Did Boston Police Beat Man over Cell Phone Filming?
Normally I would chalk this up to some nut job getting belligerent with Police and then trying to tape them as they “subdue” him, but in this case the person (Michael O’Brien, 29) who filed the lawsuit is a corrections officer and a member of the Army National Guard.
According to O’Brien the incident revolved around an accident his friend got into that involved a double parked car. When police showed up they became “aggressive, intimidating and threatening” toward O’Brien’s friend. O’Brien states that after he inquired about the parked car belonging to some worker at a federal agency, the police charged him and that’s when he started filming with his cell phone.
** Reality Check ** If six cops are bearing down on me and don’t look happy, the last thing I’m probably going to do is whip out my BlackBerry Tour and ask them to smile for the camera.
After said beating ended the phone was returned but with no video. (Imagine that)
Again, according to O’Brien he suffered a brain injury and has been unable to return to work as a corrections officer or serve in the Army National Guard since.
One fascinating tidbit is that the primary officer named, Williams, was booted off the force in 1999 for his alleged role in the beating of a fellow officer, but he was later reinstated by an arbitrator in 2005.
[source: AP News]
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