One of Benson's passengers, University of Texas senior Elizabeth Cartwright, corroborates that Benson's boat had been stopped for "random safety checks" all six times she had recently been on it.
It seems that the police on Lake Travis had a principle of "100% randomness" when it came to Benson's boat.
Benson's attorney Brian Carney is also bringing up waterboarding as an issue.
Carney added Benson did nothing "aggressive" until after he was pepper sprayed, when he started screaming for his mother and the boat. He said officers threw his client to the ground and poured water on him to wash away the spray, causing Benson to choke. "They might as well have been waterboarding him," Carney
said.
The Cedric Benson story isn't getting much play outside sports sites like Fox Sports. Perhaps that's because the police behavior toward Benson has become so normal.
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2 comments:
You're right, Ric. It's a big police conspiracy to take down a black man with a big boat.
I agree with you on this one Dr. Caric. I had not heard of this case till I read your post and I have exposure to lots of news. From birth on, I believe we are indoctrinated to follow orders for orders' sake, especially from law enforcement, and we do, myself included. Most believe that if an officer says "jump," we are simply to ask "how high?". If we don't, there's a good chance we will be harassed or arrested for some made up charge. Benson lives in the America that most blacks live in. Yet, we are amazed that Rev. Wright seems so angry. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we have a police force, but I believe we give far too much power to the police.
There was a case of another football player being arrested in Huntington a few months ago. This case is far less severe, but made me question how much power the police have. He was with a wedding party that was leaving a nightclub around 2 a.m. All were dressed in wedding attire. Cops drove by and told the group to disperse. The football player says the group was meandering, talking and acting like a group of friends normally does, especially after a big event. The group did not scatter fast enough to please the police officers. Several were arrested for disorder conduct. Charges were reduced or dropped later. I just wonder why the small group had to disperse. No one was causing trouble or being disorderly. Democracy is fading and no one cares.
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