Sharpton Chimes In On Philly Cop Beating
Calls Taped Incident "Worse Than Rodney King"; More Officers Taken Off Street Duty
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Parents Of Cop Beating React
The parents of the victims beaten by Philadelphia police react to the videotape. Maggie Rodriguez speaks to Philadelphia's police commissioner, who is investigating the incident.
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Philly Cops Caught On Tape
Three Philadelphia police officers have been arrested after they were caught on tape beating and kicking several suspects just days after the murder of a police sergeant. Randall Pinkston reports.
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Police Probe Taped Beating
The "city of brotherly love" is on edge following the beating of crime suspects chased by police. Tara Mergener reports.
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Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, left, and Mayor Michael Nutter, right, answer questions at a news briefing Wednesday, May 7, 2008, in Philadelphia, regarding the allegations of police brutality. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)
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At a news conference Thursday morning, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey called the confrontation a "black eye" for the force and "an embarrassment to the entire department." (AP/WTXF-TV Fox Philadelphia)
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Brian Hall, Pete Hopkins, Dwayne Dyches, three suspects arrested and seen on videotape being beaten by police officers Monday night May 5, 2008 in Philadelphia. (AP/ Philadelphia Police Dept.)
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The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton. (AP/WTXF-TV Fox Philadelphia)
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The civil rights activist made the comments Thursday as he interviewed the mother of one of the suspects on his radio show.
Thirteen police officers have been taken off street duty as police investigate the television news footage, according to Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman. The video shows officers kicking, punching and beating the three black men during a traffic stop Monday.
"I've not seen anything like that since Rodney King, and it's worse than Rodney King, and we cannot allow our community to be under siege," Sharpton said. "We've got to stop this nonsense in our community, acting like you got to be a certain level black to be treated within the law."
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he does not believe the confrontation was racially motivated, but instead thinks that tensions in the wake of the weekend slaying of a fellow officer played a part.
The beating occurred at the same time as police were conducting an intense manhunt for a suspect in the slaying of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, 39, who was killed responding to a bank robbery Saturday. He was the second city officer killed on the job in seven months.
At a news conference Thursday morning, Ramsey called the confrontation a "black eye" for the force and "an embarrassment to the entire department."
In an interview later in the day with The Associated Press, Ramsey said: "I know everybody's trying to make this into a racial thing. I don't believe it is."
"We just had a policeman murdered on Saturday ... and emotions are running high," he said.
"There's no excuse for it, but fanning flames, and making accusations from afar, is not in anybody's best interest," said Ramsey, who took over as commissioner in January after serving in the same role in Washington, D.C.
King, who is black, was videotaped being beaten by white Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991. Four officers were acquitted of most criminal charges in 1992, triggering rioting in Los Angeles and neighboring cities that left 55 people dead and caused $1 billion in property damage.
In the Philadelphia case, officers who stopped the car Monday night believed its occupants had been involved in a triple shooting a few blocks away. They included members of a narcotics unit working the area and patrol officers called in response to the shooting.
The three suspects - Dwayne Dyches, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins, all of Philadelphia - were each charged with attempted murder and related counts in connection with the shooting, according to court records.
D. Scott Perrine, a lawyer representing the three suspects, has said his clients had nothing to do with the shooting, police had no reason to follow their car and the beating was unjustified.
Leomia Dyches complained to Sharpton on Thursday that she could not see her son when he was in the hospital.
Ramsey noted to the AP that he was in custody at the time, charged with attempted murder. All three suspects were treated at a hospital soon after the confrontation, Ramsey said, and they were being held Thursday in lieu of bail of $100,000 or more.
The commissioner pledged to send the department's preliminary investigation to the District Attorney's Office by next week. If prosecutors decline to file charges, he will deal with the officers involved internally, he said.
Ramsey said it was too early to say what kind of discipline the might be warranted. He told CBS' The Early Show Thursday that should the district attorney's office throw the case back to the police department, "I'll take appropriate action," adding that he'd judge each officer involved individually.
Ramsey said he did not know the race of all the officers on the scene - there were about 15 - but said that at least one sergeant involved is African-American.
The Internal Affairs unit is still working to enhance the tape and identify all of the officers in the footage, a department spokesman said.
Sharpton's remarks came a day after he was arrested along with hundreds of other demonstrators as he blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three New York detectives who fatally shot an unarmed black man in on his wedding day.
Ramsey said the beating does not reflect the behavior of the whole Philadelphia department, and cast a shadow during a time that should have been focused on the period of mourning for Liczbinski, whose funeral will be held Friday.
Mayor Michael Nutter has also criticized the officers' behavior, calling it unacceptable.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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See all 164 CommentsAl Sharpton is an demagogue, an opportunist seeking only self promotion, cares nothing of the true victims and has proven to get it wrong much of the time. Tawana Brawley and the Brown University Lacrosse team come to mind.
It is time that this country created a zero tolerance policy for crime and violence. African Americans are bearing the brunt of this violence and as a group are disproportionately the perpetrators and victims of this violence. Al Sharpton should be more concerned about this state of affairs.
Our country is so terribly broken and the real issues, like a policeman shot to death on the streets takes second place to a beating of the suspects. As a country we must look at our state of affairs and start being honest with ourselves about the country we live in and the country we want it to be.
The key word there is ALLEGEDLY. Cops do NOT have the right to beat the hell out of people just because they ALLEGEDLY committed a crime. (In fact, they do NOT have the right to beat the hell out of people even if they did commit a crime!) The cops'' job is to arrest suspects, NOT to punish them. They are NOT judge, jury, and executioner!
The police commissioner said, "emotions are running high," AS IF that makes any difference. Do you REALLY think cops should have the right to beat the hell out of people any time their "emotions are running high"? What about the rest of us? Is it OK if I beat the *** out of you next time my "emotions are running high"? Let me know. Sometimes I think I could use a punching bag.
Not surprisingly, Sharpton doesn''t mention--nor does the national media--the gunning down of a CIA agent by Houston Police in what was for all intents an purposes an assassination. If you haven''t heard about this, ask yourself, "Why not?" He was the head of the local chapter of retired intelligence agents... why was he murdered?
GET THE FACTS AND THEN PUT THAT IN THE NEWS, NOT HYPE
These cops, from what I witnessed on the tape, are guilty of criminal assault, a felony. The department saying that they will "disciplined" is utter nonsense, and is tantamount to declaring that they are above the law, because they are cops.
The law either protects all of us, or it protects none of us.
Good deal!
the negative stuff going on will get worse before its gets better.
Keep your powder dry Sportsfans.
And remember Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control
them.
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Well said!
Look into the murder of a CIA agent by Houston police...Remember Vince Foster''s murder? Its still unresolved...not amazingly many witnesses changed their initial stories with the help of the FBI to fit the suicide scenario...those who didn''t were harassed and intimidated.
Don''t accustom yourself to these murders and the police violence against citizens...whether its the killing of an unarmed man in a hail of bullets or murder by taser...or brutal beatings by subhuman scum with badges.
When you ''accept'' such things, they move on to new and worse attrocities.
Gerald Clough
http://www.savagerun.com
YOU TRY BEING A COP FOR A WEEK IN THAT TOWN AND THEN MAYBE I''LL LISTEN TO YOU!!!
Posted by kennedy7955 at 08:23 AM : May 09
Bravo! Well stated. I watched the seven minute video taken from the helicopter, and although it may seem a bit "shocking" at first glance, these guys were thugs who grew up with an anti-police mentality. I''m sure they were far from cooperative, and the beating part didn''t last (I would estimate)more than 20-30 seconds. The rest was all just milling around getting them in cuffs and into the vehicles.
Nutter is just that a NUT!!
Why does Al Sharpton have to come down here? Can''t we the citizens of Philadelphia handle this ourselves? We don''t have any active community leaders to step up and help out? Or our they funded by the city to "keep the peace"
I''ll admit that while blacks do have a lot to overcome, being minorities, they have more opportunities to succeed than most of us but so many choose not to take advantage of those opportunities, opting instead to steal, rob, sell drugs and kill rather than work for what they want. The fact that roughly 20% of the population is black but they account for about 90% of the crime speaks for itself.
As far as the cops, if those guys were murder suspects and were resisting arrest, I''m sure it wouldn''t have mattered what color they were, the outcome would have been the same. And if they had been white, I''m sure ''ole Mr. Sharpton would have had nothing to say about it, as usual.
That''s why it''s so important that the police are above letting there emotions get the best of them and commit acts of violence themselves, We need the police to be the good guys no mater what kind people there dealing with. What comes around really does go around, no mater who someone is.
That''s why it''s so important that the police are above letting there emotions get the best of them and commit acts of violence themselves, We need the police to be the good guys no mater what kind people there dealing with. What comes around really does go around, no mater who someone is.
As lojng as you allow *** like sharpton to get involved they will keep the racial hatred burning. I will not vote for obama because i believe he is a racist and at least a terrorist sympathyzer. His wife made it clear to everyone she is a racist. You give me a black person who is qualified and not a racists or a terrorist and they will get my vote. I don''t like bush or mccain and i am tired of the same old politics we have been getting for years.
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Posted by easttx390 at 08:20 AM : May 09, 2008
COLORED PEOPLE??? BWAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!
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Posted by redlipsahead at 11:02 AM : May 09, 2008
YOU WANT HIM TO COME FORWARD AND DEFEND WHITE PEOPLE? YOU ALREADY HAVE RUSH LIMBAUGH FOR THAT.
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Posted by redlipsahead at 11:04 AM : May 09, 2008
AND RACIST *** LIKE RUSH LIMBAUGH IS WHY THE MAJORITY OF BLACK VOTERS WILL NEVER VOTE FOR MCCAIN IF HE GOES UP AGAINST OBAMA
And Santa claus is real. Do your buddies in the kkk know that you are on line posing as a "negro"? Your ignorance is so apparent, your lies so blatant, and your fake claim to ethnicity so ridiculous that you make a drag queen look like Jessica Alba.
Quite possible, it is also possible that they are not, but bottom line is that it is for courts to decide, not police, or such ignorant people as would judge them based on how they look.
Posted by ranger1948
Once again ranger, you miss the point. Before they are even charged, they are already punished by a police action. Whether guilty or innocent, the police have no legal, or moral right to presume to punish anyone before due process has run its course, then if it is warranted, it still is not the policemen''s job to administer the punishment.
Perhaps it is time to abolish city, county, and state police, and use the military for this function, then at least we have official accountability, should some thugs in uniform decide to play Judge Dredd.
And Santa claus is real. Do your buddies in the kkk know that you are on line posing as a "negro"? Your ignorance is so apparent, your lies so blatant, and your fake claim to ethnicity so ridiculous that you make a drag queen look like Jessica Alba.
Not to mention that your spelling indicates a lack of education typical of your ilk.
Posted by MegamanX1 at 11:20 AM : May 09, 2008
Nobody said anything about him "defending white people." He''s supposed to be against "racial discrimination" and that means ALL races. He''s always ready to step and defend blacks, whether they''re at fault or not, but when blacks are the perpetrators, it''s another story. He just turns a blind eye. Rather than calling for all blacks to stop the violence, he just calls for more violence, and that''s just wrong!
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