Missouri State Representative Bruce Franks Jr has released appalling bodycam footage he fought to obtain for four years, in which officers who arrested him brag openly about the brutality they used when dealing with protesters.
Franks alleges he was refused medical treatment despite reportedly suffering a concussion and a torn rotator cuff during his violent arrest.
Charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest were later dropped and Franks’ federal lawsuit against St. Louis County, Bel-Ridge police officer Philip Von Der Heydt, and St. Louis County police officers Timothy Anderer and Stephen Owens continues.
“The release of the Antonio Martin protest footage is not to fuel tension between law enforcement and civilians, but to give insight into the experiences of communities who are disproportionately subjected to police brutality,” Franks wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/brucefranksjr/status/1066878131951321088
He alleges police clubbed him with a baton, kicked him and maced him despite his compliance with their verbal commands. “I hope this level of transparency will highlight, the need for reform,” he added.
The lengthy footage from the police perspective of the Christmas Eve clash in 2014 shows St. Louis cops bragging about kicking, clubbing and macing people.
“I went through a whole can of mace,” Anderer tells another cop. “I had a couple of little good kicks.”
“One of the f**king white bi**hes caught me spraying everybody, so she’s on my ass. I’m hiding back here for a little bit,” Anderer is heard saying in the footage.
“This is a terrible place to fight people. Look at all these f**king lights and everything else.”
American law enforcement – the most lethal in the world
(according to data compiled by the Guardian)https://t.co/u4lmHUTkqw
— RT (@RT_com) November 23, 2018
The protests took place just hours after a Berkeley police officer fatally shot teenager Antonio Martin, claiming self defense.
The incident occurred just four months after the shooting dead of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, just four miles away.
Franks was part of a protest group called the Peacekeepers, who went to de-escalate the situation. However, he was arrested when he tried to intervene in a fellow Peacekeeper’s arrest.
#Indiana police chief keeps promoting dodgy & investigated senior officers https://t.co/a6rf7HCgw8 pic.twitter.com/IkUwiRllkz
— RT (@RT_com) November 19, 2018
“Some guy was kneeling down… and I still kicked him like there was no tomorrow,” Steinmeyer can be heard saying. “I f**king kicked him like there was no f**king tomorrow.”
“We can confirm that some of our police officers were involved in the protest shown in the video from four years ago in December of 2014,” St. Louis County police said in a statement.
The protest turned violent, and subjects were taken into custody. Any use of force that occurred was documented and internal investigations were conducted as part of that review. We can not further comment on the actions taken by officers that night due to pending litigation.
Both Officer Steinmeyer and Officer Owens remain on the force.
https://www.rt.com/usa/445000-police-brutality-missouri-bodycam-footage/
When the tables turn
There’s going to be a lot of payback coming
And it will amount to way more than a few heads kicked in
‘…I hope this level of transparency will highlight, the need for reform,” he added.’
‘Reform?’ how about Abolish?
Brutality will increase as thugs are ‘in charge’. Then when it gets so bad there will be an outcry. Then the military will be on our streets. Blah blah blah…….their agenda is what is transparent …
The day will come when cops with be gunned down for this kind of thing. Then the shoe will be on the other foot.
I’ve had some pig bastards in my shop before, and I always bait them into believing I am a copsucker. If you appeal to their egos, they will admit to how they trip people up and manipulate their movements to make them fall into them so they can justify beating the F out of their victims “justifiably”. They’ll even brag about it and clue you in on a few more secrets if you applaud them enough.
I want to hear their shenanigans because it only proves to me their contempt for US is real and it only adds fuel to my fire.
The other good part is I am a tattooist…they pay a LOT more and yeah, it hurts even MORE! They’re a bunch of sissy bitches in the chair, too, because their boyfriends can’t hold their hands during it.