officers - The Black Vault

•
.
_!..._,....
...
J~ ... li.. l
,.
The police chief "must be held
responsible for this kind of brutal
response."
· Ripston claimed police brutali-
. ty is common in the city. ·
• "The difference this time is we
have the proof. We have it on
;tape," she said.
; Altadena community activist
·Ralph Mc,Knight, who was elected
this w·eekend as co-chairman
of the Rainbow Coalition state
. caucus· along with state Sen.
Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles,
~called for Gates' resignation aiJ.d
the dismissal of the officers in- ·
volved. .
"I'm so furious about this
thing I can barely think or talk
icordially," McKnight said. "T-he
·most tragic part 9f this whole
thing is we don't know how
many of these types of incidents
go on all the time." .
! The beating was recorded by
·George Holliday, 31, who said he
videotaped the incident from his
apartment balcony. His'tape was
broadcast repeatedly Tuesday
night on national news networks
and local television stations.
Holliday said he and his wife
watched as a white sedan was
pulled over by about 10 squad
cars. The driver got out of the
car and was lying face down on
the pavement when three officers
began striking him, Holliday
said. ·
The beating continued for
more than a minute, he said.
During the beating, two passengers
remained in King's car.
They were not identified by police.
"B~fore they started hitting
him, he was pretty much cooperative,"
Holliday said. "It was a
weird feeling. I was trying to
think, 'What could he have done
to deserve that?'
"I was thinking, it's terrible
that that's happening, I was feeling
for the guy;. ..!'•• But I didn't
know what the guy did."
Police Lt. Fred Nixon said a
police incident report "indicates
the arrestee, not like the men in
his car, did not go along willingly.
It is impossible to look at a
video and see what the situation
was."
CHP Officer Glen Dominguez
said two CHP officers were at
the scene of the arrest but did
not participate in -the beating.
He said their role in the action
was being reviewed.
____________________
.......___ ./