Since I don't have first-hand information as to what actually happened, I'm not going to rehash what other's conjecture or claim happened. What I do know from past experience is that if you say "yes sir" even if you know the officer is wrong, you'll be fine, but if you buck up knowing they are wrong, they WILL screw you. Considering they are human (high strung at that), it amazes me how very rarely they are wrong at times and that the public is supposed to bow down to them even in those times. Can you image how much better of the world would be if we could all take police training so that we would never make a bad call (or allow something so simple to escalate into this)? So that we would never contribute to a situation getting out of control (err...out of MY control)? How awesome would that be?
I'd probably be in jail as well. Based on past friends on different forces, my observation is 1/3rd are there for the right reason, 1/3rd are there only for the pay (which begs another question), and the other 3rd solely enjoy the authority it places them in (eh...not good). I've had great experiences with law (when I was in the wrong), and very poor ones (when I was in the wrong and right), and both experiences were the result of BOTH parties either working together or against each other. One side is never right all the time. Obviously I don't give them a free pass just because they wear a badge, and to be honest and accurate, I put more scrutiny on them than normal simply because the risk of catastrophe with them is greater, not if, but WHEN they make a mistake.
We all have personal viewpoints (me included) that taint what we hear. Accuracy in rehashing an interesting and captivating situation is important.
"the police department was stupid" verses "Acted stupidly"
"He went on to rant about black and hispanic" verses (conjecture) something more resembling an inappropriate statement (but this country ought to be used to that after soooooo many years of inappropriate or inaccurate statements). A rant by the way, is what has been displayed on this string thus far in the first two posts.