>> Metro Transit Police and DC are launching an internal investigation following a surveillance
of aid, an officer, using a taser on an unarmed black man.
Now, this story by itself is pretty terrible, but there's an added layer of bad behavior
when you consider the way ABC and World News Tonight specifically, deceptively edited the
video of the encounter.
Now, we're gonna show you the way they edited the video, and then we're gonna show you the
full context, take a look.
>> So my name is Chamere and we're gonna stay right here and we gone make sure that everybody
taken care of, okay?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
He's alright, he's alright, he's alright, he's alright.
Hold on, he's all right.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, not necessary.
Not necessary.
Just get down.
He's not even resisting.
>> Back up, back up.
>> He's not even resisting.
>> Back up.
>> He's not even resisting.
He's all right.
He's down.
How many tasers does it take to take down a grown man?
He's down.
>> Now the officers were responding to calls involving two minors who are allegedly threatening
people with sticks.
So they show up and they start investigating and then there was a third man, a black man
that got taste, who was asking questions as these two minors were being confronted by
the cops.
And so things escalated to the point where a third officer shows up and he starts tasing
the black man, even though he was unarmed and even though his hands were up in the air.
But if you looked at that ABC News World Tonight footage, you would think that, the black man
posed some sort of threat to the cops.
Now let's take a look at the full context and by the way, a hat tip to Jordan Youell
who posted about this on Twitter.
Let's take a look.
>> So my name is Chamere and we're gonna stay right here and we're gonna make sure everybody
taken care of, okay?
What I don't want is one of these colleagues of mine is trying to get on you all you're
been you have to go off and I ain't got my nails done all right?
So you calm down real quick.
>> Wait wait.
>> All right all right, hold on.
Wow, wow, wow he's all right, he's all right, he's all right.
Hold on he's all right, hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
hey hey hey hey.
>> For what reason?
Not necessary.
Just get down.
Not necessary, that is not necessary.
Yo, that is not necessary, he is not even resisting, he is not even resisting.
>> Back up >> He's not even resisting.
He is okay, stop.
Yo, yo, I'm right here.
Y'all need to stop.
He's not even stop, just lay down.
Stop baby stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
Stop yo, let him go.
He's all right.
He's down.
He can't even move, he's down, leave him alone.
He is down.
>> God damn, you.
>> How many tasers does it take to take down a grown man?
He's down.
>> Give me your other hand, your other hand.
>> So I'd argue that the full context is important, because it tells a full story of what really
went down, and there also seems to be some mixed messaging coming from the Metro Police
in DC.
Metro, according to NBC Washington, also said the third officer in the video use the taser
because the man who had not been detained was interfering in the police investigation
and quote, exhibited behavior consistent with preparing to fight the officer.
>> Can I jump?
I got to jump in there.
>> Yes.
Okay.
So there's no winning, you saw the video, he put his hands up.
And so, you're supposed to put your hands up with the cops.
And they said the fact he raised his hands, was an indication that he was getting in a
fighting posture.
But wait if they tell you to raise your hands, so if your hands are down like Filandro Castillo's
was, you're going to get shot and killed.
>> If your hands are up, you're going to get taste.
So now, did the guy push the officer or did the officer should push the guy?
You just saw you just saw it and was the guy's hands up?
Yes, it was.
And it wasn't enough so he takes him and by the way, that guy took a taser like nobody's
business.
So >> That's what I said.
>> Yeah, >> To the cop in the beginning, right?
He teases him once it didn't have an impact, and then he proceeds to taze him over and
over again, to the point where the man is on the ground and he is unable to move and
their still tasing him.
>> And this is the number one problem which is that we teach our cops all across the country
that you don't take anything from anybody, okay, you put them down.
>> And so when you teach them to rage and you teach them that no one is ever allowed
to disrespect you, and nobody is ever allowed to talk back to you, well this is what results.
This is what happens.
You shouldn't be surprised.
Stop being surprised.
If you teach them to do something, they'll do it, so stop teaching them to constantly
abuse civilians who question cops.
They're supposed to be our cops, I know it sounds funny, right?
Because they seem to mainly protect the rich, and obviously we've seen it over and over
again.
Another unarmed black guy, and then they turn around they're always surprised that people
are angry.
Like, I guess people are upset about it, I mean, just be yeah, we know you've been doing
it for decades, but now we can see with our own eyes.
>> So as I mentioned, at first, the Metro Police told NBC that the man had not been
detained and then later on after this video, the full context goes viral, they put out
a different statement.
Now, I wanna tell you what that statement says.
After the subject disregarded warnings to move back, the officer deployed his department
issued taser and was able to take the man into custody.
But wait a minute.
At first it said that he was not detained, right?
That's what NBC Washington was told by this very department.
So I don't get it.
Why are they now saying that he had been detained?
>> And a police department in America would never lie, the police are angels.
I mean look they ask juries, hey if a cop is on the stand, he's more credible than the
average citizen.
Really, does anyone believe that anymore?
I mean it sounds preposterous.
And then they were surprised when OJ got off.
I don't think he should've gotten off, but there was a jury pool that had had seen, for
their entire lives, African Americans in this country abused, lied about, beat upon, and
framed over and over and over again and, back then, there wasn't as much video.
That was the beginning of video, when we saw the Rodney King beatings, right?
And, whenever African Americans said they're beating us up, nonstop.
>> People like sure, yeah, right.
Who are we supposed to believe the entire African American community in the country?
Tens of millions of people or a bunch of cops we paid to kick your ass.
No, we're gonna believe the cops.
So yeah, we're tired of it.
We're tired of it and when I say we, I mean all decent Americans.
>> Well, let me just let me just say one thing.
For the longest time, I thought that people would deny what was really going on with excessive
force and brutality.
And then I realized that no, they're not simply denying it, they know the truth, they know
what's really happening.
It's just that acknowledging what's really happening would maybe lead to some changes
and they don't want changes, right?
So what made me realize that is what's happening with children at the border right now.
Children who are literally dying, six of them have died so far in Border Patrol custody
because of the conditions that they're being kept in.
So there's evidence of that now, there's no denying it and people know, and so what has
the right wing response been to that?
So what?
They don't care.
They don't care, so they acknowledge, what's happening, maybe not publicly but they know
what's really happening with police brutality.
The thing is, they love it.
They don't want it to change.
>> No, but there's an important cap here, unless it is the Bundy Ranch people.
>> Right.
>> It is right wingers, it is white right wingers, forget about it.
How dare the cops point weapons at beloved white right wing ranchers just because the
right wing ranchers pointed guns at them and threatened to murder all the cops.
No, the cops should stand down, this is police abuse.
It's police abuse when the cops looked to protect themselves from right wing extremist
who are threatening to murder them.
That's apparently police abuse.
But kicking and whipping crapped out of minorities, year after year decade after decade not police
abuse.
Gee, I wonder if they're racially motivated.
And then the great irony is they'll they'll turn around and go, you guys are making about
race.
No, you are making about race, when you constantly attack minorities in this country, and then
give ridiculous insane privilege to right wingers who happen to be white and then you
say, well I don't see race all I see is white people that are right where you should all
be protected and the cops should bow down to them and the government should bow down
to them.
But if it's a minority, the government has every right to kick them and beat them and
do whatever they want to them.
What you're doing is crystal clear.
Little tiny extra piece of irony in this particular story, this happened at the metro stop of
U Street but it's also known as African-American Civil War Memorial Cardozo Station.
So it doesn't matter.
In Washington DC, African Americans are the majority, but somehow they get abused anyway,
cuz that's what power does.
And, yes, it's about damn time we fought back, I don't mean physically, I mean legally and
politically.
We have to gain control so that cops wind up protecting and serving all of us.
And not just the rich
and powerful.