The parents of the 26-year-old man diagnosed with bipolar disorder are alleging excessive force by the Rockwall County law enforcement officers, who first chased the guy for 7 miles along Interstate 30 on September 16, 2010, before tackling him off the bike after he had come to a full stop on the side of the road and afterwards, arresting Austin Guess. 

Watch for yourself.  Of particular note — see the police officer’s two feet lift off the ground as he literally flies through the air during this altercation with Mr. Guess.  Is this excessive force?  Betcha answer yes.

On Veteran’s Day last week, we posted a video showing you what happened during a recent, local traffic stop where an American Soldier who had served eleven (11) years with the 1st Cavalry of the U.S. Army, was driving along on his way back from getting his daughter settled in here at prestigious Southern Methodist University (SMU).  

As he was returning back home to Tennessee, he was stopped — for no known reason — by a Texas Highway Patrolman on I-30 near Greenville.  This is what you see in the video.  Get this – and remember, it’s all on videotape:

The Texas Highway Patrolman actually asked our hero why there was a  “sticker” on his rental car. (What sticker?  Check out this image, see for yourself.)   This is the magnetic U.S. Army 1st Cavalry plate that he puts on all of his cars.  You know – you’ve seen them.

They Bring Out the Drug-Sniffing Dogs — This Sticker is So, So Suspicious

Well,  the DPS Trooper obviously needs some help, and let’s hope he’s getting it.  The Trooper made the Soldier wait thirty (30) minutes for DPS to bring out a drug-sniffing dog.  Yes, the Trooper thought the sticker was some kind of secret code for druggies, or gangs, or something.  Seriously. 

Well, the dog eventually arrived, did his job, and cleared the car.  Good dog.

That’s not the end of it though:  at this point, the Soldier (and my client) had the audacity to ask the law enforcement officer why he pulled him over for having his 1st Cavalry magnetic plate on his car.  The officer got a little bent out of shape by his question.   Please, please — go watch the video. 

Perhaps you will notice that my client is African-American.  Listen to the questions he’s asked by the Trooper– things like, are you carrying illegal drugs or other bad things there in the back of your car (guess that the daughter’s college stuff looked really sneaky or something). 

Oh, by the way, what’s the big deal about the 1st Cavalry? 

This division is one of the most famous and most decorated combat divisions of the United States Army.  The magnetic sticker is filled with symbolism (from Wikipedia):

Yellow, the traditional cavalry color, and the horse’s head refer to the division’s original cavalry structure. Black, symbolic of iron, alludes to the transition to tanks and armor. The black diagonal stripe represents a sword baldric and is a mark of military honor; it also implies movement “up the field” and thus symbolizes aggressive elan and attack. The one diagonal bend, as well as the one horse’s head, also alludes to the division’s numerical designation.

And, who knows where the Trooper has been, because this symbol isn’t exactly unknown.  Check this out (also from Wikipedia):

• In Rambo: First Blood and the Rambo sequels, Rambo’s mentor Col. Troutman wears the unit’s insignia.
• It was featured in the classic movie Apocalypse Now. 
• Also seen in the movie We Were Soldiers as well as the book the movie was based upon 
• Clint Eastwood played a fellow soldier (and Korean war vet) from the 1st Cavalry in his award winning movie, Gran Torino.
• General Wheeler has this on his dress uniform in The Last Castle.   General Mansfield does likewise in Eureka.
• Director Oliver Stone is also a veteran of the 1st Cavalry Division  — and it was his experiences with the 1st Cavalry that are brought to film in his classic Vietnam movie, Platoon. 
• Oliver Stone also brings the 1st Cavalry onto the big screen in the Tom Cruise mega-hit, Born on the Fourth of July.

Maybe the Drug Cartels and the Drug Gangs Need to Consider Magnets, Too

Finally, one last thought.  Forget the movies.  Forget the nation’s highways, where cars (at least here in Texas) routinely have military symbols on them, particularly the 1st Cav. 

Here’s something to ponder: How many druggies or gangs or evildoers of whatever sort actually have MAGNETIZED symbols that they slam onto their car bumpers? 

Do the Zetas have these magnets?  How about MS13? 

You gotta wonder.

Within months of Fort Worth offering up $2 million settlement in the Cop-Taser death of Michael Jacobs, a Dallas police officer repeatedly used a stun gun to stop a man running away from the cops last Sunday morning — and that man, identified as Freddie Lee Lockett of Irving, has died.  

From media reports, we know that the Dallas cops were called into the South Oak Cliff area of South Dallas to investigate a possible robbery.  It was around noon when they arrived and stopped Freddie Lockett. 

Cops Use Stun Gun on Suspect After Warned That He Was High on PCP

While the first news stories don’t reference any communication between the citizen and law enforcement, investigation by the Dallas Morning News has since revealed that there was some chatter between them:  Mr. Lockett told the police he had taken “wet,” street lingo for PCP, and he was high at the time.  It’s not controverted that Freddie Lockett was a drug addict: he has a longstanding criminal record of drug convictions (something obvious to the officers if they bothered to check). 

From what we know right now, the cops thought Freddie Lockett matched the description of an individual who might have robbed someone in the area.  Freddie Lockett was not cooperative with the police, other than explaining he was high on PCP. 

Which the cops should know was enough of a communication right there — PCP is a powerful, controlling drug; the fact that Lockett attempted to run from them isn’t surprising.  Law enforcement is presumed to know that PCP is an hallucinogen, causing delusions, agitation, and paranoia.  Who knows what was in Lockett’s mind then, other than he was obviously terrified?

Tasered Several Times, Freddie Lockett Dies

Preliminary reporting is that Lockett was zapped with a stun gun several times.  It’s not clear how many cops ended up here, to corral this guy.  We know more  cops were called in.  We also know that Lockett’s physical condition was a cause for concern there at the scene; the cops called EMS. 

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Lockett may have experienced “excited delirium,” a recognized medical condition where drugs interact with adrenaline badly, and death results.   Nice – not even a reference to the possibility that electrical volts were pulsated through his body, known to have PCP within it, on several different occasions, assumedly in rapid succession. 

Are we really suspose to ignore the Taser stun gun here?  Are the police not apprised of the possible dangers involved in sending electrical current through folk that are agitated or under medication? 

 Isn’t that just the scenario that the Fort Worth cops faced with Michael Jacobs? 

The press conference on this matter has been cancelled by the Dallas Police Department.  We do know that an internal investigation has begun.  Wonder if they’ve figured out who the individual was who was the robber that they were looking for in the first place — because in all this, there’s nothing proving Mr. Lockett was anything but innocent here.

Carey Cass Hudson admits to being charged with driving drunk and being hauled down to the Fort Worth jail — but he’s not defending against a DWI charge. Nope, Hudson is fighting Fort Worth law enforcement by accusing the cops of using excessive force against him down at the station.

And Carey Cass Hudson has it all on videotape to boot.  (Watch the video below, released by Carey Hudson and the Fort Worth Star Telegram.) 

Warning: This Video is Disturbing.

As you watch the video, you’ll see the following:  he’s handcuffed behind his back.  Not much of a threat to anyone, right?  He’s being escorted by more than one police officer.  He’s shoved into a door frame.  Lotsa cops around.  Then he’s thrown onto the floor in a manner that would make Mike Tyson proud: fast, deliberate, with power.  Carey Hudson doesn’t move, except to curl into a fetal position once he’s on that linoleum floor. 

Two things of note.  Look for the blood there by his head once the cops start to move him.  And count the cops that are either involved in this brutality, or that sashay by while this man is lying there, bleeding. 

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the DWI charges have been dismissed against Mr. Hudson, and that a settlement of $120,000 is being offered to Mr. Hudson by the City.   You betcha a quick settlement would be good for the City. 

Fourth Amendment, 1983 Actions, and the Crisis of Excessive Force/Police Brutality in this Country

But is this justice?  First, let’s consider what is Excessive Force under the law.  The United States Constitution, under the Fourth Amendment, allows for a personal seizure if it is “reasonable.” 

Remember the Fourth Amendment?  “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”   That’s important.  Especially today. 

Cross the reasonable line, and you have a federal constitutional violation, and a violation of the Civil Rights Act (42 USC 1983) as well.  That law reads:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom or usage of any State . . . subjects or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law . . . .

What’s unreasonable force?  Unreasonable, or excessive force, is any force that is greater than the amount of physical force needed to subdue a criminal suspect. 

Excessive Force by Cops is a National Law Enforcement Crisis Today

Lack of trust in local police departments due to cops’ repeated use of excessive force is a crisis nationally.  It’s happening everywhere, not just in our neck of the woods. 

Good thing that video cameras are available to document these events – because you gotta wonder if any of us would know anything about what happened to this man in that police station if that camera hadn’t been there. 

Is this an example of Excessive Force?  You decide:

David Board, Chief of Police for Bastrop, Texas, was driving along Ed Bluestein Blvd. in Austin around 9:45 pm this past Monday night when some of his law enforcement brethren pulled him over — and busted him for driving drunk. 

That’s right: the Austin cops gave no special favors.   The Police Chief was busted. 

Chief Board was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and later released on a $5000 Personal Recognizance Bond.  He’s not on the job, however:  the City Manager has told the media that the Assistant Chief will be handling those job duties while Chief Board deals with some things. 

Right on the Heels of the State-Wide 2010 Labor Day DWI Enforcement Initiative (August 20 – September 6)

Interesting that the Bastrop Police Chief was arrested for drunk driving within days of the beginning of this year’s state-wide DWI enforcement grant program, which begins this Friday (August 20, 2010) and continues over the Labor Day holiday ending Monday, September 6th, 2010. During this block of time, police officers across the state will be focusing upon stopping potential drunk drivers — and over the Labor Day weekend, we’ll have another of those state-wide “No Refusal” campaigns. (“Where the police “don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”)

Here’s the video that KTRE is graciously sharing online with all of us, showing Lufkin cop Grant Jones pulling over 75 year old Tracey Lott as he was driving fast, trying to get his pal Johnny Hodge, 73, to the hospital. (Mr. Hodge was later hospitalized for respiratory and blood pressure problems.) Surprised?

After this dashcam video hit the media, office Jones resigned.

Watch for yourself as the police officer pulls the car over, draws his gun on the obviously non-violent, non-threatening senior who was driving, is disrespectful as he forces the driver, handcuffed behind his back, into the police car, and more.

Listen to his tone, his words — and think: the elderly gentlemen in that passenger seat, on the way to the hospital, could be dying.  Luckily, he wasn’t — but who knew that at the time? 

“It don’t make no difference, ” the cop says to Mr. Hodge – ill, sick, setting in his buddy’s front seat there on the side of the road, as Mr. Hodge tries to explain that his friend was just trying to get him fast medical care. No wonder this is getting national news coverage: