(Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
The widespread George Floyd protests wracking the United States are revealing to the world the horrific reality some American police officers are brutal thugs that violate human and civil rights with impunity -- especially those of black Americans.
Numerous videos posted on mainstream media online sites and social media show criminal cops in different U.S. cities again and again inflicting unnecessary violence and brutal force against protestors. Many of these demonstrators support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement calling for an end to police brutality and justice for victims of police murders.
The gruesome murder of George Floyd on May 25 by Minneapolis cop, Derek Chauvin, triggered the protests now exposing the endemic brutality ingrained in American police. Among the many examples of police brutality and callousness reported by media or caught on video over the past two weeks:
* An unidentified white police officer of the Atlanta Police Department (APD) brutally yanks 24 year-old African-American Amber Jackson out of her boyfriend's car after she entered the vehicle, carries her away and slams her into the parking lot pavement for no reason at all. The vicious and unprovoked attack on May 29 by the cop, whose identity the APD refuses to release, was caught on video.
Jackson said the white cop "comes in, yanks me out of the car, and slams me to the ground. My shoulder is broken. My clavicle is broken. I have never been arrested. I am a college graduate with a bachelor's [degree] in dental hygiene."
* In Indianapolis, an African-American woman bystander who held out her hands so she could be handcuffed and not be attacked by four approaching white policemen was still brutally beaten with fists and clubs by the four cops for no apparent reason.
Video of this disgusting attack on May 31 show the cops mercilessly and severely beating the helpless black woman even as she fell to the ground. The vicious attack occurred during protests over the killing of George Floyd.
One of the cops fired a pepper gun into the black woman's face. Another cop slams her face into the pavement. Video of this inhumane attack has been viewed more than eight million times on Twitter.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department claims its investigating this inhuman attack. Police chief Randal Taylor said the four officers involved in the beating have been "punished" by being reassigned to support duties. Taylor said he didn't like what he saw on the video. He also indicated "I don't have all the details yet either."
Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett, who is white, said he found the video disturbing. He also said he doesn't think there's anyone that wouldn't have been moved to emotion upon watching the video showing four huge cops beating a lone black woman.
* Aaron Torgalski, a white police officer of the Buffalo Police Department (BPD) in New York State, on June 4 pushed 75 year-old Martin Gugino so hard the latter slipped, fell and hit his head on the pavement at Niagara Square and began bleeding. None of the dozens of cops in the video, including Torgalski, bothered to assist the bleeding man. Gugino, who is white, was treated for a concussion and laceration at a nearby hospital.
Torgalski and another officer seen on the video both pleaded not guilty to felony assault Saturday and were released without bail. Oddly, other officers of the BPD applauded and cheered Torgalski and the other officer when they were released from custody.
In a brazen display of police arrogance, all 57 police officers from the BPD Emergency Response Team resigned from the team in a show of solidarity with the two suspended officers.
On the other hand, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo praised the arrests, saying Torgalski's action was "horrendous," "disgusting and I think illegal."
Cuomo said cops have to do their job and protect public safety. There also has to be accountability for police that act improperly.
