Free Republic

THORNTON, Colo. — A Thornton police officer shoots and kills a family’s dog he claims threatened him Sunday. But the dog’s family and neighbors dispute that. They say the American bulldog-mix never even left their front yard. Police were in the neighborhood chasing after a man wanted on a misdemeanor drug charge. The man, Phillip Armstrong-Bowen, was already under arrest when the officer shot the animal. “He was on my screen saver,” says Vivian Girone, of 8-year-old Scar. Girone like any proud grandma shows off photos of the dog–in the car, snuggling with dad and out-cold on the couch. “He...

ST. LOUIS, Mich. - Friends and neighbors in a mid-Michigan community are rallying behind owners of a golden retriever that was fatally shot by a police officer. The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant reports supporters gathered Tuesday at the home where the dog named Scout lived in St. Louis, about 50 miles north of Lansing. Mike Goetzinger says the officer had "no reason" to kill the dog owned by his brother Brian Goetzinger and his family. They're planning a protest and vigil Wednesday.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (CN) - Sheriff's deputies deactivated a device that controls a man's Tourette's syndrome and beat him as "a form of amusement" when he could no longer control his physical and verbal actions, the man claims in court. Charles Ray sued Chatham County Sheriff Al St. Lawrence and jail official Floyd Jackson, in Chatham County State Court. Ray, 34, suffers from Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable tics and may cause obscene outbursts. He suffers from other physiological disorders as well, according to the complaint. Ray was arrested in July 2010 on drug possession charges and taken...

Matthew Spaulding says he and his family were terrorized at their own home by police who slammed his grandmother to the ground and shot his dogs-- missing his head by less than an inch. "Told us to get on the ground. I got on the ground they put me in handcuffs," Spaulding recalls, "Then they threw my dad to the ground and my dog Sadie was right here sniffing my head. She was next to me. They shot her. The blood got on my face and then she took off running behind me and they shot her like three more...

What could Erik Scott have done differently, considering the circumstances? I don't watch TV so maybe I'm way out of touch, but as far as I can tell, Scott pretty much did the very best he could have. He informed them that he had a gun (Police always like to know if someone's got a gun, and many cc folks inform police of that as a polite thing to do - police don't like surprises) It seems that Police told him to drop the gun - but since Scott wasn't HOLDing the gun, how can he drop it? He first...

When the policeman in the video below noticed he was being filmed while conducting an arrest, he threw the camera to the ground, beat up its owner, and dragged him off to the police station. This act of police brutality would likely have gone unnoticed… had the officer thought of deleting the film. The scene took place over a month ago in the neighbourhood of Commanche in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michell Crooks, 36, was filming the arrest of several people accused of robbing a house across the street from his home. Derek Colling, one of the officers, noticed Crooks and...

View at youtube link

Denver officials are deeply divided over the proper level of punishment for a police officer who was seen on video tackling and beating a 23-year-old man who was doing nothing but talking on a telephone outside a LoDo nightclub. The video of Officer Devin Sparks repeatedly hitting Michael DeHerrera of Denver with a department-issued piece of metal wrapped in leather, picking him up roughly and slamming a car door on his ankle has prompted Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal to push for the firing of Sparks and Corporal Randy Murr.

A Prince George's County, Maryland, police officer has been suspended, and prosecutors are investigating an incident -- caught on video -- in which officers wielding nightsticks beat a University of Maryland student, officials said Tuesday. Authorities also are looking into documents filed by police in the case that appear to contradict the video, Prince George's County police Lt. Andy Ellis said.Video at the link

US prosecutors have released video footage of a sheriff's deputy striking a 15-year-old girl and throwing her onto a cell floor. The video is evidence in the case against Washington state Deputy Paul Schene, accused of using excessive force against the girl in November. The incident began after the girl was arrested in a car theft inquiry. Footage shows the deputy lunge at the girl after she kicks one of her shoes towards him at SeaTac City Hall. "We believe this case is beyond just police misconduct, it's criminal misconduct," King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg said. "This is clearly excessive...

In January, an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy pulled over Audra Harmon, who had two of her kids with her in her minivan. A routine traffic stop escalated quickly. The deputy, Sean Andrews, accused her of talking on her cell phone. She said she could prove him wrong. He said she was speeding. She denied it and got out of the van. He told her to get back in. She did, then he ordered her back out. He yanked her out by the arm, knocked her down with two Taser shots and charged her with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His...

Responding to a call from a homeowner, Boonton, NJ, police were forced to arrest a Marmotan-American male ... The Marmota was combative from the moment the officers arrived on the scene ... According to the police report, the Marmota was exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior, directed at a police officer, and accused the officers of profiling, demanded their names and badge numbers and insulted the mother of one of the officers. It was then that police maced the Marmota and took him into custody. Authorities later euthanized the Marmota, and shipped the carcass to the Department of Health and Senior...

Demonstrators call for firing of officer videotaped striking mentally disabled man   More than 100 people gathered today outside Passaic City Hall to demand that the Police Department fire an officer who was videotaped striking a mentally disabled man repeatedly with a baton and his fists. Ronnie Holloway, the man beaten in the May 29 incident, and his mother, Betty, attended the peaceful demonstration, which was organized by various community leaders.  “This man should never have gone through what he did,” said Zachary McDaniel, pastor of the Second Timothy Baptist Church in Passaic. “Cops are here to protect us. How can...

I told them I was a US citizen. I told them I was on a business trip. I told them I had no drugs or humans in the car. That wasn't enough. They wanted to search the car, and I invoked my 4th am...

Immigrants rally in Prince William County against an alleged incident of police brutality.

PUMMEL RAPS VS. LADY COPS AP Posted: 3:42 am October 28, 2008 Two NYPD policewomen have been indicted on charges of viciously assaulting two men in a traffic dispute. Bronx prosecutors say Michelle Anglin and Koleen Robinson are charged with kicking, punching and pistol-whipping a 25-year-old driver whose open car door was blocking their traffic lane. They say the off-duty officers also assaulted a man who tried to break up the violence. The driver, Marlon Smith, said that during the beating, the two officers screamed at him, "Do you know who you are f- - -ing with? We are the...

<p>WALKIE-TALKIE 'RAPE'</p> <p>The man who said cops sodomized him with a walkie-talkie antenna had injuries consistent with that type of assault, according to his hospital discharge papers.</p> <p>And law-enforcement sources said Michael Mineo suffered a torn rectum among other severe injuries.</p>

PHILADELPHIA - Fifteen Philadelphia police officers have been taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked and beaten by city police. A spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter says the mayor stands behind the police department but his first glance of the video does appear to show the officers overstepping their authority. The video was shot Monday night by WTXF-TV. It shows three police cars stopping a car on the side of a road. The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold...

Troubling Times If FreeRepublic stands for America, the real Anerica where the Constitution means something, where you have the right to be let alone in peace as a law-abiding citizen, where you have a right to defend yourself and your family then I need and beg for your help. Please ping any ping lists that apply. I’m posting as a newbie – I signed up in November 2000. I probably started lurking in late 1998. Before I post I’m alerting an Admin with my one and only original handle of this upcoming post to establish my bonafides. At first I...

TAMPA - Sheriff's officials are investigating why a deputy in a jail booking video appears to dump a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair. Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said the agency is looking into what happened to Brian D. Sterner, 32, during his Jan. 29 booking at the Orient Road Jail, after a television reporter confronted Callaway with the jail's own video. Footage aired on WTSP-Ch. 10 Monday night showed a uniformed officer unseating Sterner from his chair, then searching him as he lay on the floor where he had fallen. "She said, 'Stand up.' I said, 'I can't...