Wednesday - August 27, 2008

Looks like Denver needs about 6 new cops

And let’s hope they’ve got a few million bucks just sitting around gathering dust ... because they’re going to get their asses sued off, big time. So long cops, you just lost your jobs.

Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel. Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer, Asa Eslocker, who works with the ABC News investigative unit.

(Click here to watch video of the arrest.)

A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker’s neck, then twisted the producer’s arm behind him to put on handcuffs.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station.

Video taken at the scene shows a man, wearing the uniform of a Boulder County sheriff, ordering Eslocker off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, to the side of the entrance.

The sheriff’s officer is seen telling Eslocker the sidewalk is owned by the hotel. Later, he is seen pushing Eslocker off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic, forcing him to the other side of the street.

It was two hours later when Denver police arrived to place Eslocker under arrest, apparently based on a complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel, a central location for Democratic officials.

During the arrest, one of the officers can be heard saying to Eslocker, “You’re lucky I didn’t knock the f..k out of you.”

Eslocker was released late today after posting $500 bond.

A producer for ABC News was arrested today as he and a camera crew set up on the sidewalk outside the Brown Palace Hotel.

Asa Eslocker was arrested for trespass, interference and failure to obey an lawful order.

He was being processed from the Denver City Jail and is expected to be released on $300 bail, said his attorney Tom Kelley.

Eslocker is investigating the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the convention for a series of Money Trail reports on ABC World News.

“The Brown’s security guy got all upset and was telling them he owns the sidewalk around the Brown Palace,” Kelley said.

“There’s a vast difference between his story and the story cops are telling,” Kelley said. “He was set up on a public sidewalk. He was doing an investigative piece and was told he could not be on the public sidewalk in front of the Brown Palace Hotel. We don’t think that should have happened.”

Not exactly “recreate ‘68” but you knew there would be some heavy handed goonery going on in Denver. I gather a Code Pink person got knocked down somewhere too, but I saw the video and she was begging for it. This is a different situation altogether.

I usually don’t have the smallest amount of respect for news people. But the thing is, they have the right to do what they do. That whole bothersome 1st Amendment stuff. So when a news crew is out on a public sidewalk taking pictures of things that are going on in public, you leave them alone. You don’t go all bully-boy on them. Especially if you’re a cop moonlighting as a security guard for a hotel while wearing your cop uniform. And especially not if the newsies catch the whole thing on video. But I have even less respect for Idiot Cops. And you know they’re out there. By the hundreds of thousands. Well, 5 or 6 less by Monday is my guess. And that’s the least that should be done. With the post-911 militarism of many police forces, the power trip thing has gotten out of hand for too many of them. This was another example, albeit a small one.

via Insty

Posted by Drew458     on 08/27/2008 at 09:52 PM   
Filed Under: • Jack Booted Thugs •  
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