I remember reading Kafka when I was young and naive, thinking things could never get like that here.
Artis said that after buying his dinner at the Armadillo Grill, he “quietly began to eat his taco, waiting for the bus,” when [officer] Rollins “approached Artis on foot … and asked if a beer was his.”
“Artis leaned forward and saw what appeared to be a discarded can of beer that had been concealed from his view” by a newspaper rack. He says he told Rollins, “‘Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.'” And he resumed eating his taco.
He says Rollins asked him for ID, then “Without either warning or being told he was under arrest, Rollins grabbed Artis by his still taco-laden arm, and spun Artis around with great force, which pivoted Artis on his left leg and sent the hapless taco flying.”
[…]
“All of Artis’ weight was still on his left leg from being spun by Rollins, and Artis felt and heard his lower left leg sicken[ing]ly crack when Rollins swept-kicked him.”Artis adds that he “was not in possession of a deadly weapon; he was, however, in legal and actual possession of a taco, which Artis did not wield in any threatening manner.”
And that was only the start of his insane journey through our fine justice system. RTFA to see what happens next.
I take Artis’ telling as the truth for this discussion. Irrelevant but still interesting would be a recounting of what the cop had been doing for an hour before the “incident.”
I don’t like “open container” laws to begin with. Nothing wrong with having one beer in public especially at an open air restaurant?
Let’s create a drinking game?===chug one for each mistake/lie the cop makes? and then a six pack for when he keeps his job.
YOU KNOW: bad cops give the other 1% a bad name.
Ha, ha.
The era of police being the helpful public service components of society is drawing to a close. Unless a video camera is known to be running.
The new motto should be, “To self-protect and to self-serve.”
Solution: Every police officer needs to have an always-running black box on his/her utility belt. A video/audio recorder showing the policeman’s point of view. No arrest without corroborating black box recordings submitted with the paperwork will be valid.
Technically, it’s possible to do this, today.
He’s lucky it was a taco and not donuts..he could have lost a finger too.
Let’s see. What would happen if he knocked the cop down?
“Why, Officer, if that beer were mine, I would be enjoying it with my meal.”
The mistake that Artis made was that he used humor with what he thought was a human being. But what has been proven time and again, law enforcement personnel are not human, but human like robots. Robots are just not capable of independent thought which make humor and satire totally beyond their understanding.
Or to put it in more simple terms, what he should have said was “NO.”
Having lived in Raleigh for approx 8 years, I am not that surprised by this man’s encounter with Raleigh’s “finest”. When asked a question by the officer, he answered in a manner that the officer probably thought was flippant.
Being a city with North Carolina State University (student pop 34,000) as well as St. Mary’s. Peace, and St. Augustine’s Colleges and Wake County Community College, the city police seem to always have a chip on their shoulder, especially with someone of college age. My guess is Artis is either college-age or black, possibly both.
Fortunately, at NC State, the University has their own campus police who have a much better, less aggressive reputation.
“…heard his lower left leg sicken[ing]ly crack”
rather odd way of writing in a news story, more like something you would find in a work of fiction.
Just say’n…
Government men are better than you peons
Don’t you forget it
Show fealty bitches
# 8 BigBoyBC it’s seems the fiction the cops preferred and where allowed to believe ended when they dropped charges to CYA!
The cops are probably trying to get this nurse fired for not playing along.
******
Nearly 12 hours after he was arrested, a nurse finally inspected his leg and “observed … that Artis’ left leg could not bear weight; that his left knee and lower leg area was swollen and deformed; and that parasthesia was noted.” The nurse ordered him to be sent immediately to a hospital emergency room.
Artis had pins inserted in his leg and “awoke from surgery to find his belongings next to his hospital bed and a nurse informed him that he was no longer in custody.”
******
Just say’n…
#6 Actually the correct response is a sharp and unemotional NO SIR! And leave it at that.
Engaging police in any sort of conversation is a huge mistake today. And this sort of episode shows why someone should be video recording all cops all the time. They have been encouraged to think that the law-abiding public is their enemy.
#1 Bobbo
He purchased the taco at Armadillo Grill, but then proceeded to the bus stop where the officer asked him about the beer can behind the newspaper rack.
Thank you Cap’n. Always good to have the facts correct. I wonder then if the cop was enforcing anti-littering law?
That puts a whole new spin on the tale. (sarc/off)
#12 yep.
Now THIS clearly appears to be bad policing!
What about the poor Taco? It probably didn’t deserve to be treated in that manner…
If Artis wins, in lieu of money which the government doesn’t have, give Artis a sledge hammer and the right to whack the arresting cop, the hecklers, and the judge in the leg and then deny them any medical or other aid for 24 hours.
Oh, and invite Artis’ friends and family to heckle them while they writhe on the ground in pain.
They won’t be such dicks in future encounters. The judge sounds like he needs it far more than the arresting cop. 30 days in jail for simply not rising in “respect” for the judge? The power of the judge’s seat has rotted his soul, if he ever had one to begin with.
#12 especially conversation that contains even trace amounts of sarcasm…
Like the Clash song “Know Your Rights” says, “You have the right to free speech as long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it”
You should take the fifth, every time you are asked any question, according to some published advice found on the Internet.
If the cop wasn’t a douchbag he would have hung out in the shadows to see if the perp took a drink from the can. But NOOOO, he had to flex is man muscle rather than use his brain.
I hope the victim gets $250,000-$500,000, and if there is video/audio evidence that supports his side of the story, $1,000,000-$5,000,000. I don’t care if he is black, white, brown, Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc.
Any one that thinks police brutality is somehow more disposed to occur to day than in the past would flunk history. This has gone on for decades just ask the nice folks especially minorities about the south in the 30’s 40’s 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s and 90’s. The only real difference was there was no social media to post it on.
He should have simply told the officer no sir its not my beer. Most folk are not as funny as Gabriel Iglesias http://tinyurl.com/234ryyr
#12 John C Dvorak
I will not call a police officer Sir. I will either call him whatever rank he is or Officer.
The police are supposed to be servants of the public, not the other way round.
I work in a hospital and frequently use the word there to members of the public as in that event I am the public servant.
I also used it in the army and, before that, at school. (I also use the word “ma’am” to address females I judge to be old enough not to be confused by it.)
# 21 So what said
Anything less or more then “no sir” is tantamount to a criminal offense in your mind.
Maybe it should communicated to the public by enshrining it in law; something along the line Yes, boss or No boss, else we have “Failure To Communicate“
No, its called being polite. I’d call you sir if you weren’t an asshole.
# 24 So what said,
Personally I don’t like being called “sir”.
I find it impolite and insincere to assume that everyone is that fragile and needs that for their self-worth.
I actually think less of people, (I think they are really are Deliverance characters, scared or ignorant) who call me sir! I usually insist, not to call me sir.
I know some people, particularly in the south are raised that way, Deliverance style; full of false pretenses.
Me, I work for a living and don’t think I should be elevated above others by some insincere, unjustified or false pretenses greeting of “sir”. I believe I am an equal and should be treated as such. I expect the same of others. If that make me an “asshole”, then so be it.
Again, does the lack of “Yes Sir”, “No Sir” deserve a beating and broken bones by a forgetful cop? Is all of America just some back-country where cops rule like kings?
I guess, your moma, never taught you
sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you”. Do you even know what that means?
How can you be so out of touch with American purpose and reality?
#25 You assume sir is always a sign of respect. Apparently you were never in the military. From your posting its pretty clear you won’t have to worry about respect. Now go troll somewhere else youngster.
# 26 So what said,
“Apparently you were never in the military.”
Really, you are truly boundless in your ignorance and assumptions!
I have served in the military. In fact, I come from a military family. I myself was enlisted. When people mistakenly call me sir, I corrected them by saying I work for a living.
You should know this, instinctively, if indeed you have served in the military!!! Have you? It seems those who haven’t served, claim to know the most about serving!
By the way, saying “I work for a living.” is very common if not universal among the enlisted, in all branches.
I since have gone to college (like some of the jack ass officers I served under) and have gotten my masters in physics. Again, I don’t expect or want people to call me sir. I do not see “Sir” as a sign of respect.
If I can’t treat a person as an equal, then I really would rather not deal with that person.
I eminencely dislike greetings of false pretenses, as it sets up people as unequals.
I do not like working with people in unequal, undemocratic, humiliating, and submissive relationships. I show respect by treating people as equals.
This is after all the 21st century in America.
I suggest you follow your own advice # 26 So what said, “Now go troll somewhere else youngster.”
And you assumed that I felt the police attack was justified. Pot meet kettle there sparky. Not even a good attempt care to try again,
Nazism is alive and well right here in Amerika and they wear police uniforms
# 28 So what, Not so clever; you will need to point out where in my post(s) I claimed or assumed you “felt the police attack was justified. Pot meet kettle there sparky.” as you say?
It seems you assumed, I had assumed; which of course is incorrect.
All I did in my post, is point out my disregards of someone displaying their ineptitude in addressing me with sir, and how I dislike working with people in unequal, undemocratic, humiliating, and submissive relationships!
Yet, you somehow in some mental gymnastics or just brain misfire, acquired and indeed insisted that I had assumed; which I had not assumed.
Some would call that, lazy and inept thinking. I’ll leave it at, what others call it.
“noname”, you win —– this thread’s posts from “So what” aren’t enuff to decide whether this is just a hiccup of his which we all can have, or if he is truly a total asshole.
Just in case Animby cruises by:
Saw Dr. Mcwhorter on Book tv. He says our standard revered languages (English, French) are simple compared to less known even entirely verbal languages and that the claimed sophistication of word counts is very illusory.
English has written dictionaires that capture words no longer actually used. He estimated that all languages are about the same with 20-30K words actually used. English is the simplest with basically no male/female conjugations and many no singular/plural conjugations as many other more complicated languages have. In his view “is” and “was” can be considered the same word and the conjugation is “irregular.” Most of our plurals are built by adding an “s” to the end. Imagine a language where every plural is a completely different word? Much more complicated than English was his point.
I know some of you are thinking: “How is this fricken relevant to the topic?”
Ha, ha.
One example McWhorter gave was “ruth” as a counted English Word that doesn’t actually count. Anyone know what it means? You can use in playing scrabble if you wish. It is the root and the opposite of “ruthless.” All the “xxxxx – less” words are represented in English but not in any non written language. Once not used, they are lost forever. Not so with English.
Ruthless is used in the Cartoon Heading this topic. Everything actually is connected to everything else.
Yea, verily.