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[YOUTUBE]Fc57ZJ8nVpg[/YOUTUBE]Five policemen from Birmingham, AL were fired Tuesday on charges they used excessive force on a man after a pursuit. A video which details the police beating actually emerged, but not until a year had passed, leading some to question whether or not a cover-up occurred. The policemen have already appealed the decision to the Jefferson County Personnel Board.
The video (below), shows the incident in detail, from Jan. 23, 2008, in which police pursued Anthony Warren, 38, who was trying to run for it in a van. The van overturned on a ramp, ejecting Warren, who lay motionless as officers beat him with fists, feet and a billy club.
Apparently during the pursuit, an officer was injured, and this may be the reason for the violent attack. However, while prosecutors had a tape of the incident, their tape did not contain the beating. Only during Warren's trial, when prosecutors could not play their copy for technical reasons and asked for the original did the Birmingham police beating become public.
Warren didn't even know he had been beaten. He thought his injuries were all from the wreck.
Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper said:
"My first reaction was shock, which went into outrage which went into anger."
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford said:
"Exemplary police work was done up until that last 11-seconds and that last 11 seconds will not be tolerated."
Just wanted to clarify that my thumbs down is not because they were fired of course, but because of what they did. They did deserve to be fired IMO. What do you think..?
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