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Double Standards for Aggressor Wearing CA Highway Patrol Badge

Pete Eyre 817 Views , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE:

‘I thought he was going to kill me’: Grandmother beaten on side of highway by cop in viral video speaks out posted to DailyMail.co.uk on August 10, 2014

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Recently a video surfaced that shows a California Highway Patrol employee straddling 51-year-old Marlene Pinnock, and delivering repeated blows to her head and face.

The incident happened in Los Angels on Tuesday, July 01st, around 5:40pm, at the La Brea Avenue onramp to I-10. It was captured by David Diaz, who happened to be traveling by at the time.

Almost two weeks since the incident, the aggressor remains unnamed, at work, with pay. Meanwhile, those in his outfit are doing damage control – hoping things will calm down so they can continue on with business as usual. That isn’t surprising, as they are incentivized first to protect not you or I, but the perceived legitimacy of their corrupt institution.

One colleague of the aggressor, Chris O’Quinn, claims that Pinnock had walked into traffic. Even if O’Quinn is believed, does that make acceptable the violence whetted out against Pinnock? If you saw someone who walked into the road, would it be justified if you stopped and beat them down?

O’Quinn also claimed that his colleague was merely trying to restrain Pinnock. Huh?? Clearly she’s trying to block the blows from being delivered. If the aggressor was so brazen in this instance, I wonder how many others he’s wronged?

As Pinnock’s own daughter noted,

I never would have thought I would be standing here today talking on behalf of my mom because she was beaten on the side of a freeway by a CHP officer that was sworn to protect her. That makes me scared.

Further, O’Quinn had the audacity to claim that Pinnock was not hurt. Really? After receiving multiple blows to her head and face from someone atop her, she’s just fine? Would O’Quinn put-forth the same narrative if it were his wife, or mom, who was repeatedly hit in the face and head by a grown male?

CURRENT STATUS

Some upset have been holding rallies, which are great to unify, and to bring attention to the situation, but they’re not the solution alone.

Some have called for more training of police employees, so that they can better-respond to situations (i.e. not initiate force). This is definitely not a solution, as the same corrupt institution, that suffers from the same perverse incentives, remains.

Some have called for an investigation done by employees of other, coercive monopolistic entities. There is no way justice or accountability will ever be achieved through this route, no matter how well-intentioned some involved may be. Like the California Highway Patrol, all are founded on the flawed claim that some people – those with badges – have the “legal” right to initiate force.

Some are happy to learn that since the incident, attorneys Caree Harper and John Burris have become involved to help Pinnock in legaland, and that a civil suit is in the plans. But that tactic too will not curtail the pattern of violence caused by police employees, as it’s not the individual aggressor who, assuming compensation is said due, has to compensate their victim, but area residents. Also, using this avenue bestows upon legaland some legitimacy, but it – like all of the injustice system – is a centralized, coercive apparatus that can only exist at the direct inverse of our rights.

Still others look forward to meetings held between so-called “leaders,” “experts,” and the so-claimed “authorities”. This is but window dressing. This perceived “solution” is both foolish and dangerous, as it does not question, but concentrates power with a few who claim the right to rule over others.

The real solution lies within yourself. If you conclude that some who demand your allegiance aren’t deservant, don’t grant them any. If you realize that an action wrong for one cannot become right for another based simply on a costume or badge, and act accordingly, you are more threatening to the Statist Quo than any rally, petition, or lawsuit.

One mind at a time, that erosion of legitimacy will do more to safeguard your rights, and the rights of those around you, than any inside-their-system strategy could ever accomplish.

TAKE-AWAYS

  • FILMING IS KEY
    Because traveler David Diaz took the time to film, it cannot be as easily ignored or covered-up. Thousands are now aware of the incident, and the court of public opinion is powerful.
    Related: http://CopBlock.org/FilmThePolice
  • INDIVIDUALS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS
    The aggressors identity is still not known, though that’s likely to change. Whether that info is released by his colleagues during a press conference, or located and shared by those who have such skills, it should be welcomed by anyone, police and non-police alike, who value truth and know the importance of freedom coupled with responsibility, as it rightly focuses attention on the person who acted.
    Related: http://CopBlock.org/Library

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL – SOUTHERN DIVISION

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Pete Eyre

Pete Eyre is co-founder of CopBlock.org. As an advocate of peaceful, consensual interactions, he seeks to inject a message of complete liberty and self-government into the conversation of police accountability. Eyre went to undergrad and grad school for law enforcement, then spent time in DC as an intern at the Cato Institute, a Koch Fellow at the Drug Policy Alliance, Directer of Campus Outreach at the Institute for Humane Studies, Crasher-in-Chief at Bureaucrash, and as a contractor for the Future of Freedom Foundation. In 2009 he left the belly of the beast and hit the road with Motorhome Diaries and later co-founded Liberty On Tour. He spent time in New Hampshire home, and was involved with Free Keene, the Free State Project and The Daily Decrypt.