Video of Cop Assaulting Black ASU Professor Should Prompt More Than Outrage

Not my headline, taken from source article. Forgive me if already posted, but search does not work with my browser.
Source - VICE News



While after watching the video, I believe she definitely could have handled the initial situation in a less confrontational manner, the fact remains that this woman was thrown to the ground by a campus officer, kicked him in the shin after being dragged back to her feet, and now faces charges including "Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, Criminal Damage, Refusal To Provide Truthful Name, and Obstruction of Thoroughfare."

Police contact was initiated for jaywalking, while, as she notes in the encounter as caught on police dashcam footage, the sidewalk is blocked by construction.

However, I applaud her for standing up for her rights, and demanding to be treated with respect by the officer.

Yet another shocking video of police abuse surfaced over the weekend. Dr. Ersula Ore, an English professor at Arizona State University (ASU), was stopped last month in the middle of the street by campus cop Stewart Ferrin. The officer was both verbally and physically abusive, but it is Ore who faces charges.

Ferrin stopped Ore for walking in a traffic thoroughfare. “I’ve been here for over three years and everybody walks this street… I never once saw a single solitary individual get pulled over by a cop for walking across a street on a campus,” Ore told the officer before pointing out how the sidewalk was obstructed by construction.

Ferrin then told her to put her hands behind her back and threatened to “slam” her on his car when she refused to show her ID, objecting expressly to the officer’s disrespectful approach. Ferrin threw Ore violently to the ground, leaving her dress hiked up, her body exposed. He and another officer then dragged her to her feet, at which point she kicked Ferrin in the shin. Now she faces the felony assault charge, which she plans to fight.

It is also yet another example of a police narrative unraveling when video footage emerges. ASU has maintained that they have found “no evidence of inappropriate actions by the ASUPD officers involved.” The dashboard camera video obtained by local station 3TV shows otherwise.

The court of public opinion is rightly siding with Ore — but this has rarely been enough to hold a cop accountable. It is a vile trick, but one that upholds police impunity: an officer assaults a civilian and then charges the civilian with assault. Then, as in Ore’s case, the arrestee has to devote energy and resources to fighting the assault charge and staying out of prison; holding the cop accountable becomes the least of their worries.

But Ore has papers, Ore has video evidence, Ore has a lawyer and a case. It is an unmitigated travesty that she has to fight a felony assault charge at all. But while the ASU professor has a legal battle to wage, it seems incumbent upon us — the witnesses of her assault — to wage a battle against police brutality, impunity, and racial profiling.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic
I seen this posted at some other forums, It's amazing how many people condoned, and even cheered on the police for their actions, simply because it was a liberal victim. Easy way to weed out the scumbag rightwings wearing the masks of libertarian.

a reply to: TKDRL

Indeed. There seems to be a rising tide of anti-intellectualism as of late, a classic hallmark of a totalitarian state.

How much you wanna bet he flunked one of her classes?

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Thank goodness for cameras and kudos to the bystander that didn't turn the other way.

a reply to: OrphanApology

A thread posted earlier of a trucker who pulled a cop over for speeding and being on his phone, and recorded the interaction on video... Made me realize something. They may have pistols, tasers, and batons as weapons of fear, but we've found their weakness.

A camera is a weapon against an unjust cop. The tape doesn't lie.

Also, I'm pretty amazed that a bystander was actually morally outraged enough at the situation, to be shocked out of complacency and into action. You can tell by his voice on the 911 tape that he thinks some bull[censored] is going on.

What the hell did she think was going to happen? If you start wrestling around, resisting, and kicking a police officer, you will most likely get thrown to the ground and cuffed. Then the court will stick you for every charge they can to extract your money. Reality check.

You need to get out of politics more.One teacher gets harassed wow.
scary.

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
You need to get out of politics more.One teacher gets harassed wow.
scary.

So, this is completely A-OK to you? And what if this teacher happened to be your mother, wife, or other family member?

originally posted by: CloudsTasteMetallic

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
You need to get out of politics more.One teacher gets harassed wow.
scary.

So, this is completely A-OK to you? And what if this teacher happened to be your mother, wife, or other family member?

I think the cop has some kind of little man syndrome or whatever his issue was, but she could have just calmly cooperated.... Cops like that need to feel that strange empowerment and feel like they are feared. Just my 2cents.

Tough girl. You see him, a full grown man, try and wrestle her to the ground. He spun her around at least twice before succeeding.

"I'm going to hurt you unless you comply."

Cha-ching!

Really off the cuff thought. Haven't seen the video and it's late enough that my brain is shutting down. The OP points out that the article says:

Ferrin stopped Ore for walking in a traffic thoroughfare. “I’ve been here for over three years and everybody walks this street… I never once saw a single solitary individual get pulled over by a cop for walking across a street on a campus,”

Her next move is to refuse to show the officer any ID and objected that the officer was using a disrespectful approach.

After she refuses to show ID, he threatens her and tells her to put her hands behind her back.

I'm sorry, if nothing else she is guilty of aggravated stupidity, 2nd degree attitude, and mopery with special circumstances.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Cameras are awesome weapons.

It'd be cool to have a video game where that's the weapon. You might not play video games but one kind of used that idea and it is called "Beyond Good and Evil". The game had hidden meanings that no one got...lets just leave it at.

Also, the camera was your "weapon" for the most part in that game. They added a stick too, but I won't tell anyone.

They are trained to react a specific way to certain situations. I don't like it. But the only way to change it is to influence the agencies that determine protocol. I believe that of the lot of ugly incidents that occur, the majority, involve rookies. The old timers have been there and seen that, and, based on my experience, are much more reluctant to commit violence. Long story short...it is wise to have good manners with police officers. You don't have to kiss their ass. Just shoot straight with your words and keep your cool.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Hard to tell what the circumstances were before this even happened. Maybe the cops were posted there because people had been walking in the road possibly blocking traffic?

Since the police were there confronting her about breaking a law. Its my opinion she was in the wrong by resisting. Even if she wasn't breaking a law, resisting isn't the correct thing to do. Let the courts settle it.

The cop became aggressive when she clearly wasn't going to cooperate. What was he suppose to do at that point let her walk away?

If she had shown the cop her ID then this probably wouldn't have happened. Since she kicked a cop in the shin, she blatantly broke the law with assault.

a reply to: skunkape23

Your kidding right?...

What a joke!!

"influencing the agencies is like saying : "Gee if we just were more polite to the MAFIA they won't be so mean"

Are you kidding?

The system is broken!

These cops are TRAINED now to treat citizens as SCUM!!! Get It?

This video showed a women showing the SLIGHTEST resistance to a THUG cop and was IMMEDIATELY assaulted by this thug with unreasonable force... That is just the way it is now...get used to it... the public will put up with this UNTIL we can't put up with it anymore...

Why even put "black" in the title?

I've read this story several other places without mention of race. Not trying to bust your noggin but it gets old.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

There's construction on the sidewalk, she's well dressed, and that means her shoes, too. It happens every day in Cincinnati, and I've seen it in New York, where they are re-doing the road or store front, and the sidewalk is gone, and there's nothing to walk on but gravel. Women walk in the road every day when that happens, and I've never seen them treated that way.
They aren't even stopped or warned.

Why single out this one lady, who very well may have been teaching night classes, due to her attire, for doing what I see done all the time?
It didn't seem like there was a lot of traffic for her to interfere with to warrant this behavior on the part of the cops.
What they do? Lie in wait for a woman in heels?

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

Doesn't this cop have anything more productive to do like fight real crime instead of harassing someone who walked in the middle of a street? No harm was done, and she clearly explained to the officer why she was diverted due to construction.

The university is supporting the actions of this cop? Shame on them.

a reply to: WeRpeons

If this were a white person this wouldnt even be a story. If you assault an officer your going to get cuffed. If you resist cuffing your going to get slammed. She is lucky he didnt taze her into submission as many cops would have. If a police officer allows one person to disregard instruction and assault him whats going to happen with the next person that disregards him. I dont like cops at all, but this story is clearly a racist attack on the white cop.

This is why you just show your ID, be as polite as you can and get the BS ordeal over with.
With all the violence cops have been responsible for, I don't know why people want to push their luck.
Poor girl. I hope she gets some charges dropped.