Well in some ways she did "have it coming", but he was still too rough with her. The throwing her across the room part shouldn't have happened. Everything else was well deserved though. As to the students, I'm sure you could find some who got offended or worked up both ways. Some that are upset the cop was fired, some that were upset about what the cop did.....the majority probably doesn't care about either situation.
The cop was a strength coach for the football team. As the Steubenville rape case made clear, a lot of people care more about football than ethics or the well being of a teenage girl. Also, as someone else stated, one girl in the class did stand up for the girl being attacked, and the cop arrested her too.
Is there any indication that these students are supporting him because he is the strength coach for the football team? It sure wasn't mentioned in the one interview that was done, where the girl mentioned he was a watchdog for the school, always friendly, and always playful. Maybe the girl was just a mouthy b**** and the other kids were glad to see her put in her place. I have seen just as much evidence for that as for your hypothesis (i.e. zero).
Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't it be both? The students who support him are probably doing so because they liked the cop partially due to him being a coach on the football team and they don't care what he did because the new girl was an *******. In most cases, the majority don't care one way or the other no matter what issue we're talking about. It's pretty rare to get a legitimate majority of people to have strong opinions on issues.
For everyone talking about how the students didn't react, so they must have been ok with the girl getting "what was coming to her" (because she obviously deserved it, right?)- Do you seriously not understand the world we live in, where black kids are justifiably scared of giving police officers any reason to hassle them? Want proof? The one girl that said, "This is wrong" was also arrested. This guy is a piece of ****, plain and simple, and none of your bull**** justifications amount to anything. His own boss fired him. The guy in charge of determining the validity of his actions. That guy said, "You're gone." Anyone defending him doesn't have a leg to stand on. For the record, I'm not black. I'm a white Mexican, with no racial dog in this fight. I'm just not a fan of racism or bigotry or people assuming that all black people are criminals. Looking through this thread, seeing people calling this sixteen-year old girl a woman, or a criminal, makes me want to throw up. And you try to justify the criminal label by saying that at that point she was trespassing? Have you gone ****ing insane? The state mandates that you attend school, but then if you use your phone in class and refuse to hand over your personal property, you're now trespassing and are subject to being manhandled like a violent offender? Have you gone ****ing insane? And the people saying they would be ok with it if it was their kid- You're lying. No fit parent could watch a video of their child being treated in that manner and say, "They probably deserved it." No one would be ok with their child being choked, slammed to the ground on the back of their head, then thrown across the room and handcuffed. And if you honestly say that you would be, then your kids should be taken away from you, because there's no way that you're a decent parent and not a psychopath. With all of the evidence we have that a lot of police are out of control, how do you continue to rationalize it in your heads? I honestly don't understand you.
So is the girl being charged with assaulting a police officer? She damn well better be for throwing a punch at the cop.
I'm denying that she "threw" a punch at him. To throw a punch, you generally need some sort of leverage or weight behind it. Striking at someone who grabs you around the neck from behind is basic human instinct, and instincts don't stop to say, "Oh, this person is wearing a badge, I'd better suppress my very natural urge not to be grabbed around the neck from behind." C'mon man, the officer was in the wrong. At no point was this teenager a threat to him, he escalated the situation unnecessarily, and if you want her charged with assault, then he should be charged as well. EDIT: Just to reiterate- He got ****ing fired. That's how in the wrong he was. You want this girl brought up on criminal charges for defending herself from actions taken by an officer who was deemed unfit to continue being on the police force based on the actions he took? That's nuts.
A punch is thrown with your arm. Stop trying to dance around the question and make excuses for her. Yes, she threw a punch at him. She should be charged for doing so.
Yeah, it's thrown with your arm, not from your elbow. I didn't dance around your question at all, I disagreed with the basic premise. And no, she should not be charged. She should sue the **** out of that former officer of the "peace". She was sitting in a chair, not in any sort of threatening stance, and the officer decided to violently remove her. And was subsequently deemed unfit for the police force. Nothing about that scenario was acceptable, and her reaction to being grabbed around the neck shouldn't make her a felon. If you honestly believe that, there's nothing I can say to change your mind and I don't think we have anything more to discuss.
I don't agree with the premise that his firing is proof that he was in the wrong. Do you think he would have been fired if there was no public outcry? If the video had been taken to the Sheriff and then deleted, guaranteeing no one else would ever see it, do you honestly think the Sheriff would have thought this officer needs to be fired immediately? If the officer wins or settles a wrongful termination suit, will your stance change?
I do agree that being fired is not (in all cases) an admission of wrong. I know for a fact that this officer would not have been fired if there was not public outcry. If the video had been taken to the Sheriff and then deleted, I know nothing would have been done. That's kinda my point. Now that just about everyone has a video camera in their pocket, we're seeing just how out of control the people we're told from childhood are there to protect us actually are. Blue wall of silence, and all that. Cops aren't going to speak out against their own, for fear of being ostracized and harassed. If the officer wins a wrongful termination suit, my stance will not change, because of the aforementioned "take care of our own" attitude that the current American justice system employs. I'm trying to imagine a universe where it's acceptable for a grown man to throw around a teenage girl for not getting out of her chair, and I just can't see it. I'm sorry that you do.
It doesn't matter if you want to call what she did a "punch" or not, it was strictly speaking assault. Also, when she started that nonsense the officer hadn't yet done anything wrong. The only thing the cop did wrong was when he used too much force throwing her across the room. They can both be wrong. The officer for using too much force, the student for assaulting a police officer and for disrupting the classroom.
You're on my list of "conservative trolls" with bigotexxx, but I'll bite. The "nonsense" you're talking about is striking at the officer who had just grabbed her around the neck, so yes, he had done something wrong. Strictly speaking, that was assault on the officer's part. Wearing a badge does not make you above the law. She was in no way a threat to him. I'm going to say that again, because people seem to be glossing over it. She was not a threat to that officer in any way, shape, or form. He wrapped his arm around her neck in an attempt to forcibly remove her from her non-threatening, seated position. She reacted, like any normal human would. They can both be wrong. But as an adult, and a police officer, the responsibility is yours to be reasonable. He failed as an adult, a police officer, and a human being. And he got canned for his failure.
If the student was a male, I don't think as many people would have the "too rough" concerns... Adrian Peterson beat his kid like a runaway slave and not even half the fuss was made and that was a baby. And if he was "too rough" do you think the cop should be charged with assault...? What did the Duke rape case make clear... I don't think you can cherry pick one specific rape case (or any rape case) and try to draw comparisons to this situation. And he was a strength coach... Not a head coach or a player but a strength coach. And do your children act like assholes in school and disrespect teachers...?