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Posted on 10/13/2005 3:00:39 PM PDT by freepatriot32
MANATEE - Getting shoved around, handcuffed, manhandled and witnessing a police beating - these are the memories two young hurricane relief workers from Manatee County say they took away from Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Saturday night.
After about a month of volunteer work in areas hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Manatee County residents Calvin Briles and Mike Monaghan decided to take it easy in the Big Easy for an evening.
The two men, program consultants for the Volunteer Center of Manatee County, had spent the day buying chain saws and delivering them to volunteer reception centers to aid in rebuilding what Katrina destroyed. Afterward they went out to dinner and had a couple of drinks on Bourbon Street on Oct. 8.
While strolling along the strip, Briles and Monaghan noticed a scuffle.
Briles said they saw New Orleans police officers punching, kicking and kneeing a man to the ground and another official shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who was taping the beating. On Monday, two police officers accused in the beating of Robert Davis, 64, and a third accused of grabbing and shoving the AP journalist pleaded not guilty to battery, according to The AP.
"We couldn't believe it," said Briles, a 21-year-old University of South Florida student and self-described humanitarian from Palmetto. "We saw the man being beat and the cameraman pushed. . . . It was just a bad situation."
Briles and Monaghan were not bystanders for long.
When law enforcement officials tried to clear spectators out of the area, Briles said, "I want to tell somebody about this."
He said that's when a man wearing a U.S. Customs vest grabbed him, threw him against a dark blue Chevy Impala, pressed his head against the hood and told him, "It's none of your business."
"I was just manhandled like I've never been before," Briles said, adding that another unidentified official also pushed him around. "They wouldn't let me say anything."
Monaghan, a 22-year-old USF student and Bradenton native, said he was shocked when he saw his friend thrown against the Chevy.
Monaghan and Briles - both former presidents of ManaTeens, a youth program of the Volunteer Center of Manatee County - have known each other since sixth grade.
"I was scared to death - didn't know what really to do," Monaghan said. "I wanted to make sure they weren't going to punch and hurt Calvin."
Monaghan said he saw Briles' cell phone hit the ground as he was pressed against the car and handcuffed.
Monaghan said when he bent over to pick up the phone, a police horse "nudged" his head with its snout and an unidentified official grabbed him from behind and asked him why he hit the horse.
He said he hadn't hit the horse but that the official handcuffed him, kicked his legs open and searched his pockets.
"I knew what was happening was all a bunch of bull," Monaghan said.
He said he was let go shortly after, but Briles remained face down on the pavement.
Briles said officials listed a handful of charges he would face, including impeding a federal investigation. Still, no one read him his rights, he said.
After checking into Briles' record, the officials let him go. Briles said they told him things would have gone less smoothly if he had a criminal history.
"Had I been someone convicted of a felony in the past," Briles said. "It would have been the criminal's word against his."
"We felt violated," Briles added.
The two reported the incident to the FBI and to U.S. Customs officials Sunday morning.
And, said Monaghan, they have no plans to return to New Orleans unless they are duty-bound.
"We enjoy helping people," said Monaghan, who dropped two classes this semester at USF so he could volunteer with post-Katrina efforts. "But it's very hard to fathom what happened to us Saturday night. . . . We were trying to have an enjoyable night, but our enjoyable night turned out to be crap."
Erica Rodriguez, Herald reporter, can be reached at erodriguez@HeraldToday.com or at 745-7095.
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These are the cases we hear about. I have been following the animal rescue efforts and there are cases as bad or worse there.
"Had I been someone convicted of a felony in the past," Briles said. "It would have been the criminal's word against his."
Come on!! These N.O. police were some of those that missed the plane to Vegas and they were just venting a little steam. Lighten up francis.
New Orlean's mayor's finest at it again.
I support most LEO's, but these guys seem to have crossed that very thin line.
Don't even want to go there. . .Many good folks in NO, of course; though perhaps, not enough of them. . .but whatever the case. . .New Orlean's is a sad; bad. . .city. . .
. . . and I am beginning to think maybe Katrina left unfinished business. . .
Let's not be stuck on stupid. A FEW cops DO NOT represent the hundreds of others that are doing their job. Prosecute those who are causing problems. Enough said. What if we judged a whole force by a couple of yahoos in each of our own cities? Geesh. Sometimes I wonder about the posters in here.
You were violated by these despicable bullies, Mr. Briles, and so are a whole lot of other good Americans these days.
But don't expect anything to be done about it anytime soon, the police are not only above the law but they are held up in the media and entertainment industry as consecrated saints, capable of doing no wrong. Naturally, this sacrosanct position in American society gives them all the latitude they need to do whatever they feel like doing, to whomever they feel like doing it to.
Im afraid that the NOPD has more than just a few.
Don't wonder about the posters on FR. Wonder, instead about why you missed the fact that another agency thug was abusing the witnesses.
Most LEO agencies have accepted the SWAT team mentality. The result is what is described in the article.
Look inward, Grasshopper, Look inward.
"Let's not be stuck on stupid. A FEW cops DO NOT represent the hundreds of others that are doing their job."
Don't start that old wheeze. Remember Serpico? Every other cop left him out there twisting in the breeze when he DID HIS DUTY with respect to the "few".
I have never seen or heard of a cop arresting another cop he SAW break the law. I have seen a "few" cops conducting themselves in a manner to bring disrespect upon the uniform (not to mention get them canned or arrested if a camera was present)while others just watched and did nothing. The "few" wold be no problem if cops treated them according to their oaths.
I guess you missed the stories about the NOPD. No freeper would think any other police force was as crooked. There have been numerous articles and film about NO cops looting and an article on FR about them stealing 200 cars. Plus the investigation into NO cops that never existed except on paper. The whole city is corrupt.
A supposedly drunk 64 year old retired school teacher being arreste dor public intoxication is a "federal investigation"? Wow, those federal officers must be awfully bored....
This just gets uglier and uglier. I have posted here several times to not pre-judge the officers without more real evidence - particularly pre-video. But the other officers involved, including an FBI agent and now a Customs agent - Something is terribly awry here. And as the old man was released quickly from jail without a huge bond, I would wager that there were no federal charges against him....
Now - did these two guys do more than they admit - dunno. But I do wonder about the other officers involved, as I don't recall alcohol consumption being a federal crime (at least since prohibition...), and simply stating that you need to tell somebody about what you have witnessed....
Something stinks, and it's not the horse dung from the mounted cops.
I remember when a stupid ass cop told my sister he did not have to move his cruiser to unblock my drive way because he was on a public street. He told her she had to say "please" first and "very nicely." My sister had already asked thos bozo calmly.
"We couldn't believe it," said Briles, a 21-year-old University of South Florida student and self-described humanitarian.
"I was just manhandled like I've never been before”.
"They wouldn't let me say anything."
"I was scared to death - didn't know what really to do.”
"I wanted to make sure they weren't going to punch and hurt Calvin."
"We felt violated," Briles added.”
"We enjoy helping people,"
Are these guys sissy’s or what?
anyone from New Orleans can tell you that the cops there have a short temper and are best avoided. I have seen it myself on several occasions. Bourbon Street is a rough place and I can't say that I blame them in some cirumstances ie..the crowd is starting to get rowdy, but this just seemed rediculous from the little bit that was broadcast on the news. does anyone know what was said before this encounter?
"A FEW cops DO NOT represent the hundreds of others that are doing their job."
You are right.
A few hundred New Orleans cops represent what is business as usual in the Big Easy.
A few hundred cops were AWOL during Katrina.
A few hundred cops broke the law during Katrina via looting, assault, stealing cars, graft, corruption, denying 2nd Amendment rights, unlawful search/seizure, asking flood victims to flash to be rescued, pointing guns at people/journalists trying to cross bridges out of the city, etc, etc, etc.
They should fire the entire lot of New Orleans police and start again under the control of some legitimate law enforcement officers.
Stuck on stupid? Let's see. By my count, there were 5-10 LEOs, from the NOPD, US Customs, FBI, & who knows what other organizations present during the Davis beating. Apparently, all of these fine LEOs either participated in the insueing brutality & excessive use of force ( how is punching an old man in the back of the head part of the cuffing process?), or stood by and watched. As of my reading this story, now 4 people were attacked by these thugs.
Given that not one of these LEOs protested or intervened to stop this attack, where were all the good cops you are talking about? Even though the LEOs were a diverse group, probably didn't all know each other, they all tacitly approved of this behavior by their lack of proper action.
At a minimum, they should ALL lose their badges.
Looked like Brown Shirts to me!
If it looks like a duck, & quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.
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