Seattle Officer Punches Girl in Face During Jaywalking Stop: I Would Have Punched Her, Too

The South Seattle Police Department is investigating what they're calling "an assault of an officer" today, and the video of the incident is fast becoming an object of controversy.

KOMO News of Seattle reports that the incident took place on Monday, when the officer witnessed four teenage girls jaywalking across Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (gotta love it). According to police officials, the young women became "verbally antagonistic" when the officer asked them to step over to his patrol car.

Apparently, the officer approached one woman who started to walk away. He then attempted to physically escort her to the vehicle. The woman resisted and an altercation ensued. Shortly thereafter, a second young lady intervened to try to help her friend. According to Seattle police, the officer believed "she was attempting to physically affect the first subject's escape."

As seen in the video, the second young lady shoved the officer, who then punched the girl in the face (very awesome). Police backup soon arrived, and the women were taken in to custody.

Sgt. Sean Whitcomb allegedly told reporters that punching is a trained tactic and the department defends the officer's actions.

Okay, I know I'm supposed to be all outraged and whatever because I'm black and stuff like that, HOWEVER, I don't know whether it's because I'm a jaded '80s baby tired of young people's lack of respect for authority or I'm just an insensitive b*tch, but I think the girls in this video absolutely deserve what they got.

Therefore, I'm not upset, nor appalled, nor preparing my picket sign for the sure-to-come NAACP rally.

 

Of course, jaywalking is a bogus offense that most cops don't acknowledge, let alone enforce, but when will this generation realize that they need to show respect for adults? Maybe your mom wants to be your best friend, and your teacher is just waiting on her retirement date and your dad (if he's around) just wants you to not be mad at him, but it's time young people grasped the concept of authority.

Maybe it was a ridiculous waste of time for an officer to cite this young woman for jaywalking, but what happened to the day and time when we respected the authority of policeman? I am older than the girl and probably the policeman, but I will tell you that if an officer told me I was being arrested for having nappy hair and to put my hands behind my back, my hands are going behind my back and I am going to STFU.

Why did this woman continue to resist this officer once given an official command? Life is not a game.

Is there any doubt that if they had just done what they were told in the first place this would not have happened? I don't know about you, but I was told that when it came to interacting with the police all I should be saying is "yes sir" and "no sir." If these women had responded in an appropriate manner when they were approached would we be watching any of this?

And don't get me started on her idiot friend. I'm very sorry she got punched in the face (not really), but you have a lone cop faced with a growing mob, and then her friend, a citizen interfering with an arrest, actually puts her hands on him? I would have popped the sh*t out of her, too.

You see she fell back once he got her in the mouf one good time. And she will likely think twice before putting her hands on a police officer again.

Frankly, I think this video says more about these young ladies and their view of authority than it does about a policeman acting inappropriately. We are so used to cops behaving badly and kicking ass and killing black people for no reason that we sit back and all but encourage young people to challenge them. You can see the anxious bystanders just hoping to get a shot of the latest YouTube sensation, salivating for a juicy clip of police brutality.

I will never support police brutality, and there have been actions of police against the citizens that are inexcusable, but this ain't one of them.

This video falls in the "you-get-what-you-asked-for" category for me. Perhaps next time an officer approaches these ladies, they will respect his authority and do what the hell he tells them to do instead of cursing him out.

Somewhere along the way, someone sent the message that young people can treat adults any way they want to (including police). And it's high time someone had a counter point.

Too bad it had to be a counterpunch. I'll save my tears for real victims.

Look at it this way: Just think of all those times when you encountered a group of rowdy young people on a bus or subway or walking down the street and thought to yourself, "Someone needs to whip their *sses." Consider it done. Courtesy of the Seattle Police.