New Jersey attorney general is investigating claims that police officers repeatedly punched an Arab teen without provocation

ObsidianJones

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The New Jersey Attorney General's Office is investigating after video footage shows multiple/ police officers assaulting a Muslim Arab American teenager.
Osamah Alsaidi, 19 at the time, was assaulted and arrested by police officers with the Paterson Police Department in New Jersey in December, his lawyer Diego Navas said in a pre-lawsuit notice of claim.
Alsaidi was walking down Madison Avenue in Paterson just after midnight December 14 when a vehicle approached him, according to video footage released by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
In the video, two Paterson police officers are seen briefly talking to Alsaidi before grabbing him and punching him repeatedly.
The video came from a surveillance camera across the street that Navas said they were "lucky" to find.
"If it wasn't for that camera, it'd be the word of our client against the word of the officers," Navas said in a news conference Tuesday.
CNN reached out to the department for a statement but has not received a response.
Alsaidi, who was on his way to his 1 a.m. shift at Amazon, sustained multiple physical injuries as a result, Navas said, including head trauma, a concussion and multiple cuts and bruises, as well as anxiety, stress and depression.
A spokesperson for St. Joseph's University Medical Center, Pamela Garretson, confirmed Alsaidi was treated and released December 14.
A police report detailing the encounter states Alsaidi approached the officers "screaming profanities and acting belligerent." Officers ignored Alsaidi, the report says, but then Alsaidi took an "aggressive fighting stance by blading his body and clutching his fist," before punching one officer in the chest and starting an altercation with him. The officers charged Alsaidi with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to the report.
But Alsaidi, in a Facebook post detailing the incident, claims the report is false.
"These officers came out of nowhere to block me from walking and beat me up on my own block," he wrote Friday. "Then (one officer) assaults me at the hospital away from cameras and people to avoid witnesses. I made a complaint to Internal Affairs and two months have passed and they still haven't done anything."
He continued, "I was beaten up and arrested for no reason. I was 19 at the time and have no criminal record. I was humiliated and treated like an animal. I thought they were going to kill me at the police station. I can't even walk IN MY OWN TOWN without being afraid these cops will attack me again."
In Tuesday's news conference, Selaedin Maksut, CAIR New Jersey's executive director, called on the officers involved to be fired and prosecuted for aggravated assault and official misconduct for allegedly making the false report.

I gotta be honest. I do not know why I'm posting this any more. To make people aware? It keeps happening. And the same people come out and gaslight and defend. What is happening to basic humanity that we find this action mundane?
 

Houseman

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I gotta be honest. I do not know why I'm posting this any more. To make people aware?
Outrage bait because you're biased against cops and because you want to elevate their mistakes and suppress their successes in order to validate your feelings?
 

Gergar12

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I gotta be honest. I do not know why I'm posting this any more. To make people aware? It keeps happening. And the same people come out and gaslight and defend. What is happening to basic humanity that we find this action mundane?
He should sue the living crap out of them. We are talking about life-lone health problems, and brain damage because of those people.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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Outrage bait because you're biased against cops and because you want to elevate their mistakes and suppress their successes in order to validate your feelings?
"Just leave those poor cops alone. Sure, sometimes they murder people like you with impunity, but I've never had a problem!"
 

Houseman

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"Just leave those poor cops alone. Sure, sometimes they murder people like you with impunity, but I've never had a problem!"
Replace "cops" with your choice of non-white ethnicity and you can see how problematic that sounds, doesn't it? Yeah. That's called prejudice.
 

TheMysteriousGX

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Replace "cops" with your choice of non-white ethnicity and you can see how problematic that sounds, doesn't it? Yeah. That's called prejudice.
Replace "cops" with your choice of non-white ethnicity and you'll get prosecutions and higher than average prison sentences.

Which is bullshit. People in positions of power and authority should have *harsher* penalties, not paid vacations and severance.

But you know that, you just love when the authoritarians are you flavored.
 

Houseman

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Which is bullshit. People in positions of power and authority should have *harsher* penalties, not paid vacations and severance.
I agree.
I also think one can be prejudiced against cops.

Like how one can hate how BLM gets away with burning, looting and murdering, and also be a racist.

But you know that, you just love when the authoritarians are you flavored.
What's my flavor?
 

The Rogue Wolf

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Replace "cops" with your choice of non-white ethnicity and you can see how problematic that sounds, doesn't it? Yeah. That's called prejudice.
Police officers choose to become police officers. And for the record, I'm only prejudiced against bad cops. Y'know, like ones who go beating some poor Muslim kid for literally no justifiable reason.

I'll ask you this: Why aren't you?
 

BrawlMan

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I gotta be honest. I do not know why I'm posting this any more. To make people aware? It keeps happening. And the same people come out and gaslight and defend. What is happening to basic humanity that we find this action mundane?
You're doing the right thing. Keep doing what you're doing. People need to know. Regardless of how ugly looking a situation is. I do thank you. You have a blessed day.
 

ObsidianJones

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So, I had to find out what prompted these responses. I actually had a feeling of who they were referring to, but I had to see with my own eyes. On brand as usual.

Here's the thing.

The arrest over the 2020 Protests reached upwards to 10,000 people.

Were there 10,000 incidents? Yes. But not the kind that some people are alleging.


New York City police planned the assault and mass arrests of peaceful protesters in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx on June 4, 2020, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The crackdown, led by the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, was among the most aggressive police responses to protests across the United States following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and could cost New York City taxpayers several million dollars in misconduct complaints and lawsuits.

Human Rights Watch and the visual investigations firm SITU Research also released a video using three-dimensional modeling, witness interviews, and footage recorded at the protest.

The 99-page report, “‘Kettling’ Protesters in the Bronx: Systemic Police Brutality and Its Costs in the United States,” provides a detailed account of the police response to the June 4 peaceful protest in Mott Haven, a low-income, majority Black and brown community that has long experienced high levels of police brutality and systemic racism. It describes the city’s ineffectual accountability systems that protect abusive police officers, shows the shortcomings of incremental reforms, and makes the case for structural change.

About 10 minutes before an 8 p.m. curfew – imposed after looting elsewhere in the city – scores of police officers surrounded and trapped the protesters – a tactic known as “kettling” – as they marched peacefully through Mott Haven. Just after 8 p.m., the police, unprovoked and without warning, moved in on the protesters, wielding batons, beating people from car tops, shoving them to the ground, and firing pepper spray into their faces before rounding up more than 250 people for arrest

“The New York City police blocked people from leaving before the curfew and then used the curfew as an excuse to beat, abuse, and arrest people who were protesting peacefully,” said Ida Sawyer, acting crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. “It was a planned operation with no justification that could cost New York taxpayers millions of dollars.”



Now, here's the end goal. To prove a point, I will absolutely entertain the notion that others have brought about saying there wasn't enough done with BLM and there is more to pay. This is not something I actually believe, but will go along with IF they would ever agree that the rules should be applied evenly.

People were arrested for fires that were set. The person thought responsible for shooting up the Minn. Police station was arrested. Looters were arrested.

But that's not enough. Because some marched with BLM, BLM must all be culpable for the actions made by a few? Ok. Convince me of that logic by applying it evenly.

The only people other than Capitol Police at January 6th were MAGA. They destroyed, ransacked, and beat Police Officers. Their violence is indisputable. But as other say BLM for shorthand for the few people who looted and burn, I think we should apply their own logic to MAGA. Yes, a few MAGA and Trump faithful compared to the millions of MAGA out there actually did the breach. But since we don't say "A few that went along with BLM" or "Those fringe members of the BLM Protests", I think it's safe to say more needs to be done with MAGA. Full Stop.

Yet we should not forget it wasn't the only protest of the day.


And this wasn't even the first capitol that was sieged. Michigan Capitol was first. Rep Mike Nearman helped a Breach of Oregon's state Capitol.

By this Logic, we should treat those largely peaceful protests the same as the breachers, right? MAGA is MAGA, BLM is BLM. No distinction, no actual taking out only the bad actors. Everyone is liable by guilty via association.

I'm wondering if certain parties here in the forum would have overlooked the Police's actions if the Police actually did apply their heavy handedness evenly and then descended on those other peaceful protesters on Jan 6th? If because of what was happening in the Capitol that day, Police and the National Guard were called en Masse and batoned those elderly MAGA? I'm almost sure there would be no calls for understanding of the Police Officers at that time.
 

Houseman

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Police officers choose to become police officers
And people of all ethnicities choose to murder others. That doesn't give you license to brand them all as "evil". There's more cops out there doing good than you'll ever hear about because you're so busy getting outraged about the handful who are bad.

What would you think if I posted stories, every day, about a black person who commits a crime? Would you see any issues there?

I'll ask you this: Why aren't you?
Why aren't I prejudiced? Because prejudice is bad.

The only people other than Capitol Police at January 6th were MAGA.
Demonstrably false:

But that's not enough. Because some marched with BLM, BLM must all be culpable for the actions made by a few? Ok. Convince me of that logic by applying it evenly.

The only people other than Capitol Police at January 6th were MAGA. They destroyed, ransacked, and beat Police Officers. Their violence is indisputable. But as other say BLM for shorthand for the few people who looted and burn, I think we should apply their own logic to MAGA. Yes, a few MAGA and Trump faithful compared to the millions of MAGA out there actually did the breach.
But yes. If all of BLM is guilty for the actions of a few, then all of MAGA is guilty for the actions of a few.
But you would never agree to that, would you? There's the consistency you wanted, right? You wanted it applied evenly, right?
So let's shake on it. Deal?
 

Houseman

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Yeah you are prejudice: Anyone in power doesn’t get the same scrutiny as those not in power.
Why do you think that this is what I think? Or are you saying that this is how it actually is or should be?
 

Houseman

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Every time some one in power does some thing illegal, Houseman is ready to defend them
This inductive logic has flaws. It's like saying "the only swans I see are white, therefore ALL SWANS ARE WHITE!"
 

Drathnoxis

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Every time some one in power does some thing illegal, Houseman is ready to defend them
There's something to be said for always having a contrary argument to everything. I wouldn't want the Escapist to become an echo chamber. Houseman fulfills an important role in the ecosystem.
 
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TheMysteriousGX

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...I fail to see the point in "but maybe the cop was right to attack somebody unprovoked"

Like, we already have varying degrees of opinions on cops, from Fuck Them All to Fuck The Bad Ones. Do we really need Cops Can Randomly Attack People All They Want And That's A Good Thing?