Drinking Can Kill You... When the Police Beat You For It

Please send your stories of police brutality to policebrutalitydotcom@hotmail.com

Two posts today.

First, a drunk man was arrested over a month ago for being drunk in public. Five hours after being taken down to the Pasadena police station, he was dead.

How did this happen? He "tripped". So said the DA's report -- which was written exclusively on the basis of the booking officers' word.

Sound fishy? It is. The man's family has learned that the body had bruises and cuts on the hands, knees, wrists, back, head, and had blood spatters all over his jeans and t-shirt. Oh, and he died from a perforation of his lung due to a bone splinter from a fractured rib.

Oops! That was some fall on his way into the squad car.

This case is now being presented to charges in front of a grand jury. A police attorney says the police will probably be cleared of wrong-doing.

Second post:

A 22 year-old 'peaceful boy' was shot on Saturday night in San Bernardino County in front of his apartment building, in what police have called a case of "mistaken identity". His name is Charles Marshall. The next evening, community members held a candlelight vigil for him.

What did the police do? They sent in two phalanxes of police officers to stride toward mourners and start grabbing people out of the crowd. One officer punched a lady twice in the face -- "Bam! Bam! Just like she was a man!" said a witness as she described the assault.

Residents wasted no time registering their displeasure. 25 out of 40 residents who were at the vigil spoke before Monday's City Council meeting to describe the unprovoked attack to their representatives. For now, they have the support of the Mayor, who has called their decision to report the police attack "courageous and important", and who has promised an "investigation" into the matter.