I'm in Georgia as I write this having flown most of the day from San Francisco to Chicago to Atlanta. So just when I think I've only got to pay attention to my Cal Stanford Big Game videos and my Oakland sim, I have this CNN-and-SFGate-reported news of a BART officer smashing the face of a drunk man by the name of Michael Joseph Gibson into a window on the West Oakland BART Station platform.
So I immediately went to YouTube and found this video:
And showed it to my mother who said "Why did he have to throw him into the window."
Exactly. Why?
Here we go again. Another predictable argument between those who justify police' violent actions and those who question it. I am tired of the dichotomy, so I decided to create a poll to learn what others think.
While the officer's action is questionable, that his presence was desired is of no question. In the video as the officer hauls Michael Joseph Gibson off the train and before he reaches the window, we can hear people clapping, so BART riders wanted this guy off the train.
That happened.
But the other action of the head against the window is to me a case of putting too much super hot mustard on a really good hot dog: it makes it hard to consume, but one can still eat it.
To BART's credit, it's not sitting on this issue; it responded rapidly, issuing a press statement and holding a press conference within moments.
BART Spokeman Linton Johnson said to CNN's Don Lemon this evening that "We decided that we wanted to take appropriate steps and let people know about this video... We want to do a full investigation...We will look at all the facts."
Johnson went on to say that most of Michael Joseph Gibson's injuries came from his arm and not his head. It's hard to tell that from the video but I can't help but wonder if there's another video out there with another angle. There's got to be at least one more - even if it's the station video. It's out there. I know it.
BART's not releasing the officer's name. He's new to BART Police according to Linton Johnson, but Linton says he's not had any incidents while with BART Police.
But the way Linton made the statement does open a new question about the officer's past. In looking at the video it seems like the officer took a little too much action - again too much hot mustard - but overall Michael Joseph Gibson was out of line and what I go with is the people on the train were applauding the officer.
Again, whatever Michael Joseph Gibson was doing, it's obvious he didn't have a fan base on the train.
What do you think of the BART Officer's actions? Take my poll:
More fun surveys on pollsb.com
I think that the way in which you structured the survey question concerning the BART incident, makes it impossible for anyone to respond with the basic conventions of reason. For starters the question itself rests on an assumption that, thus far has not been proven. For example, you asked, "Was the BART Officer out of line in smashing Michael Joseph Gibson's head into the glass at West Oakland BART Station?"
ReplyDeleteHowever, the "...smashing Michael Joseph Gibson's head into the glass" portion assumes that this action was intentional. My interpretation of the video does not allow me to conclude that the officer's intent was to smash the guy's head through the glass.
But, there are other questions that I believe do allow us to respond with reason:
1.) Do you think this incident should have been handled differently? Why or Why not? How?
or a Yes/No question
2.) Do you believe that the officer intended to smash the guy's face through the window?