Scholar “Knocked Down,” Arrested for “Disorderly Conduct”
A Tufts University history professor was knocked down and arrested for jaywalking while in the city for a convention.
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was attending the American Historical Association’s convention in Atlanta last week when he was stopped by a plainclothes police officer after crossing a street in downtown Atlanta.
“Where I come from, jaywalking is not a crime,” said Fernandez-Armesto, who is British. “It did not occur to me that there was anything wrong with what I was doing.”
And the former Oxford professor, who has written 19 books, said the situation grew more tense when he did not immediately realize it was a police officer who was questioning him.
“When I questioned who he was he said something to the effect of ‘When I give you an order, you obey it,'” Fernandez-Armesto said. “I asked him what his authority was because I didn’t see a badge. Where I’m from, you don’t associate young gentlemen in bomber jackets with the police. But he was extremely upset I had questioned his bona fides.”
Fernandez-Armesto, 56, said he was unable to produce proper identification because he had left his green card in his hotel room.
At that point, he says the officer lost patience, kicked his legs from under him and held him down. Two other officers helped hold him down as he was arrested.
Fernandez-Armesto said he suffered a gash on his forehead and a bruise on his wrist as he tried to break his fall.
“It was the most violence I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he said. “And I was mugged once while at Oxford.”
Police confirmed the professor was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Remember, this is the city where 92-year-old ladies have to worry about their doors being busted in by police.
Not that the rest of the country is much better. Remember, foreigners are more afraid to come to the U.S. than anywhere else.
Jailed Jaywalker. Charges were eventually dropped.
#36, Lauren. While I agree in principle with your reply to TD, I feel a comment is in order.
What you describe is one of America’s worst fears. The police out of control. Fortunately that hasn’t happened. Yet. Most police are professional and are appalled at actions like this. The only reason we discuss this at all is because it isn’t normal. And yes, it does happen too frequently. For minorities it happens even more frequently. And lawsuits will get these cops removed from the force.
#39 Mr. Fusion: “The only reason we discuss this at all is because it isn’t normal. And yes, it does happen too frequently. For minorities it happens even more frequently. And lawsuits will get these cops removed from the force.”
That “removed from the force” thing doesn’t happen nearly as much as you might think. The corollary of our not hearing about these things so much is that many never make the newspapers. And unless such an event DOES make the newspapers, people generally suffer in silence. If they do try to pursue the matter legally, the lack of publicity typically results in little-to-nothing happening to the offending officer. They certainly don’t lose their jobs – if anything, the boys in the locker room get a big laugh out of it. Code of Silence and all that.
Frankly, I think Lauren has it about right. This crime was not capital. The officer not only overreacted, and did not properly identify himself, but he then falsely accused the perp of a worse crime to cover his tracks and justify his out-of-bounds behavior. There’s no excusing this.
And experience tells me this is a more widespread problem than most people would like to know about. We all like to think of our police as basically good guys, and I bet most are. But even good guys can do bad things when the system they work in either ignores or rewards it. However, our police departments across the country typically don’t hire ‘good guys’ (and by that I don’t mean milqutoasts, but rational actors who use their heads before pulling weapons or acting violently). They hire gym rats with authoritarian tendancies. As these guys rise in the ranks, they bring on board more just like themselves, and the problem deepens and is perpetuated.
Its not about just one bad apple spoiling the bunch; it’s more like the barrel rotting the apples.
Anyway, Lauren – keep up the good posts. Pedro’s too dumb to realize it, but your kicking his ass rhetorically and logically (and its a lot of fun to watch). 😉
“Anyway, Lauren – keep up the good posts. Pedro’s too dumb to realize it, but your kicking his ass rhetorically and logically (and its a lot of fun to watch). ;)” should read:
“Anyway, Lauren – keep up the good posts. Pedro’s too blinded by his own authortaran tendencies to realize it, but your kicking his ass rhetorically and logically (and its a lot of fun to watch). ;)”
Sorry pedro – I was out of bounds there.
Yoo hoo – peeedddrrrroooo…….
No one said jaywalking is OK (though 99+% of the time it is)… What the cop did was far, far worse than jaywalking. Using government-conferred authority to vent your anger on a citizen is mighty serious. You can’t equate the two.
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Odyssey67 – I try to have fun – but sometimes jousting verbally with the P-man and his fellow practicioners of Logic-Free Reasoning®™ is like what I refer to as shooting ghosts in a barrel – you can’t miss, but they don’t even notice they’ve been blasted. [insert appropriate smiley as required]
shooting ghosts in a barrel – you can’t miss, but they don’t even notice they’ve been blasted. [insert appropriate smiley as required]
🙂