Young Violist Brutally Attacked by Police

[FourScore]

Young Violist Brutally Attacked by Police
by hester
Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 08:35:18 AM PST

...Before the facial smashing, Jordan Miles looked like this, a very handsome young man ...


...On January 12, 2010, Jordan Miles a 5'7", 150 pound young man left his mom's house (in a new birthday jacket) at approximately 11 p/m to walk to his grandma's house, where he usually stays the night. He was minding his own business with his dangerous bottle of MOUNTAIN DEW tucked in his jacket when he noticed a white sedan with 3 men in it.

Thinking nothing much about it, he became alarmed when they all jumped out of the car yelling.
"Where's the money? Where's the gun? Where's the drugs?"

Because the officers were in plain clothes, under cover and did not identify themselves, Mr. Miles feared he was about to be mugged by hoodlums. Well he was attacked, only those hoods who attacked him were 3 of the Pittsburgh police. Fearing for himself, he started to run, slipped on the ice and when the cops caught up with him they inflicted this



Another view



What you cannot see is the area on his head where he is bald b/c of his dreds being literally ripped from his scalp.

And of course the young man was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault.

Well, to cover their racist hides, the officers are saying they thought he was hiding a weapon, because of the heavy object they saw beneath his jacket. That heavy object turned out to be a really dangerous bottle of Mountain Dew. They also are saying they thought he was slinking around looking to rob a house in the neighborhood...

SNIP

...Jordan Miles is described by friends as gentle, funny a little goofy and clumsy... pretty much the farthest thing from a dangerous criminal. I guess that doesn't count if you are Black.

Mr. Miles, 18 is an honor student at CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) high school in Pittsburgh, PA, where he plays viola (yesterday I said it was the violin, in reports that I had read.... but his mom says it's the viola and being a mom myself, I'll believe her)..... He plays for the jazz band and the orchestra. It is reported that several months ago he played for first lady Michelle Obama and spouses of delegates to the group of 20 economic summit when they visited the CAPA high school.

Note that 2 of the officers have lawsuits pending against them. Mr Miles and his mom have hired an attorney, J. Kerrington Lewis...

MUCH MORE: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/3/833188/-Young-Violist-Brutally-Attacked-by-Police

[YOY]

1. Hope he sues the fuck out of them.

n.t.

[aquart]

6. And I hope the jury is VERY sympathetic.

Beating up a musician? What kind of lowlife does that?

[ThomCat]

25. Unfortunately, that only makes the town suffer. The town pays.

The cops won't pay any of that.

We need to find a way to punish the actual police departments and the actual cops that are responsible for brutality and civil rights abuses. We can't allow them to keep passing the penalties up to the taxpayers.

Until the police actually have to pay some kind of a price, they're never going to have any incentive to change! :(

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. me too

[malaise]

2. Racial profiling and racism

gone mad.

[Ignis]

3. Walking While Black.

:argh:

That poor kid. :(

[potone]

4. There is no excuse for that.

This kind of thing has to stop. I hope he sues them down to their toenails, and that is only the beginning of what should happen to them. I hope he suffers no lasting harm from that attack, although I would think that the psychological harm is going to be long-lasting.

[T Wolf]

5. This is an old story that will result in no discipline (SOP) for the pigs that did this. It is

useless to pursue actions (can't call it a crime if no charges filed) within the very system that protects the perpetrators.

The only way to fight them is on an individual basis, where they cannot bring the weight of their fellow-thugs or the "just-us" system into play.

Think 18th century Minutemen behind trees...

[aquart]

8. Well give up and go live in a cave. How cowardly.

Make the jury award big enough and the cops will become very careful of everyone's rights.

[Flaneur]

10. Cowardly? No. Skeptical about winning justice against police? Yes.

Cops get away with a lot. Literally murder sometimes.

There is very little effective control over police forces, and a culture of immunity and impunity.

But I agree, huge lawsuit pay outs may concentrate the minds of the good burghers of Pittsburgh and make them begin to think about trying to rein in their rogue police.

[T Wolf]

12. Make the pigs afraid to do this kind of shit because THEY will wind up dead on the street and it may

slow down.

Any other attempted solution is bound to fail BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED.

[ThomCat]

23. No, because the cops that do the bashing don't pay the awards.

The municipality pays it. The taxpayers pay it. The cops don't pay a thing. The cops don't suffer any 'penalty' except a paid vacation. :(

[wtmusic]

7. Sick. Hope they lose their jobs. nt

[Demoiselle]

9. Have all three of the cops been suspended?

...With a view to dismissal and arrest and trial?
I'd fire their butts today.

[PA Democrat]

16. They are suspended with pay, but originally they were only reassigned

from undercover to duty in uniform. There was such a public outcry, that they finally suspended the cops on Monday, almost three weeks after the beating.

Do you remember the case of Jonny Gammage who was killed in Pittsburgh for the "crime" of driving while black? Some things never change.

[Blue-Jay]

11. Good thing he doesn't play the accordian.

If he did, I would've assisted in the beat-down.


Seriously, though - I'm a frequent supporter of law enforcement officers (I come from a family of "good cops"), but this is disgusting. How anyone can beat the shit out of someone (because they CAN) and look at themselves in the mirror the next day is baffling to me. Buncha' fucking thugs.

[Warpy]

13. His fractures will heal and his appearance will be as before

but those psychological scars will be long lasting.

There is going to be a huge lawsuit in this. I'm sure he's got lawyers already calling his grandmother to set up meetings in the hospital. The fact that 2 of those cops already have lawsuits against them is going to weigh pretty heavily in the final damages.

It will probably pay his way through Julliard. I wish the best for him.

[provis99]

14. typical cops.

I'm only surprised they didn't kill him, so he couldn't sue them for the crimes they committed.

[thereismore]

15. Walking while black.

:mad:

[quiet.american]

17. My God, there are no words... this makes me spitting mad. nt

[Danger Mouse]

18. How the fuck does somebody get resisting arrest if they don't know it's a cop?

If a plainclothes officer doesn't hold up his badge, and the suspect (or in this case, innocent person) doesn't realize that it's a cop and thinks he's about to get mugged or killed and justifiably runs in fear...what if the cop shot him instead? How is that legal?

[ThomCat]

26. Cops always LIE and insist to the juries that they identified

themselves as police officers immediately. That is standard procedure.

1. Never identify yourself.
2. Insist that you did.

Juries will believe that cops are honest automatically because they are cops. And they will believe that anyone who was arrested is dishonest just because they were arrested.

[noamnety]

30. Even if they did identify themselves though

I'm not sure that's good enough.

If three men in street clothes jumped out of an unmarked car and came at me while I was alone, why would one of them saying "I'm a policeman" make me believe them? Anyone can yell that - it's unreasonable that I should have to believe it, or that I would wait for them to get closer so I can see if they have a badge. If they aren't police (and odds are they aren't), that hesitation further endangers me.

[Echo In Light]

19. Sadists who hopefully face eternity in hell

[Jkid]

20. Those cops should be the ones charged with aggravated assault.

[abq e streeter]

21. I hope it's a combination of a huge civil suit penalty and jail time for these thugs

[EFerrari]

22. Speechless.

Thank god these @ssholes didn't kill him. :grr:

[Arkana]

24. He's going to be a very rich man when he sues the FUCK

out of the police department (and wins).

[Political Heretic]

27. He's guilty of being black.

And as long as we continue to have weak, limp, penalties against racist police scum bags, we keep getting stories like this.

The police shouldn't be "sued" or put on "leave" - they should be sent to prison.

[Starry Messenger]

28. Holy fuck!

That poor sweet baby. I have no words. I hope he can heal from this. The inhuman scum who did that to him should be sitting in a jail cell.

[Blue Owl]

29. The GOP-sponsored police state

is alive and well, with all its racism, violence, and forceful intolerance.

I hope first lady Michelle Obama is informed of this. I'd like to see these cops on Michelle's pity list!

[gulfcoastliberal]

32. Typical behavior from the cops. Here in Pensacola a cop ran over a kid riding his bicycle - kid

did not commit any crime. The police in this country are out of control.

[Echo In Light]

34. The cream of the crop are taking obvious cues

[immoderate]

33. I would love to see the cross examination of those cops.

They won't be able to coordinate their lies on the stand. Perjury should be added to their crimes. BTW, are they subject to criminal charges? Well, of course they are. I should say, will they be charged criminally, because that's what they deserve? Anybody? :shrug:

--imm

[coffeenap]

35. Sending a mom's love. nt