Five Alabama cops fired for beating a black man unconscious

[cityboi]

It all started in a police chase where cops chased Anthony Warren. Warren's van flip over and he was ejected from the vehicle. once on the ground he was motionless and seconds later 5 cops surrounded him and just started beating on him.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/21/...Home;topStories

[Neo]

That guy is an idiot for doing what he did, but the police are even bigger idiots for beating him, especially when they had to know the camera was on.

[cityboi]

I agree. You cant 100% feel pity for the guy for what he did but the cops had no right to beat him like that. The guy was already unconscious from being ejected from the van and even if he was conscious and resisting, there would be other ways of handling him. Clearly the officers acted out of emotions. The question is was it clear racism or were the cops just upset this guy ruined their day and almost killed one of their own.

[erdogs]

I don't think it was racism, but just a severe over reaction by the police. My uncle, who is white, evaded the police in his car before getting stopped. The police officer put a gun to his head, threw him to the ground and began to beat and kick him. He ended up with a broken rib and multiple bruises to his body. I think this is a very common occurrence and practice by the police, some of it comes from emotional stress and some from their feelings of superiority over the average citizen. I've also had my own run ins with the police that were unprovoked, now if I see a cop, I go in the opposite direction. Avoidance is the best policy.

[sean]

that's a really ugly incident, but sadly not surprising (don't get me started on the violence of our consumer culture). hard to be certain whether this was a violent act of racism or a case of emotionally charged, poor decision making. at least some instant karma was served to both parties; the chase instigator got pretty messed up, and the cops got fired and immortalized as thugs for their unlawful behavior.

[Charlotteman]

How dare those cops abuse that man like that. Barbaric, sick behavior. I hope they pay.

[kayman]

Cityboi, they weren't just Alabama officers, they were Birmingham Police officers. Remember Birmingham, the major city that exists in Alabama? You guys wouldn't have ignored that if it was a large city in the Carolinas, so show us in Birmingham some respect...

Anyways, BPD has been notorious history of issues with officers until recent under the former chief who was nothing more than a figurehead who read hymns (literally). I highly doubt their pummelling of that man was directly racially motivated, rather a textbook example of police brutality. Their instaneous termination upon the review by BPD Chief A.C. Roper has set a precedent that other large city police departments should do when there is clear evidence of wrongdoing on film.

[krazeeboi]

Kayman, I think you're being a bit sensitive because Birmingham wasn't mentioned by name; the actual clip says Alabama police officers. No one is disrespecting your city. In this particular case, I would think you would consider such an omission a plus as I don't think this is exactly the type of press that Birmingham is looking for.

The guy was absolutely brainless for trying to run over a cop, but the actions of the five cops were totally unwarranted. Both parties need to pay.

[cityboi]

Cityboi, they weren't just Alabama officers, they were Birmingham Police officers. Remember Birmingham, the major city that exists in Alabama? You guys wouldn't have ignored that if it was a large city in the Carolinas, so show us in Birmingham some respect...

[kayman]

That's understandable, I agree to an extent because Birmingham doesn't need this type of negative publicity at all. However, I just get annoyed sometimes when Birmingham is omitted or doesn't even receive any recognize on a map like the Weather Channel (who I can't stand simply because of that) when it's a top 40 market and one of the top 50 largest metros in the nation...

However, there is a story tied to this how the mayor lied on national TV claiming that this occured under the last administration when it was 2 months after he had been sworn into office.

[dimebag1980]

For the record, I am no fan of cops. I absolutely despise them and I laugh so hard when I read stories about the Zodiac taunting them for so many years while they fumbled around like buffoons and ruined good evidence, screwing up any chance of ever catching him.

Anyway, I can understand from the cop's perspective as I know their adrenaline was up and it's easy to overreact. Then you have this worthless pile of human scum, let's not even get me started on his sorry ass. BUT I still do not believe they should have done that. Cops are good at covering up crimes, personally I think if they wanted to get him and get away with it they should have gone out of view of the camera, fired his gun into the air and then shot him.