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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Chicago Police Use Excessive Force to Remove a Man from a CTA Bus
Although many people claim, falsely, to be victims of police brutality, there are cases where one or more officers use far more force than the situation calls for. In a recent case, an officer was called to remove a seemingly intoxicated man from a Chicago Transit Authority bus for not paying his fare.
Video clips placed on news websites, YouTube, and other sites showed the officer screaming obscenities at the man, baiting the man by yelling repeatedly, “Do you want to fight?” The video shows him punching the man, slamming his head against the window several times and becoming so violent that passengers on the bus moved to the back of the bus, putting plenty of room between the officer and themselves.
It wasn’t until after the officer had done all of these things that he called for assistance. In less than a minute, another officer arrived to assist him in removing the man from the bus, which proceeded quickly and without incident at that point. The man remained passive throughout the violent assault and went rather peacefully when the second officer arrived.
Incidents such as this are more common than we would like to believe. It was only a few weeks ago that a man was shot and killed at a BART station in Fruitvale, California by one officer, even though three other officers restrained the victim.
In another incident a Chicago man was shot in the back by police, who claim the victim threatened them with a gun.
Police brutality and misconduct in any form should not be tolerated. If you are a victim of excessive force by a police officer, you have rights. Your rights may have been violated once. Don’t be violated a second time by not defending them.
The Cochran Firm, with offices throughout the United States has personal injury attorneys who are experienced in investigating and settling cases involving police brutality and misconduct. If you were injured due to another’s negligence, please contact the personal injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm in Chicago, Illinois for a consultation and case review.
Video clips placed on news websites, YouTube, and other sites showed the officer screaming obscenities at the man, baiting the man by yelling repeatedly, “Do you want to fight?” The video shows him punching the man, slamming his head against the window several times and becoming so violent that passengers on the bus moved to the back of the bus, putting plenty of room between the officer and themselves.
It wasn’t until after the officer had done all of these things that he called for assistance. In less than a minute, another officer arrived to assist him in removing the man from the bus, which proceeded quickly and without incident at that point. The man remained passive throughout the violent assault and went rather peacefully when the second officer arrived.
Incidents such as this are more common than we would like to believe. It was only a few weeks ago that a man was shot and killed at a BART station in Fruitvale, California by one officer, even though three other officers restrained the victim.
In another incident a Chicago man was shot in the back by police, who claim the victim threatened them with a gun.
Police brutality and misconduct in any form should not be tolerated. If you are a victim of excessive force by a police officer, you have rights. Your rights may have been violated once. Don’t be violated a second time by not defending them.
The Cochran Firm, with offices throughout the United States has personal injury attorneys who are experienced in investigating and settling cases involving police brutality and misconduct. If you were injured due to another’s negligence, please contact the personal injury attorneys at The Cochran Firm in Chicago, Illinois for a consultation and case review.
Labels: Chicago
posted by Benjamin A. Irwin at 11:43 AM
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