Bay County Sheriff's Boot Camp Death Case
Talk about disturbing video. Watching half a dozen officer's of the law, restraining, then pummeling a fourteen year old boy, has me actually quivering in fear.
According to a CNN report recently aired (and is currently a front page story at http://www.cnn.com), Martin Anderson was sent to the county boot camp because he had violated probation after being convicted of stealing his grandmother's car.
The video shown was quite disturbing.
Watching the young man be held by three and four officers, while others took turns kneeing and slugging the restrained youth is heart wrenching. The video does not have clear shots of the blows landing; not sound.
What is painfully obvious is the violent jerking of the young man's body as the blows land, and by the fact that he crumpled to the ground at least once.
I would hardly wish such treatment on a known terrorist; to watch this being done to a recalcitrant American youth makes my heart leap to my throat and body shake with a tremor.
According to the reports, the guards forced him to sniff ammonia capsules by covering his mouth and pummeling him with fists and knees.
Ammonia capsules? To keep him from passing out during the beating?
I wonder what interrogation manual they pulled that from.
The boy was judged as deserving of this beating for supposedly faking illness to avoid exercise at the camp. It was his first day there.
The guards were all just acquitted at trial. The first autopsy of the youth claimed that the boy died from complications of sickle cell.
I assume that means that if this lad had not had sickle cell he could have "survived" the forced chemical breathing and the brutal beating he was given for "faking an illness".
The reporters stated that these types of techniques are no longer allowed by law in Florida.
With the recent death of a woman while in custody (Carol Ann Gotbaum); the altercations that took place in New Orleans between private industry police and simple pedestrians, the history of police abuse in L.A., Cincinnati and across The U.S.A. in general; the recent laws immunizing certain private security contractors from prosecution under almost all situations even when death is the result of their actions; and the increased iron fist and intrusive eyes, which the laws being passed seem to be supporting I'm feeling more and more paranoid about being free and open with my speech and personal preferences.
Not being one of the rich or powerful in our country; and having long hair while smelling of patchouli, in an deeply established Red State, leaves me increasingly concerned of being incidentally targeted, simply because I am, look and smell different.
Freedom, Liberty and Justice seems inreasingly for the few, the proud, the well to do and the conformed.
Is the secret goal of Unity to kill the non-generics??
Call me a chicken sh...
I'm thinking of abandoning my habit of writing on current politics. I think I'd feel happier and safer if I switched and stuck exclusively to the emerging Global Warming party.
They're all about doing something positive, constructive and with dialogue; rather than iron fists and iron wills out to enforce their personally restirctive views of what is right.
Best of Luck to All of US.
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12 October 2007
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Bill's Spirit is an Artist, Writer, Poet, Philosopher currently wordsmithing from a humble forge in small town Ohio.
The works of the man behind Bill's Spirit have been published in small alternative and amateur presses since 1986. Before that, they just filled notebooks, took up space on walls and gathered dust in piles and boxes.
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Comments: 29
I worry about being accosted by police, too. It seems like anymore, they can get get you for anything they are in the mood for. I keep thinking how horrible it would be to be ordered to get on my knees because I have arthritis and I couldn't do it. Then they would think I was being belligerant so I would probably be tazed. Then, when your automatic reflexes to the pain appear to be threatening to them, they taze you again. It seems like every day I see a video of some poor citizen being brutalized by these meat heads. What will happen if our dictator declares martial law?
Olga M., Oct 12, 2007, 4:02pm EDT
Wait till the black water people get back!!!
He was held immobile, sometimes limply, while being beaten and kneed. A fourteen year old boy, beaten by big honkin' grown men. Some of those blows looked like they could have caused organ damage, if not failure. Such brutality!!
The story is no longer on the CNN web site's front page. Here's a link to the story's page on their site.
I still can't understand how they would get away with that type of brutality, anyway. Prisoners and armed forces trainees are not legally subject to such beatings. I fail to understand how this could have been appropriate behavior for guards working at an juvenile "boot camp" (aka; alternative to jail program).
A bunch of bullies with ego problems have no business on the police force. They are supposed to be the good guys.
Don - Please don't talk about splitting up our united states. It just needs better, more conscientious leading. A good dose more of humanitarianism infusement would help immensely.
Second- The blame here is on the CORRECTION system. The system was broken by individuals who took it to the extremes. What is worse is the NUSRE who had the power and did nothing. Corporal punishment in a correction facility for teens is needed because they have no respect for authority.
Elizabeth-Taser was used because she would not go into custody and was violent in one case and the other I saw she refused to exit the automobile and put done the phone. Please which one were you talking about. Correction officers are not the police force either.
Bill-I agree the force matrix needs to be reviewed and redone. I do think military style boot camps work but they need to have closer review.
Donna-Oh please, its not the Patriot Act at all, and it has NOTHING to do with this. This is Florida's issue not Americas. There are still boot camp style camps which are under stricter rules that operate without problems and complaints.
Problem with this case was MOTHER- who claimed RACE.............problem was there was a mix of races of guards..which ruined the Race claim which was mentioned. Had they stuck to a basic trial, on merits, I believe they could have won the lesser charge, and they may have pleaded a lesser charge.
Bill-I blame the system for not having the child have a complete medical checkup before subjecting the child to such a degree of phyiscal routine. Military does that for bootcamp.
Olga- You live in fear all you want. If you want real fear of the police try china, russia, even south korea where you walk the line or they will place you on the line. I have yet to see any case where someone did not resist police that got tasered. Force matrix is clear and some agree, some disagree, but overall its a great alternative to the next step.
Granted we have dirty cops, but we take our police force from the general population. So tell me where there is no bad apple humans? Overall we should be damn proud of the police, and consider the number bad situations compared to ones that went as they should. That is a ratio I can live with. Nail the bad ones, but never assumer all are bad or because someone got a film that might show part of an situation.
The point I was trying to make is that since the Patriot Act was enacted, we seem to see that those in authority on many levels seem to have a hyperinflated sense of rightousness. For example, internet pundits who argue every talking point of anyone with the slightest left leanings.
Spencer- I know what you mentioning the Blue Code. I however do not see the need to claim fear of the police. Tired of individuals attempting to battle police on site. I think overall is the social problem of not respecting authority..heck if kids do not even respect parents..why the police? Then these kids might be police? Not respecting their authority?
The opening clip on CNN's video shows four guards restraining the boy, while one knees him (in the crotch?). The opening clip looks like four gurads, but as the boy falls to the ground after the blow, a fifth guard, who was obscured by the telephone pole they were restraining the kid against is revealed. In the remaining video there are as many as 8 guards seen taking part. Oh, and the nurse standing by.
Donald C. - I totally agree with you that a medical examination of the boy should have been done before introducing him into the boot camp population. Regardless of that, this type of "treatment" has never been allowed in prisons or in military boot camps, let alone juvenile detention centers; at least to my knowledge.
In a civilized society, guards do not get to restrain and then beat the hell out of someone simply for "faking an illness to get out of physical exercise". Even in a violent provocation, once the individual is subdued or incapacitated beatings are supposed to stop.
Trying to lump all the responsibility on the nurse is lame.
Psychology also seems to support the notion that punishment for wrong doing is not as effective as rewarding for good behavior. The "stick; no carrot method" creates unwanted results, whereas the "stick AND carrot" method more often leads to the desired results, and the "explanation with carrot" method almost always works properly.
Psychology shows support for both. Rewarding when they someone does well works great, for those who want to aspire to do good. Problem is when someone doesnt care and rather commit crimes. Electrical shocks to the wrong button works also, like when someone touches something hot..it hurts, we avoid what hurts.
America in some ways are too easy on adult criminals
Truth is, America's LOGIC is what is too soft on dealing with the majority of our incarcerated. We place petty thieves and petty drug offenders in cell blocks with pedophiles, rapists and violent criminals; leaving them mostly to fend for themselves.
We expect this to scare them straight, but what they really end up learning is that to survive in the dangerous and hostile environment they are placed in is to use machismo, bluffing, bribing and violent confrontation as survival mechanisms. That's the kind of training that our prisons instills in those we lock up.
Then, once these people have been released, society treats them with un-ending suspicion, fails to give them viable, legal income earning opportunities, and leaves them mostly on public assistance (if available); which expires after a certain period of time.
We say it's their fault that they can't secure employment; because of their past actions. This places them in the position of trying to figure out (logically) how to feed, shelter and cloth themselves in a money based society that continually denies them the ability to earn an honest living. Logically, many of them end up turning back to crime; because people want to survive.
That's how effective the logic of our society, and its justice system, is.
See, we all participate in creating these terrorist dramas - yes, most of us participate passively: we've let our minds be numbed and taken-over by increasing TV violence, so that now most of America is producing pictures [thoughtforms] of violence like the case above.
To take back our good-will control of the originating picture/thoughtform, we have to focus very hard on working with the power of imagination and visualization, in order to create positive thoughtforms which can then manifest.
We've all got to take responsibility for what we're picturing-out.