Via Unfair Park and Injustice Everywhere, on Nov. 5 Occupy Dallas protester Stephen Benavides was arrested, maced and spent four days in jail for allegedly assaulting an off-duty police officer, 19-year veteran Jimmy Hollis. When video showed that Hollis actually initiated the violence by shoving the fellow off a 4' planter, the chief issued a one-day suspension without pay and forbade him from working off-duty jobs for 60 days. So the cop got a day off and missed out on a few holiday security gigs, while his victim was attacked, maced, spent four days in jail, and is still waiting for charges to be formally, finally cleared. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Often protest movements that begin small escalate not because of the righteousness of their cause (or in this case, the nebulousness of it) but because the state engages in police brutality or illegal methods to suppress or discredit it. That's the risk run when police respond violently to Occupy protesters. And doling out slaps on the wrist to offending cops in incidents like this one adds insult to injury. Remember it wasn't the images of Rodney King's beating that sparked riots and national protests back in 1992, it was the acquittal of the officers so clearly seen wailing on him in the video. People understand there will always be bad apples, but they want to see them held accountable.
I'm not a great fan of the Occupy movement, but neither do I endorse a police officer initiating violence then blaming it on protesters. The cop in that video wasn't doing his job, he was just a bully in uniform.
RELATED: From The Crime Report: "Police vs. OWS."
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