Police Brutality

In Cincinnati, OH local police were called to investigate a 350 pound man, Nathaniel Jones who had fallen asleep on the front lawn of a White Castle restaurant, and then began acting irrationally. When the police arrived, the Jones began to attack the officers despite the officers’ repeated warnings to “stay back”. In self-defense, the two officers (of average height and build) used their nightsticks to try to thwart the attack by beating Jones on parts of his lower body. When the officers finally knocked Jones to the ground, they attempted to handcuff him and repeatedly ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Jones, however, would not listen. He kept struggling with the police, drawing even more blows from the officer’s nightsticks.

When Jones was finally subdued, the officers discovered cocaine, and some cigarettes which had been dipped in methanol (an ingredient used in the embalming process and is also used by people to get high) in his car. Upon a drug test performed on Jones, authorities discovered that he had ingested cocaine and PCP several hours before the incident. A short time after arriving at the police station, Jones suffered a heart attack and died.

His death has sparked the fire of several Black activists nation-wide. They claim that his death was a result of the officer’s actions, and that they were racially motivated. Members of Jones’ family claim that he was a caring and loving person who would never hurt anyone. Personally, I’ve never met him, but just by watching the video I’m fairly confident that his intentions were to hurt the police.

Let’s dissect this situation:

• Police officers arrive to find a 350 pound man acting irrationally. They move in to subdue him, only to further anger him and cause him to attack.
• The officers, in self-defense, club the man with their nightsticks, using care not to hit him in the head or to damage any vital organs.
• The man was under the influence of both cocaine and PCP, weighed 350 pounds, and had a bad heart.
• The man later dies after the incident.
• Liberal Black activists claim that the man died as a result of the police beating.

I personally agree in one aspect with the activists: the police did not act appropriately in this situation. If I was one of the officers, I would have put a few rounds into him, and called it a night. Instead, these officers gave Jones every chance they could to give up and be taken away peacefully. They did not start off swinging, Jones was the instigator. The part of the activists’ argument that I do not agree with is that the officers’ actions were racially motivated. If they were to put themselves in the officers’ shoes, where they had a man twice their size who they suspect is on drugs, and is attacking them, what would they do? Stand there and take the beating from the man, or defend themselves? I would hope that they would choose the latter. Then they claim that the officers’ actions caused this man’s death. I am 50-50 on this argument. Sure, if you get any 350 pound man really worked up, chances are they will have a heart attack. But if you take any 350 pound man with an already bad heart, get him high on cocaine and PCP, he’s almost guaranteed to have a heart attack, that much he did to himself, and I’m sure there was another self control problem somewhere along the line that led to him weighing 350 pounds.

Without the officers’ involvement in this situation, this man could have attacked anyone else who he came across. Instead of applauding the officer’s efforts to do their job, by protecting the public, these activists are trying to punish them.

This world is dangerous enough with terrorism in the back of everyone’s minds; let’s not make it more difficult for the police to do their jobs, by punishing them for subduing a threat to the public.