A recently surfaced video documents an event that happened back in June, and what it shows is alarming. Several months ago in Brooklyn, NY, a 17-year-old teen named Marcel Hamer was arrested for smoking what the officer claimed appeared to be marijuana. Although Hamer, having already tackled to the ground by the time the video begins, declares repeatedly that “it was just a cigarette", the officer proceeds with the arrest. Undeterred by the teens protests, the plainclothes cop then appears to either knock the boy’s head into a car bumper, or into the ground. Hamer lays on the street unconscious for he remainder of the video. According to The Brooklyn Paper, the NYPD is currently investigating the issue and is not commenting at this time.
Bystanders, one of whom is filming the incident, can be heard yelling, “He’s knocked out!” and the officer retorted, “Yeah! Get it in on film.” Hamer later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and the family has now filed a $5 million civil suit, asking also that the officer to be criminally prosecuted. Indeed, a cop should be legally punished for bashing a 17-year-old’s head into a hard object, even if he wasn’t complying. Marcel Hamer’s mother claims that her son has never been the same since the incident. In a segment on 7Online, Hamer claims, “He’s been complaining of headaches, he’s been repeating a lot of things, he’s different.” This is one of many cases where we have seen police offers use incredibly violent, excessive force when making an arrest.
This violence between civilians and law enforcement has been a more visible, mainstream topic of discussion this year, but the fact is, this is not a new trend, and it’s still happening, and one can only hope that the increase in video documentations of these incidents does't lead to public desensitization.
Another clip reveals a recent incident in New York involving a 16 year-old who was punched in the face by a cop, and knocked in the head with a gun. In July, a police officer killed 43-year-old Eric Garner after several cops placed him in a chokehold for selling cigarettes illegally. In September, NYPD pushed a pregnant woman on to the ground, face-down. Her son was being arrested for carrying a weapon, and the woman was attempting to protect her son. As a result, NYPD attacked her, which resulted in vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain. In the video, a woman trying to intervene was also violently pushed into the street.
Many more cases have arisen with alarming proof of the corruption and violence that exists within law enforcement. The tragedy with Michael Brown in Missouri is, at least in terms of public attention, outrage, and the building of a dramatic media narrative, the culmination of the kind of unjust dynamic between citizen and police officer we see happen far too often. There is major distrust, racism, and prejudice within the legal system, and it's disgusting and problematic. These incidents are continuously investigated, but they keep popping up more and more frequently, making us question how such brutal, terrible acts are allowed to happen in the first place.
Images: Getty
