LAPD caught kicking and beating cyclist/cameraman at anti-BP protest

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a scuffle between police officers and some bicycle riders participating in a protest Friday night, officials said.

Part of the incident was captured on a handheld video camera and posted on YouTube with the title “Hollywood Cops Attack Bike Riders.”

But the 1-minute, 31-second clip does not show clearly what happened.
Hundreds of cyclists rode en masse through Los Angeles to protest BP for the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On Hollywood Boulevard, as dozens pass the camera, a police officer near the sidewalk in the background can be seen kicking once at a passing rider. “What the ... was that for?” a voice near the camera shouts.

Then the clip seems to show at least two officers converging on the person shooting the video. The screen goes black. When the picture reappears, the camera is on the ground angled up toward the officers, whose clubs are drawn. One policeman says “Get up” as another orders, “Get down.”

“What’d I do?” a man can be heard repeating.

LA Times Story



It's hard to fully tell what went on, but it appears to me they are beating the camera man, not a bike rider. Unless he was one in the same. They are giving conflicting commands to the camera person while beating him with night sticks.

Seems to me, the cops didn't like him filming anything they were doing, so they came and beat him.
Just another example of the oppression by the state against people filming the police.


[edit on 30-5-2010 by webpirate]

According to the LAist, between 200 and 1,000 cyclists took part in the protest, which made its way from Los Angeles into Hollywood. The Weho Daily blog reports that "interaction with the LAPD took a turn for the worse in Hollywood ... where a few riders were taken down by officers."

"The vast majority of the police along the way were helpful and accommodating," a witness told Weho Daily. "But for whatever reason the police in Hollywood were extremely aggressive and were harassing riders for no reason other than to get their kicks (I presume)."

Another source with additional comments.

Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, issued a statement cautioning against a "rush to judgment."

“It is always important to remember that home video, shot from a distance, from one angle and in the dark, and not at the beginning of the incident seldom tells the whole story,” the union's statement said.

This wasn't from a distance. It was initially from across the street, then first person up close and personal.

Originally posted by webpirate

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a scuffle between police officers and some bicycle riders participating in a protest Friday night, officials said.

I can't wait for the badge kissers to come out an somehow justify this. It seems with each passing day more and more of these stories are coming to light. In each case the cops just abuse, abuse and abuse. One day people will really have had enough.

..Ex

reply to post by v3_exceed

Yeah. From what I can tell, it seems they accosted the biker simply because he was filming what the cops were/had been doing.
Would be nice to have been able to see video from a minute or so before where it actually starts. Just to see if we missed anything.

Get up! Get down! Sounds like my drill sergeants in basic training having fun with a hapless recruit.

Whatever was going on in this video, it surely doesn''t look good.

Really, what the heck WAS that kick all about? I can't tell.

Illegitimate swine!! Kalifornia cops are the worst in the nation! They indoctrinate their cadets in the prison system, teaching them to physically abuse the incarcerated! Then they wonder why, when the Illegitimate swine are on the street, they get caught abusing the citizens!
The Sacramento PD dress in all Black uniforms, just like the SS (Schultz Staffen). They act like Nazis as well!

S&F
Mods: this should be on the front page.

To be fair, and I'm a bicyclist myself,( being the first biker to climb Ewing, Baxter and Fargo on a beach cruiser back in 1974), some of these bicyclists are real ass-holes. A while back I saw them clog an intersection in Echo Park, and as a family in a van tried to slowly make its way through, they were attacked by 20 or 30 of the bicyclists, who kicked and punched the van and windows. The folks inside, and their children were of course terrified. And its no secret these mass bike rides are rolling beer-guzzling parties.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by garagehero]