One Mans Blog
Specialization is for Insects.
Posted on Jan 10, 2007 - 12:32pm by John P. in News
Imagine this… you’re a rookie cop staking out the mean streets of the Atlanta Convention Center where the raucous American Historical Association is holding their “Annual Meeting”. As you stand there eating your doughnut you witness a man in a three piece suit carrying conference materials cross the middle of the street right between the racy Hilton and questionable Hyatt!
What do you do? Call 5 fellow officers over, toss his ass on the ground, stick a knee in his neck and haul his jaywalking ass to jail of course! (Should have given him a good beat down too!) Who cares if he’s a jolly old foreigner with a British accent in a three piece suit? The public must be protected!
George Mason University’s History News Network reported:
On Thursday, just after noon, the Tufts historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was arrested by Atlanta police as he crossed the middle of the street between the Hilton and Hyatt hotels.
After being thrown on the ground and handcuffed, the former Oxford don was formally arrested, his hands cuffed behind his back. Several policemen pressed hard on his neck and chest, leaving the mild-mannered scholar, who’s never gotten so much as a parking ticket, bruised and in pain.
He was then taken to the city detention center along with other accused felons and thrown into a filthy jail cell filled with prisoners. He remained incarcerated for eight hours. Officials demanded bail of over a thousand dollars. To come up up with the money Fernandez-Armesto, the author of nineteen books, had to make an arrangement with a bail bondsman.
In court even the prosecutors seemed embarrassed by the incident, which got out of hand when Fernandez-Armesto requested to see the policeman’s identification (the policeman was wearing a bomber jacket; to Fernandez-Armesto, a foreigner unfamiliar with American culture, the officer did not look like an officer).
The prosecutors asked the professor to plead nolo contendere. He refused, concerned that the stain on his record might put his green card status in jeopardy.
Officials finally agreed to drop all charges. The judge expressed his approval.
Even if I try to be fair to the officer in this case I can come up with no justification for this treatment.
I’d be willing to bet that this was a case of bigotry on the part of the cop. He figured that he’d teach this foreigner a lesson about questioning his authority!
Professor Fernandez-Armesto provided HNN the following account of his treatment. (Three part video totals 24 minutes.)
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This was obviously no ordinary Don if it took five police officers to subdue him. The arresting officer was perfectly within his rights, off duty or not ,to produce his firearm and blow this man’s brains out.He should be commended for his restraint.
Of course! I mean just look at the guy! Clearly this man is a danger to himself, and society in general…
[...] For posterior’s sake, I’ve kept the old version of my first edition of the web comic. I want to be clear—I really don’t think my friends should go play in the street. Playing in the street is dangerous. When I was younger, I played Frogger, and I know what happens when you do that. And as Michael, Poul, Cecilia, and Bruce are all traveling as internationals, crossing the street can be very dangerous. Had they been caught BlueJ-walking, or looked the wrong way while crossing the street, it might have come down to Davin and I flying over to JavaOne to take their place… [...]
[...] I was quiet and scrupulously polite, remembering the case of Professor Fernandez-Armesto in Atlanta. I showed my ID, answered the officer’s questions, and received a citation1 for $56. I have no idea how he arrived at that fine2 - the Seattle City code simply states that the fine shall be “not more than $250″ (whew!)! I also think that it’s odd that the fine should be nearly twice that for parking in a handicapped-only space, but then I come from a country in which there is no such thing as jaywalking… [...]
I hate to say but I’m not surprised. As an Atlanta-native, I think I can testify to the overzealousness of half of the APD and the complete lack of motivation/discern from the other half.
On behalf of Atlanta, I’d like to apologize. This is ridiculous.