliminated. We're conditioned that we have 'free speech' but go tell a cop that you think cops suck and see what happens.

It seems as though it's always taze, shoot, choke, hit, or kick first, then let Internal Affairs sort it out.

I don't like that one bit.