YIKES!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpuroeR134
I don't have a lot of info on who, what, when or where regarding this video. It's pretty brutal, isn't it? I'm no legal expert but, I don't think that store security is allowed to be beating the snot out of suspects. I'm going to guess that the security guards here- Loss Prevention Associates- probably over-stepped their bounds here and quite likely did not handle things well from the start. As far as I know they can detain people but, as far as I also know, the suspect doesn't have to allow him/herself to be detained. These are not cops. I bet no one has ever been charged with resisting arrest from a security guard. I think they have the same powers of arrest that you and I have which amounts to; you can't go beating on people. In some states you and I might have more powers even. Florida comes to mind. George Zimmerman. Neighborhood Watch. Fucking with people. Them not taking it like you figured....
The suspect in the video is just that- a suspect. Who knows what he stole and if he even stole anything. What would you do if a couple of casually dressed guys demanded you stop, after you exited Walmart? Maybe you've got a bag full of Chinese-made, lead-laced goodies that you paid for but these two strangers claim to be store security and want to look through your stuff. Usually Walmart has a senior citizen at the door check your purchases. Did you know you don't have to submit to that? You do at Sam's Club, Costco or any such place that you signed a shopping agreement with but, not Walmart or the Exxon Tigermarket or any public store. Walmart goons can't (legally) swarm and curb-stomp you for not complying with Carlton, Your Walmart Doorman. They have to see you committing a felony and, unless I miss my guess, just hope you agree to be detained. I really don't know at what point does it become kidnapping or unlawful restraint.
What I do know is that these gooberheads are not cops and I hope they never get to become cops. They don't seem to have the temperament, or the ability to take down a suspect. The suspect has a box cutter and he evidently does cut one of the Walmartians but, again, does he know who is upon him and why?
It seems to me that their job is to witness the crime, call the cops, detain the suspect (if the suspect is detainable) and, if not, get the license plate number or be on site to say: "He went thata way!"
What would you do if you saw two civilians beating on another person? This looked like a street fight or a mugging to me. What if the suspect had a gun, legal or not? These days that is a real possibility and a serious concern. Whatever the guy stole- if he stole at all- is it worth getting stabbed over and risking your life? There's no real easy call here for the court of public opinion either because all the participants are white. I don't like thieves but I don't like *legal* lawbreakers either. It's a tough call. I wonder what he (allegedly) stole? Maybe the box cutter?
2 comments:
Little story...Something similar happened to a friend of mine. We'll call him Mr G (5'5" and middle aged). Not at a Walmart, but another big box akin to Walgreens. Turns out that where I live, home to much of the worlds immigrants, we hire their thugs for security positions. Thugs such a El Salvadorian gangsters to Cambodian Khmer Rouge henchmen. Oh Boy!
In my friends case, the guy didn't like Mr G's answer to a question Mr G thought Mr Thug had no business asking. So Mr Thug slugged him and put out his eye. Not something an inventor/sculptor appreciates. Fortunately he had the wherewithal and the connections to sue. The outcome? as they say in the legal world "I cannot discuss the outcome of the settlement" (but he now picks up the lunch tab).
Oh man! They hired the outlaws to protect the town. That's expensive....and stupid. Worked a bar where they hired bouncers who all ran the bars fighting together. An otherwise nice place was a brawl most every night.
Most people don't ever think about losing an eye until they are down to the last one. That's just awful.
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