Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
A police deputy in South Carolina has been fired after being videotaped breaking the leg of a shackled inmate who offered no resistance, but he should face stiffer penalties if justice is truly served.
As a fellow officer looks on, inmate Charles Shelley is shown standing outside a police van while Sgt. Oddie Tribble repeatedly strikes him in the lower leg with a short baton. The officer then grabbed a longer rod and continued to beat Shelley in the same portion of the lower leg in an obvious attempt to break a bone.
The sergeant was successful.
Shelley, who had been arrested on an outstanding warrant, suffered a broken leg and needed stitches.
Absolutely nothing Shelley did or said could justify the sickening beating administered by Tribble.
When are those in positions of authority going to stop abusing their power? There needs to be severe consequences for anyone caught mishandling their power.
Whether it is the officers involved in the Danziger Bridge case, where officers shot innocent people after Hurricane Katrina, or the police officer caught repeatedly using a stun gun on a schoolteacher for no good reason, there is a ubiquitous understanding that officers can act badly and still go unpunished.
Federal authorities are investigating whether Shelley's civil rights were violated. Anyone who looks at the video knows the answer is an unqualified yes.
Watch it here: