I didn't hear every word the cop said did you? What about before the tape was rolling.
Seems to me you are assuming facts not in evidence.
And my wife is not a criminal on parole.
Sorry but I cannot find any sympathy for this guy at all. Since he has been arrested over 30 times he knew the drill. Besides that he was on parole and he knew that parole brings another level of responsibility on his part.
If he had acted like an adult and not a petulant child he would still be alive today and still selling cigarettes to little kids.
I readily admit I do not know everything about the case, and am only going off of what I have seen on the short video and read in reports.
Whether or not your wife is a criminal or on parole, she and this criminal have rights. These rights are often violated by police officers, and it appears that this time it was caught on video, yet the police got away with it.
What rights were violated?
The police have the right to detain you and to arrest you if necessary. He has the right to remain silent, have an attorney present during questioning. He does not have the right to resist.
The police do NOT have the RIGHT to detain you or arrest you unless they have probable cause or a warrant.
He had a right to not be assaulted by the police. If, like the video appears to show, the police grabbed him without first commanding him to assume an arrestable position and informing him that he was under arrest, then they violated his rights.
I know you dont, and won't, get this...but our police have a special place in our society. They are the governments arm for forceful coercion. They can arrest you, use (deadly) force against you or your loved on. We also give their testimony special credence; if the cop says you were speeding, and you say you were not, the cop will be believed. We NEED to have this special social contract with police because it benefits us all.
However with all of these benefits SHOULD come with extra responsibility. They need to wield this power carefully, and when they exceed it then they need to be held to an even stricter standard.
In this case, it appears that the police went active on a guy who was not given a chance to be arrested without violence. If that is indeed the case, then they should have been held accountable.