There's something about Jasper...

[LSN80]

The town in Texas, that is. And unlike Mary, that 'something' isn't a good thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout...-police-officers-beating-woman-204501776.html

Last month, 25 year old Keyarika Diggles was arrested by for failing to pay a $100 parking ticket. I've heard of summons being sent, moneys being added on, and even visits from constables, but actual arrests for failing to pay such a small fine? News to me. Regardless, the $100 dollars wound up being the least of her worries by the end of the day.

The original arresting officer, Ricky Grissom, initially gave Diggles permission to use the phone inside the station to call her mother in an attempt to raise the money, which is where things really broke down. As one can see in the video, he became agitated at some point, slammed the phone down, and got into a verbal altercation with Diggles. As the two argued, fellow officer Ryan Cunningham arrived, attempted to handcuff Diggles, and drove her head into the countertop, and he and Grissom flung her to the ground, where she was then dragged by her ankles to a nearby holding cell. Said Diggles regarding the event:

"He(Grissom) said, ‘I’ve been waiting here all this time when I could have been out patrolling, waiting on you. This is stupid. He just went to cussing. And then I was like, ‘Well, you don’t have to yell at me.’"

Grissom, and Cunningham for that matter, won't be doing any patrolling any longer for the Jasper Police Department. Intelligent men that they were, they assaulted Diggles in their own station, where they had to know security cameras were recording the entire incident. Diggles, who had been charged with resisting arrest for arguing with Grissom, had that charge dropped. Said Diggles' attorney Cade Bernsen:

"The amount of force used was abominable. She got her hair pulled out, broke a tooth, braces got knocked off … it was brutal. It’s a different part of the world, man, it’s crazy.”

What Bernsen is alluding to is the past incidents of racial discrimination that have taken place in Jasper. I can't say whether or not the issue was racially motivated, there's no audio and Diggles' hasn't alleged that, apparently. But there have been several high-profile, racially driven incidents in the past, most notably, that of James Byrd. I remember, at age 15, being horrified as I listened to the radio on the way to school one morning and heard the story of Byrd, a black man who was tied to the back of a pick-up truck by three white supremacists, where he was decapitated after being dragged for miles. The thought alone still makes my stomach turn.

Byrds body was found, ironically, by the first black patrolman in Jasper's history, Rodney Pearson. In the latest incident of alleged racial discrimination in Jasper, Pearson, who was named Jasper's first black police chief just two years ago, was recently fired after only little more then a year on the job, and is suing for discrimination. And now, Diggles' assault is leading to another lawsuit against the Jasper Police Department.

"We believe that her civil rights were violated. We believe that there is a history of people, specifically African Americans, being abused by the Jasper Police Department. We intend to bring a civil action on behalf of Ms. Diggles for violation of her civil rights. We hope that we can bring enough scrutiny and attention to shame these people into reform."

Without audio, it's impossible to know whether or not this was truly due to race. Based upon what you've seen and read, what say ye? Racially motivated or not?

Is losing their jobs enough, or should the two officers be prosecuted for excessive force, assault, or something of the like?

Have you experienced discrimination in your life in some way? This could be racial, gender-related, age-specific, or based upon one's looks. Were you discriminated against? The one discriminating? Or know someone who has?

For myself, personally, I've seen it and experienced it from pretty much every angle. I've been discriminated against as a white male who once lived in an area 90% populated by black men, women and children, and I was discriminatory in my attitude and words, I'm sorry to say, during my time living in said area. Have you? How so?

Any other thoughts or discussion regarding this story are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Without audio, it's impossible to know whether or not this was truly due to race. Based upon what you've seen and read, what say ye? Racially motivated or not?

Impossible to tell. Society is often quick to rush to the idea that race played a part in this, but there's no way to know for sure. Perhaps the officers would have reacted the same way to a person of their own race; who knows? That there is a history of racial problems in Jasper isn't enough to judge this incident; each situation has to be considered by itself. The aspect of the video that is most disturbing is that the woman displayed no overt physical aggression toward the officers, not even inflammatory gestures with her hands that so many folks use when they're angry. Yes, we don't know what she was saying, but police officers are surely used to being verbally assaulted, no? Whatever she could have said can't have merited the physicality that ensued. Sticks and stones......

Have you experienced discrimination in your life in some way? This could be racial, gender-related, age-specific, or based upon one's looks. Were you discriminated against?

Only one thing; I've had people assume my deafness equates to mental deficiency. I speak aloud, as you do, but I've been told my voice sounds "******ed" (I hate that word and the casual way people throw it at others, including on this forum)...... but the problem is that my voice is toneless (without inflection) because while you can hear me speak, I can't hear myself, making it impossible for me to make my voice sound "normal." Due to this, I was once denied employment because the interviewer presumed I wasn't mentally capable of doing the job due to the sound of my voice. He later admitted this when I filed a complaint with his superiors and I wound up being hired.

If that wasn't discrimination, you'd need to tell me what is.

 

[HBsam31]

Without audio, it's impossible to know whether or not this was truly due to race. Based upon what you've seen and read, what say ye? Racially motivated or not?

Like Sally said it is hard to tell, and each situation has to be judged on its own. If I were to place a bet on the situation I would probably say yes it was, but I can't prove it. One thing I can say is it seems that lately police are taking a lot more liberties with people, and excessive force seems to be more and more of a normal thing. I am not a cop hater at all, but there is no reason to be someone half to death just because they question what is going on.

Is losing their jobs enough, or should the two officers be prosecuted for excessive force, assault, or something of the like?

Assault yes. If the person is not posing any bodily harm to the officer then they should be held under the same standard as a civilian. If she attacked them them that is another story, but like I said, cops seem to be over stepping their bounds a lot more lately.

Have you experienced discrimination in your life in some way? This could be racial, gender-related, age-specific, or based upon one's looks. Were you discriminated against? The one discriminating? Or know someone who has?

I am a white male, and I can't say that it has happened much at all. I am a chef and one time me and another chef went to dinner with our wives at a very nice restaurant. We wore jeans and dress shirts in a place that most people were wearing suits. There was no dress code, and we looked very well kept and dressy, but not overboard. We were ignored, and received poor service due to what we could only think was because of our dress. When the food turned out to be sub par and we told them we were chefs the service changed immediately. That is a very small thing compared to what other people go through, and we actually laughed about it after. I am not trying to compare it to a situation like this at all.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Last month, 25 year old Keyarika Diggles was arrested by for failing to pay a $100 parking ticket. I've heard of summons being sent, moneys being added on, and even visits from constables, but actual arrests for failing to pay such a small fine? News to me.

When you no-show court dates they issue an arrest warrant. The bail is usually the same amount as the fine you went in for, so you just sit there until it's paid or you bond out. I've done it a few times.

I love that this incident was caught on tape. I've personally witnessed numerous instances of the police using excessive force and never having to deal with the consequences of it because when it's your word versus theirs, they're always going to win. Just last week a 16 year was killed by the police in Kansas City and the cops claimed that he pulled a gun. He was shot in the back of the neck, the kid was never known, by friends or foes, to ever carry a gun, and he had zero warrants for his arrest or any other reason to run from the police. Despite all of these questions, the police will never have to answer for this. After all, they completed a 6 month course in Community College and obtained a driver's license. They're obviously the cream of the crop.

Whether or not this incident was racially motivated is unclear, but what is clear is that these two gentlemen, like most cops in urban cites, are dicks.

 

[LSN80]

Impossible to tell. Society is often quick to rush to the idea that race played a part in this, but there's no way to know for sure.

The fact that this happened in Jasper is probably the reason it became a story in the national news. Jasper, known for racial divide in the past, has two male policeman assault a defenseless female. A journalist's dream, yes?

Perhaps the officers would have reacted the same way to a person of their own race; who knows? That there is a history of racial problems in Jasper isn't enough to judge this incident; each situation has to be considered by itself. The aspect of the video that is most disturbing is that the woman displayed no overt physical aggression toward the officers, not even inflammatory gestures with her hands that so many folks use when they're angry.

It could be any number of things. The officer could have been pissed off, like she said, that he had to pick her up instead of patrolling around. Still, that doesn't explain the behavior or the other officer, who was downright vicious in his attack. These could be two alpha males who need the woman to know when to stay "in her place." But again, he hung up the phone on her when she was trying to get the $100 to end the ordeal. She seemed to say something, and he got confrontational.

Whatever the case, be it racial, a male/female dynamic, or simply a power one because they were cops, it was as if she was an inferior human being.

Only one thing; I've had people assume my deafness equates to mental deficiency. I speak aloud, as you do, but I've been told my voice sounds "******ed" (I hate that word and the casual way people throw it at others, including on this forum)...... but the problem is that my voice is toneless (without inflection) because while you can hear me speak, I can't hear myself, making it impossible for me to make my voice sound "normal." Due to this, I was once denied employment because the interviewer presumed I wasn't mentally capable of doing the job due to the sound of my voice. He later admitted this when I filed a complaint with his superiors and I wound up being hired.

If that wasn't discrimination, you'd need to tell me what is.

I would argue that it is, simply for the fact that his superiors saw things his way, people who I assume didn't know or hold allegiance to you in any way, correct? And the biggest part that is discriminatory isn't that he denied you the job, it's that he made assumptions about your mental capacity due to the sound, or lack thereof, of your voice.

I experienced overt discrimination once myself, and it almost got me killed. Quite simply, for being white. I had just moved to a new town 7 years ago for a job, and about a month in, my normal way home was closed for construction. I used my GPS to find the quickest route, but it took me straight into the heart of where a black gang was hanging out. What I found out later from police officers, after getting my back window shot out, was that I was shot at because:

1. I was white.
2. My car resembled that of one in a rival gang of theirs.

The problem that happened from that was that I started to be weary of my neighbors, and looked for a new place to live almost immediately. I lived in a giant apartment complex, the only place I could find in a week for my job, and I was the only white person in the entire complex. I never cared, but I immediately began to look down on my neighbors because of the actions of a few. People I used to exchange friendly hellos with encountered me with my head down instead from then out. The first place I could find on the market, I moved to.

Essentially, I let discrimination against myself cause me to discriminate against a far larger group of people. And that's how discrimination, whether it be age, race, gender, or religion, get its origins, and quickly spirals out of control. I'm only one person, and it affected many people irregardless.