POLICE BRUTALITY

Officer Suspended, Others Could Be Fired in Brutality Case

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - One Prince George's County police officer has been suspended and several others could be fired after a video surfaced showing a group of officers beating a University of Maryland student during a celebration when Maryland defeated Duke at the Comcast Center.

(my comments in red) I have seen a video of a man released from being detained by a police officer, who was trying to walk away, past very little room the cop allowed for him to walk through, and so he accidentally brushed up against the officer. This man was arrested for "assaulting a police officer", for simply brushing against him. Yet, if you are a Police officer, or 20, and you brutally beat a person, to near death, you simply get fired - at the most. And since they realize this, they continue to beat innocent people and walk away unpunished.

Prince George's County Police Chief Roberto Hylton is taking a hard look at what happened on Knox Road on March 3. He says the officers involved were wrong.

Investigators are working to identify other officers involved in the incident.

Video obtained by ABC 7 News appears to support a University of Maryland student's claim that he was attacked -- unprovoked -- by Prince George's County police during the civil disturbance that followed the Terps' victory over Duke last month, ABC 7 reports.

Remember people, video cameras are going to be the only defense we have against these Brutish Thugs.

Carry them with you, use them, you have every right to film a police officer in a public place. Do not let them intimidate you and tell you it is against the law to film police officers, it is Not.

In the video, John McKenna first appears skipping down the sidewalk next to Knox Road. He is singing a cheer, celebrating Maryland's basketball win over Duke on the night of March 3, 2010.

McKenna stops when he comes face to face with a Prince George's Maryland National Capital Park Police mounted officer. Note that McKenna actually backs away from the mounted officer.

The tape shows two police officers, on foot and in riot gear, slam McKenna into the wall. McKenna was knocked unconscious, his attorney, Chris Griffiths said. McKenna falls to the ground, and is struck more than a dozen times by Prince George's County police officers.

Griffiths says there is only one way to characterize what happened.

"This is police brutality pure and simple," said Griffiths, who plans to file a civil lawsuit against police on McKenna's behalf.

The police officers in this video need to be locked in prison for attempted manslaughter, not fired or suspended without pay, which is the usual "punishment" for these thugs.

Griffiths says the beating is only half the story. This is the sworn statement of charges against McKenna by the police alleges assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct. It claims McKenna "struck those officers and their horses causing minor injuries," and that McKenna was "kicked by the horses and sustained minor injuries."

The video does not support either of the police claims.

Ah, video cameras save the day, tell the truth and point out the lies of the police.

McKenna suffered a heawound requiring multiple staples. The injuries to his body match the pattern of the police batons -- not horses hooves

"Clearly the charging document is a lie," said Chris Griffiths. "As your can see from the tape, there is not a single fact in that document which is true."

The county prosecutor dropped the charges against McKenna on Monday.

We showed the video and charging document to Prince George's County Police Major Andy Ellis. He says the police internal affairs office will begin an immediate investigation."There are things in that video that concern me ... and we're going to take a look at it," Major Ellis said. "Chief (Roberto) Hylton will not condone excessive force in this case or any other case."Prince George's County's police chief has seen the video. Chief Roberto Hilton told us, "I'll tell you that I was outraged. I was very disappointed at the conduct that I saw on the part of my officers on the video tape."Hylton says one officer who's been identified so far will be suspended and stripped of his police powers.

After an investigation, he says other officers involved will likely be fired.

In a statement Monday night, the McKenna family responded to the police violence saying, "Some of these characters ought to go to jail…Some ought to merely be booted off the force, and the remainder should be properly trained to discover that force is not always necessary, and brutality is always wrong."Jack McKenna was left with multiple contusions and a gash to his skull. But according to the sworn statement of charges by police, the injuries were caused by horses. The report claims McKenna incited a crowd and assaulted the officers.

The video clearly shows the accusations made by the guilty police officers to be absolutely untrue, making their sworn statements false and adding proof that these cops are merely thugs who need to be locked inside of a cage, Poetic Justice.

Although Prince George's State Attorney Glen Ivey acknowledges the video tells a compelling and contradictory story, he told us, "I definitely think there are the grounds for an investigation and the video. I don't want to pre-judge it, but I think it's very powerful, no question about that."

The McKennas say while they are pleased Prince George's County police are launching an investigation. They are also looking at filing a criminal or civil lawsuit in this case.Federal investigators will also be looking at the tape to determine if civil rights violations occurred, and county prosecutors may pursue assault charges when the officers involved are identified."I think what you had was a situation where they were going pick a few people out of the crowd and make examples of them in front of the students and that's what they did," Griffiths said. "Then they took the extra step of covering up their misconduct by falsely charging."

They were planning to show their brutish power over the common serfs they think we are, but they were caught on camera and outed as the true criminals they are.

University of Maryland senior Marcos Hernandez was near Route 1 when the crowd became unruly after the game. He claims to have seen several incidences of police brutality."I saw at least five of them," Hernandez told ABC 7 News. "I saw girls get hit from behind with the baton--like the standard riot push with the baton," he added.Many students were shocked by the video. Ben Wilkoff, a bouncer at a College Park bar, says he empathizes with police -- but only to an extent."There are limits," Wilkoff said. "I mean, we have rules when we're bouncing. You don't cross a certain line. This looks like it would be crossing said line."Some said the video provides another negative image of both the Prince George's County Police Department, and the university."Bringing all the horses in and seeing all these attacks, it's just bad for like the image of Maryland," said Jae Kim, a junior.The Prince George's County police department emerged from federal oversight only 14 months ago. The Justice Department had monitored the police force after numerous complaints about unnecessary force.Prince George's County police arrested 28 people during the civil unrest that followed the basketball game, including 23 students.Officers say they were pelted with snow and ice balls. One officer reported being punched in the face. People were caught uprooting road signs and three small fire appeared.An estimated 1,500 people occupied Route 1, blocking traffic.

Yea, I am sure what the police are claiming is true, the same way the sworn statements of John McKenna attacking the police first are, right. How could you even get close enough to punch a cop in the face (through is riot mask no less) as you can obviously see in the video, that before getting within 5 feet of a cop you have a dozen of them attacking you, they are trained liars. I hope all involved burn for their crimes, but knowing our system I am sure they will all walk away, losing nothing but their jobs, if that.

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