If you saw the video with Scott getting injured you'd probably side with the protesters on that one. Once he had fallen a crowd of people rushed around to carry him away but some riot cop launched a "flash bang"(weaker version of a real one I think) into the crowd too. To me that's just down-right despicable...
You sound like you have a lot of solidarity for the police in this situation but you have to remember there are bad cops too just like the bad protesters...good discussion otherwise, you make a very good point.
I've seen that video and in the officers defence he was at the back and probably had no idea that he was throwing it at an injured party. If he did, I agree completely.
Yes, they're bad cops. You only have to deal with them temporarily though. Imagine working with them!
I've dealt with arseholes who intentionally wind people up, cut corners and are generally obnoxious, stuck up pricks. I have to work with these people, who give ME a bad name, day in day out. It's awful and and I hope they get a job they're more suited to. Like a rape victim/facetiousness
I just hate the hypocriscy that one cops decision makes the whole force or all cops unjust or brutal. Apply to any race/sexuality/group of people you'll be up in arms. Cops are a free ride.
Also, what you classify as brutality isn't necessairly isn't.
I'll tell you a couple of stories from my job.
One day a 6'3, 200lb guy beat two security guards with a knuckle duster and put him in hospital before running off. He got cornered and jumped by about 5 officers, kicked out and got the skipper in the head full blast (it was ok though, he's a dick) and so more officers were called.
Anyway, we believed he may of been under the influence of excited delirium which for a TL;DR version is where you get extra strength/adrenaline from high emotion/drug abuse/psychosis or a mixture. I've seen small girls fight off people twice their size. So this 6'3 beast was not going down. More officers called, in total 12, to put him down.
Now police don't smash someone to the floor and sit on them. They have people carefully pin down every part of the body so they can't hurt anyone and the subject can still breath easily, which is why it takes a lot of people! It can look overpowering to see 12 guys on one.
Some old bitch comes up to me and says "blah blah police brutality, too many police" etc... I felt like saying "Come say that to me when he smashes your face in with a knuckle duster". /end
Another story. Some people saw me push a slim, shorter then me girl to the floor. Hard. I'm also a big 6'0 guy so people were getting the arse. I'm a bully who likes to push around little girls.
What people didn't know was that she squared up to me, clenched her jaw and fists and tensed her muscles. She was going to smack me and it was going to hurt. If anyone hits you in the face, especially one as pretty as mine, it will hurt. So I pre-emptively pushed her to the floor to gain contr of the situation and defend myself. Apparently I'm supposed to let drunk girls wollop me in the face because I'm a pig.
So, there we go. Misguided opinions and conceptions. It happens and it annoys me to take something as seriously as police brutality and trivialise it, in same was as the race card.
There's plenty of times when police used unnecessary force on protesters, such as the time they speared the petite girl with their batons for no apparent reason, just as there are many times when stupid protesters decide to escalate to violence with police. The problem I have with the situation is it seems to be a double standard, police can beat up some protesters pretty bad and worst case scenario get suspended WITH pay, where if someone beats up a cop in a similar situation, they're going to jail.
That's not your decision to say if something is just or unjust. That's for the officer to justify and the courts to judge.
The difference between you getting and a cop getting punished is huge. You would get a night in the cells, a fine, maybe a short week in prison.
As an officer, I will lose my job, my money, my home, my family, spend a longer time in prison due to an abuse of position and be segregated without a chance of getting back into my career. Police skills aren't really transferable either so if you are an old sweat and spent years in the job, it'll be hard to find another job without the experience.
Just in case you didn't know, police don't fend too well in prison either. And we have to deal with this shit and risk every fucking day.