Comments on: Man with Down Syndrome beaten, pepper-sprayed by San Diego sheriff's deputies http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Sun, 19 May 2013 08:42:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: donovan acree http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1615472 donovan acree Wed, 26 Dec 2012 15:43:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1615472 while trying "to gain compliance and prevent a possible escape," he used pepper spray  Wait.. what? To gain compliance? He attacked an unarmed non-threatening man with chemical weapons because he didn't answer questions? "The deputy began using a baton as an agitated crowd approached, the spokeswoman added. The deputy hit Antonio Martinez with it, forcing him to the ground, then levied "a couple more strikes to get his hands free," "Then he beat him with a club because he did not answer questions.It doesn't matter at that point if the victim had downs or not. Unresponsive suspects should be cuffed and taken in for questioning, not attacked and beaten. This guy should not be fired, he should be brought up on criminal assault and battery charges. He should also be denied bail as he has demonstrated that he is a public danger. while trying “to gain compliance and prevent a possible escape,” he used pepper spray 
Wait.. what? To gain compliance? He attacked an unarmed non-threatening man with chemical weapons because he didn’t answer questions?

“The deputy began using a baton as an agitated crowd approached, the spokeswoman added. The deputy hit Antonio Martinez with it, forcing him to the ground, then levied “a couple more strikes to get his hands free,” ”Then he beat him with a club because he did not answer questions.It doesn’t matter at that point if the victim had downs or not. Unresponsive suspects should be cuffed and taken in for questioning, not attacked and beaten.

This guy should not be fired, he should be brought up on criminal assault and battery charges. He should also be denied bail as he has demonstrated that he is a public danger.

]]> By: niktemadur http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1615271 niktemadur Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1615271 "To protect and serve" indeed. <i>...and (Martinez) didn't respond to commands.</i> Didn't respond to commands.  You see, that's the thing.  Whoever doesn't kneel before Zod within a minute, gets their skull cracked in, no questions asked. I've heard these cops aggressively yell orders out of the blue, become agitated at the smallest perceived transgression, confuse and scare the shit out of people who haven't done anything "wrong", whatever that means.  Take away the uniform, looks and sounds like an unstable individual on meth. If your presence in a situation is supposed to bring things down a notch or three:  YOU'RE! NOT! HELPING!!! If your presence makes things worse, well what are you doing wearing that uniform? “To protect and serve” indeed.

…and (Martinez) didn’t respond to commands.

Didn’t respond to commands.  You see, that’s the thing.  Whoever doesn’t kneel before Zod within a minute, gets their skull cracked in, no questions asked.

I’ve heard these cops aggressively yell orders out of the blue, become agitated at the smallest perceived transgression, confuse and scare the shit out of people who haven’t done anything “wrong”, whatever that means.  Take away the uniform, looks and sounds like an unstable individual on meth.

If your presence in a situation is supposed to bring things down a notch or three:  YOU’RE! NOT! HELPING!!!
If your presence makes things worse, well what are you doing wearing that uniform?

]]> By: endrest http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1614941 endrest Mon, 24 Dec 2012 06:45:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1614941 In Colorado, a sheriff's deputy attacked my friend, of whom has MS.  He claimed he was walking like he was intoxicated.  Well, of course he was.  He has MS and told the officer so, several times, thankfully in front of many witnesses!  Yes.  I'd like a lot more of these dipshits fired for not having any common sense.  That deputy cost the state's taxpayers over 100K in an out-of-court settlement. In Colorado, a sheriff’s deputy attacked my friend, of whom has MS.  He claimed he was walking like he was intoxicated.  Well, of course he was.  He has MS and told the officer so, several times, thankfully in front of many witnesses!  Yes.  I’d like a lot more of these dipshits fired for not having any common sense.  That deputy cost the state’s taxpayers over 100K in an out-of-court settlement.

]]> By: EH http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1614415 EH Sat, 22 Dec 2012 20:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1614415 Worked for Columbine. Worked for Columbine.

]]> By: Spieguh http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613942 Spieguh Fri, 21 Dec 2012 23:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613942 Yep. My brother has Down's, and while he is very social and amiable, he has a definite stubbornness that I'm sure would rankle the hell out of the compliance-demanding authoritymonger police-type. I mean, they're willing to taze the shit out of an incapacitated non-compliant kid with a broken neck on the side of the road, so what chance does someone who can say "No!" stand? Yep. My brother has Down’s, and while he is very social and amiable, he has a definite stubbornness that I’m sure would rankle the hell out of the compliance-demanding authoritymonger police-type. I mean, they’re willing to taze the shit out of an incapacitated non-compliant kid with a broken neck on the side of the road, so what chance does someone who can say “No!” stand?

]]> By: Ipo http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613917 Ipo Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:53:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613917  Came to read this.  Leaving satisfied.  Came to read this.  Leaving satisfied.

]]> By: Jorgen Fleisterman http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613870 Jorgen Fleisterman Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:10:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613870 Clearly, justice was in Martinez's head and his skull was obstructing access to it, so it was incumbent upon the officers to beat him to try to get justice. Clearly, justice was in Martinez’s head and his skull was obstructing access to it, so it was incumbent upon the officers to beat him to try to get justice.

]]> By: Ian G http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613857 Ian G Fri, 21 Dec 2012 21:57:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613857 My mother-in-law works providing services to developmentally disabled people in our community and I can say this is not an uncommon incident. I have no experience or grasp of the proper terminology here so bear with me, but as I understand it, it is very common for mental disabilities to come with what we would view as physically agressive behavior; hitting, grabbing, biting, etc. She works hard to create training guidelines that have moved local institutions away from heavy restraint and physical remedies for outbursts, but this is fairly new to the field of care and varies from institution to institution.  If care givers who specialize in developmental disabled care are not well trained in the proper manner to handle these situations, you can imagine how far remove the police are from proper training. Incidents she has told me about involving police seems to follow this story closely; police arrive, can't employ the standard situational command and compliance they usually use, and resort to physical restraint. Just goes to show there should be less emphasis on military-style training for police and more on community care skills. My mother-in-law works providing services to developmentally disabled people in our community and I can say this is not an uncommon incident. I have no experience or grasp of the proper terminology here so bear with me, but as I understand it, it is very common for mental disabilities to come with what we would view as physically agressive behavior; hitting, grabbing, biting, etc. She works hard to create training guidelines that have moved local institutions away from heavy restraint and physical remedies for outbursts, but this is fairly new to the field of care and varies from institution to institution. 

If care givers who specialize in developmental disabled care are not well trained in the proper manner to handle these situations, you can imagine how far remove the police are from proper training. Incidents she has told me about involving police seems to follow this story closely; police arrive, can’t employ the standard situational command and compliance they usually use, and resort to physical restraint. Just goes to show there should be less emphasis on military-style training for police and more on community care skills.

]]> By: Zippy http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613781 Zippy Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:49:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613781  I posted essentially the same comment on CNN  I posted essentially the same comment on CNN

]]> By: LightningRose http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613710 LightningRose Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613710 It's cops like this that give the other 2% a bad name. It’s cops like this that give the other 2% a bad name.

]]> By: knoxblox http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613676 knoxblox Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:26:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613676 "We made a mistake here." Boy, that's only slightly better than "We take this issue very seriously." Edit: Sorry. Not until I scrolled further down the postings did I realize they consulted with MurderFuck Industries. “We made a mistake here.”

Boy, that’s only slightly better than “We take this issue very seriously.”

Edit: Sorry. Not until I scrolled further down the postings did I realize they consulted with MurderFuck Industries.

]]> By: sdmikev http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613666 sdmikev Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:20:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613666 Probably not, especially in that part of the county (I live in the city of San Diego) where that idiot congressman Darryl Issa comes from.  I'm sure there will be a long line of teabagger types rallying to the deputy's defense.  Probably not, especially in that part of the county (I live in the city of San Diego) where that idiot congressman Darryl Issa comes from.  I’m sure there will be a long line of teabagger types rallying to the deputy’s defense. 

]]> By: Cameron Postelwait http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613646 Cameron Postelwait Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613646 sometimes i think we as a society should reassess who is really developmentally disabled, and stop giving them a badge. sometimes i think we as a society should reassess who is really developmentally disabled, and stop giving them a badge.

]]> By: spacedmonkey http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613625 spacedmonkey Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:55:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613625 Just here to offer a prediction that none of the pigs involved in this will get fired. Just here to offer a prediction that none of the pigs involved in this will get fired.

]]> By: Brainspore http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613609 Brainspore Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:47:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613609 <blockquote>Officers mistakenly thought he was involved in a domestic violence incident.</blockquote>Well he's been involved in a violent incident NOW.

Officers mistakenly thought he was involved in a domestic violence incident.

Well he’s been involved in a violent incident NOW.

]]> By: howaboutthisdangit http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613608 howaboutthisdangit Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:46:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613608 [Martinez was] detained for possible "obstruction of justice." One cannot obstruct that which is not apparent to begin with. [Martinez was] detained for possible “obstruction of justice.”

One cannot obstruct that which is not apparent to begin with.

]]> By: Boundegar http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613595 Boundegar Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:37:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613595 But let's put armed guards in every school.  Then kids will be safer, just like Mr. Martinez. But let’s put armed guards in every school.  Then kids will be safer, just like Mr. Martinez.

]]> By: Charlie Hayes http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613588 Charlie Hayes Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:34:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613588 In other news, man gets rich after idiot police violate his constitutional rights. In other news, man gets rich after idiot police violate his constitutional rights.

]]> By: lasermike026 http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613567 lasermike026 Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:24:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613567 Beating and terrifying a little disabled man, horrible.  What are wrong with these people?  Fire them, fire them now. Beating and terrifying a little disabled man, horrible.  What are wrong with these people?  Fire them, fire them now.

]]> By: Xof http://boingboing.net/2012/12/21/man-with-down-syndrome-beaten.html#comment-1613544 Xof Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=202065#comment-1613544 I feel much safer. I feel much safer.

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