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3DHS / God or the devil, someone's in the details
« on: December 18, 2008, 05:48:43 PM »
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/12/galveston_false_arrest.php
I'll start with the cops' side:
And now, the side of the father and daughter:
Three strange men jump out of a van, grab a girl, try to take her away and beat the crap out of her, and she gets accused of breaking the law because she resisted arrest? I hope there are missing details. I mean, the city says the conduct of the police officers was appropriate. Doesn't seem appropriate to me, considering the police were at the wrong house, but the city wouldn't lie about that, would they?
But let's say, for the sake of argument, that the police conduct was appropriate under the circumstances. Since the police were at the wrong house, seems to me the girl and the family deserve an apology, at the very least, and to not be charged with a crime. Am I wrong?
I'll start with the cops' side:
Both the daughter and the father were arrested for assaulting a peace officer. "The father basically attacked police officers as they were trying to take the daughter into custody after she ran off." Also, "The city has investigated the matter and found that the conduct of the police officers was appropriate under the circumstances," Helfand says. "It's unfortunate that sometimes police officers have to use force against people who are using force against them. And the evidence will show that both these folks violated the law and forcefully resisted arrest." |
And now, the side of the father and daughter:
It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn's home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her [African-American] 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on. As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me." Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the men covered her mouth. Two of the men beat her about the face and throat. As it turned out, the three men were plain-clothed Galveston police officers who had been called to the area regarding three white prostitutes soliciting a white man and a black drug dealer. [...] After the incident, Dymond was hospitalized and suffered black eyes as well as throat and ear drum injuries. Three weeks later, according to the lawsuit, police went to Dymond's school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Griffin says the allegations stem from when Dymond fought back against the three men who were trying to take her from her home. |
Three strange men jump out of a van, grab a girl, try to take her away and beat the crap out of her, and she gets accused of breaking the law because she resisted arrest? I hope there are missing details. I mean, the city says the conduct of the police officers was appropriate. Doesn't seem appropriate to me, considering the police were at the wrong house, but the city wouldn't lie about that, would they?
But let's say, for the sake of argument, that the police conduct was appropriate under the circumstances. Since the police were at the wrong house, seems to me the girl and the family deserve an apology, at the very least, and to not be charged with a crime. Am I wrong?