Disagree with Rocketboom...
...and you might be branded a racist. The folks from the video blog Rocketboom posted (what I would call) a highly controversial clip last Friday. In the clip, several people allege that they were brutalized by the New York City police department. Amanda, the host of the show calls the incident a report of police brutality. On their site, they give the item the tag of "police brutality." No mention of the word "alleged."
I watched the video and was not convinced that these people were telling the whole truth of the incident. From my perspective, these folks were holding a grudge based on the fact that their family members were arrested and things may have gotten rough in the process. That happens in NY, but it doesn't necessarily constitute brutality. There was no video provided of the officers telling their story. Likewise, the video's producers were not present when the arrest occurred.
I posted a comment on the site indicating my opinions in my usual direct approach ala the Pop Culture Rant. Within minutes, the show producer Andrew replied and called me a racist. Evidently I'm branded a racist because I didn't believe the entire account from hearing just one side of the story. I also thought that these folks might be holding a bit of a grudge against local police due to their run ins with the law.
The fact is that I have a family member who is an NYPD detective and I have a few friends serving on the force. They're all good people who do their best to deal with frightening situations on a daily basis. Knowing what they deal with makes me skeptical about these charges, especially after having identified a number of inconsistencies on the video. I have no problem voicing my honest opinion based on the available evidence. I do have a problem with being branded a racist by someone who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall.
So I'm down on Rocketboom these days. There are certain personal ethics involved in podcasting and videoblogging. Posting material that charges people with criminal activity is serious business. Especially when a person only posts one side of the story. I might rant against people's societal indiscretions in my podcasts, but I'm not going to charge someone with a crime unless I've got my ducks in a row. This posting presents a one sided story to the world and makes the NYPD look very bad. Who speaks for the officers?
I spoke for them and got branded. The funny thing is that we both agree that police brutality, anywhere and against anyone, is wrong. It's too bad that these folks had to broach the subject with a biased account of their own.
I watched the video and was not convinced that these people were telling the whole truth of the incident. From my perspective, these folks were holding a grudge based on the fact that their family members were arrested and things may have gotten rough in the process. That happens in NY, but it doesn't necessarily constitute brutality. There was no video provided of the officers telling their story. Likewise, the video's producers were not present when the arrest occurred.
I posted a comment on the site indicating my opinions in my usual direct approach ala the Pop Culture Rant. Within minutes, the show producer Andrew replied and called me a racist. Evidently I'm branded a racist because I didn't believe the entire account from hearing just one side of the story. I also thought that these folks might be holding a bit of a grudge against local police due to their run ins with the law.
The fact is that I have a family member who is an NYPD detective and I have a few friends serving on the force. They're all good people who do their best to deal with frightening situations on a daily basis. Knowing what they deal with makes me skeptical about these charges, especially after having identified a number of inconsistencies on the video. I have no problem voicing my honest opinion based on the available evidence. I do have a problem with being branded a racist by someone who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall.
So I'm down on Rocketboom these days. There are certain personal ethics involved in podcasting and videoblogging. Posting material that charges people with criminal activity is serious business. Especially when a person only posts one side of the story. I might rant against people's societal indiscretions in my podcasts, but I'm not going to charge someone with a crime unless I've got my ducks in a row. This posting presents a one sided story to the world and makes the NYPD look very bad. Who speaks for the officers?
I spoke for them and got branded. The funny thing is that we both agree that police brutality, anywhere and against anyone, is wrong. It's too bad that these folks had to broach the subject with a biased account of their own.
Recommend Podcast NYC To Your Friends
posted by PodcastNYC.net at 10:29 AM
3 Comments:
Sorry if misjudged you. This is what you mentioned in all the comments that set me off:
"I would bet a dime to a dollar that the main dude talking in this video has a rap sheet. If you were actually from this city, then you'd know that."
Sounds like you had a biased opinion. If you look at the video and ask the question, "Was the Rocketboom video biased for only telling one side of the story?" Yes, it was. Its only just one side of the story. Thats what it is. If you ask the question, "Is the Rocketboom video wrong for telling one side to a story?" Of course its not wrong to tell a person's story.
Regards,
Drew
It seems odd that you would attack Drew for calling you a racist because he doesn't know you... when you clearly don't know the "main dude" talking in the video and you "bet" that he has a rap sheet! I don't know if you are a racist, but that comment certainly was.
Here we go. The torrent of abuse towards me for my opinion will now flood my blog. That's fine.
Let me tell you something. I watched the entire video several times. In the video, the main guy talking says that the slow process of booking is business as usual at that particular police precinct. How would a person know that unless they had been through the process before?
That comment, along with a dozen other things that I heard and saw in the video lead me to my opinion that the tale of brutality is suspect at best. People who are getting arrested usually don't like it. The woman admitted that her son was in Riker's. Riker's Island is a NYC prison. Do you think she was happy about the fact that the police put him there?
The main gentleman speaking claimed that he was beaten about the face and head by seven police with fists, kicks and night sticks, yet he showed now signs of injury in those areas. How is that possible? He claimed that at the time of booking, police deliberately delayed the mugshots so that his swelling and other injuries would disappear. Well the fact is that swelling, cuts and bruises from blunt trauma wounds would take several days, at least, to subside. So I'd like to see that mug shot. Without it, I think that the story is suspect at best. And I don't care what the color of your skin is. If you're going to accuse someone of a crime (and identify them) on a video that's going out all over the world via the internet, then your story needs to add up.
Based on that and much more that I saw (and didn't see) in the video I don't believe their story. I think that the account of brutality is exaggerated because they don't like the police. I believe that the main guy speaking has seen the inside of a cell before and therefore he may hold a grudge against law enforcement officers.
Once again another person who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall call's wy words racist which is an assumption of my motivation when that person doesn't know who I am, where I've been or who my friends are. So you call my words racist then you're calling me racist and I reject your assertion.
You may disagree with my opinion and you may think I'm a jerk for having that opinion, but you don't have a view inside my head. And if I hadn't watched but a few seconds of the video then you'd be right to call me that because I wouldn't have any information to base my opinion on.
One last thing. Many people don't have a good understanding about how many domestic abuse arrests go down in the city. I've had a number described by my friends and family who are police officers. These are heated situations. Family members are angry with each other and at the police who are called. Sometimes, family members have committed crimes against each other such as assault, battery or violation of a restraining order. Sometimes those people are wanted in connection with other crimes. Sometimes the people involved are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The police have to search people on the scene to make sure there are no weapons present. In many cases, one or more people get arrested. Sometimes people struggle and fight to prevent being searched or arrested. Family members and friends will sometimes jump into the fray. This results in ugly, violent situations where people get injured. This puts the police in a very precarious situation where no matter what happens, they are going to look bad. An ugly, violent situation does not necessarily indicate police brutality, as there are two sides fueling the situation. The police need to be able to do a difficult job and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see real evidence that this incident happened the way these folks say it happened. The police were there for a reason. Someone called them according to the young man in the video. Why do people assume that the police just showed up to harrass poor innocent people?
I don't care if I'm the only one commenting on Rocketboom or here that doesn't believe the story happened the way it was told. Something did happen, but I'm siding with the police on this one until further evidence is brought to the fore. If the people in the video are innocent of the charges, then I hope they're found to be so in court. If the police are guilty of brutality, I hope those officers that are guilty get thrown off the force and prosecuted. But I'm not being bullied into a position on this because others don't agree with me or don't like what I said.
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