Another police beating was caught on video, this one resulting in the tragic death of what appears to be a completely innocent and mentally disabled shopper. The scene was captured by in-store surveillance cameras at a convenience store in Spokane, Washington. The decedent, Otto Zehm, is seen walking into the store and is immediately rushed by police officers who later claimed that he “lunged” at them. Unfortunately for the police, there is no “lunging” seen on the tape, and witnesses who were present have testified that Zehm didn’t have time to do any lunging; the police were on him in seconds.

It’s not clear what happened that caused police to go after Zehm, but it’s believed that police were mistaken in their identification of this man as a crime suspect in an unrelated matter. Unfortunately for Mr. Zehm, the beating was so intense that he went into cardiac arrest on the scene and died shortly thereafter. Police claim he resisted throughout the ordeal, but there’s nothing in the tapes to support that assertion and the local medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide. Police “investigating” the case have cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing, saying they acted according to “procedures”

Deaths resulting from this kind of unprovoked assault on innocent citizens are rare, but unprovoked assaults not so much so. Police are emboldened with the authority they get from courts that are consistently eroding our rights and the unwillingness of prosecutors to go after these kinds of cases. With fewer legal impediments, and no one to hold them accountable, what’s to stop a bad cop from acting out on this kind of impulse? Expect to see more and more stories like this. And keep in mind that the only ones we hear about are the ones that have been picked up by the fortuitous presence of technology on the scene. Imagine how many you don’t hear about.

The videotapes and 911 tapes were released to the public today. According to local news accounts, the Sheriff’s department is conducting its own “independent” investigation.

Read about this story here.

View the uncut video here.

RP

This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is filed under News, You Won't Believe This. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.