HOUSTON - Aman Abdulaziz had a goal at Sam Houston State University. The 19-year-old was majoring in history and planned to be a lawyer.No, I'll bet you really didn't like cops before.
But all of that changed when he had an encounter with SHSU Campus Police. It left him with this
impression of law enforcement officers:
"I don't trust police officers at all now, and I really hate police officers now to be honest."
Let's go back to October when Abdulaziz was a freshman living on campus at Sam Houston State. He says he was picking up a friend at a nearby dorm when he parked illegally and attracted the attention of campus police.
"They asked for license and registration so I went to my car to get it and when I went to get it and I started looking around and that's when I was asked by him to give me what was in my pocket and the incident went from there," Abdulaziz said.
Police accused him of having marijuana in his pocket.
This was all caught on a police dashboard camera.
"The largest police officer who assaulted me the most,” he said. “He came up to me and started kicking me in the face with his shoes."
After the dust settled, you hear an officer brag about physically assaulting the college freshman.
“I was choking the s*** out of him,” one officer said.
You also hear in the article the officers scream "he's swallowing the marijuana...." and multiple times you hear an officer say "put you hands behind you back!" If someone is trying to swallow evidence (in this case a bag of weed) grabbing the neck to prevent swallowing is something to do. Also he was instructed loudly to put his hands behind his back. If he would have and not tried to destroy evidence maybe he would have not been handled so strongly.
Abdulaziz says he's angry because after this run-in, “he” was charged with assaulting an officer. That charge didn't stand up in court and he was found not guilty.
"For them accused me of assault on a police officer when I obviously didn't put my hands on him in any way or manner, It seems a bit corrupt to me that they can do something like thatm," he said.
In the meantime, Abdulaziz is still in court fighting the marijuana possession and tampering with evidence charges...
..."It's made me lose about an entire year of possible education I could've received, but not only has that happened, but it's been emotional and a roller coaster for me since then," he said.
SHSU officials would not comment because Abdulaziz still has pending charges.
Well, this country has more than enough lawyers, thank you. Get a degree in something useful like medicine or nursing.
One thing I'm wondering is why the journalist didn't ask Mr Abdulaziz "Well did you have marijuana on you and did you try and swallow it?" Oh, he can't answer that because of a pending trial. Then you know the Sam Houston Police can't comment because of a pending trial and possible civil litigation, right? And your are smart enough to know that, right? Then why ask the questions. Then again, what's the entire point of this report.
Now, onwards to Occupy Houston.
Gunman charged after shooting during Occupy Houston rally
A 21-year-old Houston man shot by police after allegedly firing a rifle into the air at Tranquility Park during an Occupy Houston rally was charged with aggravated assault on a public servant, authorities said.
Joshua Anthony Twohig, who lives in far north Houston, remained hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries Tuesday morning, said Jodi Silva, a Houston Police Department spokeswoman.
Twohig, who has no known association with the Occupy Houston movement, walked into the park about 5:15 p.m. Monday dressed in a black suit and carrying a .40-caliber rifle, authorities said.
Strange. A maniac goes on a shooting rampage in Arizona last year and in minutes every fool in media was trying to tie him to the TEA Part in general and Sarah Palin in particle. But immediately this objective and non-partizan media source says the man has no relation to Occupy Houston. Gee, is there some bias in this?
...Two HPD special operation bike patrol officers arrived quickly and told Twohig to drop the weapon, but he refused and said, "Shoot me! Shoot me!" according to witnesses and police....
...The officers fired at Twohig, and he fell to the ground, but he stood back up and reached for his rifle and was shot again, police said. None of his injuries was life threatening.
...Occupy Houston volunteers issued a statement saying the gunman was "not a recognized participant in Occupy Houston, nor has he been determined to have any affiliation with any of its members."
"At this time, Occupy Houston is not speculating on the motives of the gunman, but we extend our sympathies to the seemingly troubled young man who perpetrated (Monday's) act of violence," the statement said. "We are thankful that no one other than the assailant was injured, and we extend our gratitude to the officers on scene who reacted quickly and with the appropriate amount of force as dictated by the situation."
Again, let's look into this and ask questions like is Mr Twohig a "99%er", a member of Occupy Whatever. Or is inquisition something to ask from a modern journalist.
With regard to AbdulAziz, the police clearly used excessive force.
ReplyDeleteIf a suspect is attempting to swallow evidence you can restrain his hands or, if he succeeds,arrest him, note that that he swallowed the evidence and pursue a lawful method of procuring the evidence.
However, choking a suspect is NOT a reasonable or legal option.
Furthermore, there's really no excuse for kicking or striking the suspect in any way.
Anon
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong. We can use intermediate force to stop a crime. He was committing a crime called trying to dispose of evidence. You say choking is not reasonable or legal. OK, what is a reasonable way of stopping this turd from swallowing the weed he is trying to hide? Give me a specific technique please, not platitudes.
Oh, …no excuse for kicking or striking the suspect in any way. Kicking or striking a suspect is a legitimate use of physical force in protecting ones self or effecting a lawful arrest. One of the things you hear an officer say thought the video is "put your hands behind you!" He was telling this idiot what to do and the man was refusing. Why? Did he have a weapon? Was he trying to hide other evidence? The big question is the weapon. Until he is secured (i.e. handcuffed) he is a threat. If he had gotten a pistol out he could have killed these officers. So they had more than enough justification for use of intermediate force to subdue him.
Thankfully the officers are ok …sorry, I’m not really concerned about the idiot, err moron, oh student.
I was already very specific about how to stop him from disposing of the evidence. You can attempt to restrain his hands in order to prevent him from getting the drugs down his throat. But if you fail to do so, choking him is not a viable contingency.
DeleteYou have to keep things in perspective. You're a LEO, this is not a personal vendetta. If you fail at lawfully stopping him from disposing of the evidence, it's not the worse thing in the world. If however, you crush his trachea trying to stop him, this is much worse.
Additionally, I did not mean that kicking and striking a suspect is never justified. I meant there was no excuse in this particular case.
3 officers each outweighing the suspect significantly
the suspects hips and legs are already restrained and he is pinned belly down.
the suspects hands are presumably obviously pre-engaged attempting to dispose of the evidence
he is a college student, on a college campus.
I was already very specific about how to stop him from disposing of the evidence. You can attempt to restrain his hands in order to prevent him from getting the drugs down his throat. But if you fail to do so, choking him is not a viable contingency.
DeleteAnd you seem to be missing the point about hands. We will restrain the hands because that is what harms a cop. You don't punch with your neck, swing a knife with your foot or shoot a pistol with your head. They are all done with your hands.
If you fail at lawfully stopping him from disposing of the evidence, it's not the worse thing in the world. If however, you crush his trachea trying to stop him, this is much worse.
Again, they were stopping him from swallowing evidence and possibly hurting himself. If that was cocaine he could poison himself.
Additionally, I did not mean that kicking and striking a suspect is never justified. I meant there was no excuse in this particular case.
As long as he's trying to hide his hands, refusing to bring his hands into the open and resisting being handcuffed, intermediate force is justified. If you have questions I suggest you look at the Texas Penal Code, Section 9.
...the suspects hands are presumably obviously pre-engaged attempting to dispose of the evidence...
I love that term, “presumably obviously”. Now what does it mean? No Anon, I won't bet my life on that. Until his hands are secured he is a threat and I will use force to effect an arrest. The question you need to ask yourself. Am willing to risk my life on this?