Denver Artist Beaten Bloody By Police

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

I called the Mayor's office right after I read about this...I still don't want to believe it happened in the city I love but Denver cops have a terrible history of violent abuse and botched arrests.

Local artist Eric Winfield was walking through a very busy section of Lower Downtown Denver right after a Rockies/Red Socks game. He was carrying a painting and had just crossed in front of the dance club La Rouge when he was tackled from behind by three police officers. The officers slammed Winfield's head into the pavement repeatedly: a move a few might recognize as a variation on the old neo-nazi skinhead favorite known as a "curb-check" specifically designed to break the victim's teeth against concrete.

Two of the three cops who beat this poor dude are professional cage fighters in their time off from the police force.

Here is the link to Winfield's photo-blog, which features several shots taken directly after the beating. I haven't posted them directly because they are really brutal:
http://denverpolice.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/83/

Here is the "Justice for Eric Winfield" Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/justiceforericwinfield

And local paper Westword's story about the incident:
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/02/beaten_by_denver_cops_artist_e.php

[provis99]

1. I don't think Denver cops are any worse than other city cops.

They're all brutal, crypto-nazi pieces of shit, in my opinion. Cops aren't there to fight crime, they're there to enforce order (ie. oppress normal people for the rich).

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

4. I guess it is because I have more experience with Denver cops

The first thing I remembered when I read this article was my interaction several years ago with Denver PD's Special Gang Unit. I was facilitating a discussion between local high school educators and the police. The educators asked the police why they thought Denver PD had such a nasty reputation with the general public. The immediate answer, voiced by the Sergeant in charge of the unit, was "Mayor Hickenlooper and the Democrats." Really. That was his first and only answer.

"Thugs" is exactly correct in this case.

[PM Martin]

11. Eyewitness account.

Very good.

[MindPilot]

19. I have a good friend from HS who is on Arvada's force.

She makes a concerted effort to avoid any contact with DPD, especially when she's off-duty. Aurora too. They both have very nasty reputations.

[Shell Beau]

14. Wow

[Flaneur]

2. Reason 733,836 why there are so many cop haters in this country.

[paulsby]

22. and yet poll after poll shows that cops consistently are ranked by the public

in the top ranks of respect and perceptions of professionalism

iow there are a lot of cop haters. but they are dwarfed by people who greatly respect and even love da cops.

check the stats. poll after poll.

cops are ranked right up there with teachers, and several other professions amongst the MOST respected and MOST professional

hth

facts are facts. the facts are that there are far more people who respect them than hate them. FAR more

[joeybee12]

30. And yet Ronald Reagan was elected twice, so that proves something, too...

Right?

[paulsby]

33. yes. and my point stands

cop haters aren't nearly as common as a glance at this thread would suggest.

and they are dwarfed in number by those who feel otherwise. dats all i'm saying. you can think that's silly or uninformed or whatever

[virgogal]

3. This happened over 2 years ago? ( And it's Red Sox by the way.)

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

5. sorry, I don't watch sports at all

but I guess I should have paid a little more attention!

And yes, it happened a while ago but the Denver PD internal investigation just concluded without any finding of fault, which is why it is news again. People in Denver are pretty upset about it. Winfield has now decided to pursue the matter in civil court.

[virgogal]

10. No need to apologize----if it was any other sport I'd be the one

making the error. :-)

[asdjrocky]

6. Fuck the police.

Nothing but a bunch of pigs.

Cage fighting cops? What a great fucking idea.

I really, really wish I could stop saying this:

99% OF COPS GIVE THE REST A BAD NAME

[eleny]

7. Why are they saying they did this?

I'm afraid to open the link with the pics - thanks for the warning.

I'm in Lakewood, long time resident, so I know what you mean about the Denver PD reputation.

[KittyWampus]

26. that's what I want to know. The sadists must have had at least a cursory attempt at a rationale

[hfojvt]

31. one article says that a bouncer identified him

apparently somebody got assaulted in the bar and the bouncer identified him to the police.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10673398

[PM Martin]

8. Overpaid parking maids take advantage of their powers

to hurt others. :puke:

[Pavulon]

9. Why is the bar named in the suit?

would be interested to see the police report on how this all started. I spent all kinds of time fucked up in bars and doing really dumb stuff and never had my ass kicked like that.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-codce/case_no-1:2008cv02405/case_id-110143/

[virgogal]

18. Maybe he deserved it and you didn't. Just sayin' .

[Pavulon]

27. When you sue for a million. Questions are bound to come up..(nt)

[Pavulon]

28. When you sue for a million. Questions are bound to come up..(nt)

[hfojvt]

32. the bar's bouncer was the one who pointed him out to police

he claims he was never in the bar.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10673398

his version of events is here

http://www.facebook.com/justiceforericwinfield#!/justiceforericwinfield?v=app_2347471856

[backscatter712]

12. Shit like this is why I absolutely HATE police officers. Hate 'em.

Especially the ones in Denver - nothing but violent roid-raging thugs. I hope every single one of those subhuman fucks gets testicular cancer from their speed radars.

Bullies with badges. That's all they are. Goddamned vicious animals.

I'm sure the DU authoritarian cop-loving brigade will be here shortly to explain that Eric Winfield must have done something to deserve being beaten within an inch of his life, and that we need to be cutting police officers a break because they have such a hard, terrible job...

Sorry. I'm fresh out of pity for cops.

[PM Martin]

13. Police do NOT have such a hard job.

Pure mythology.

[Shell Beau]

15. Oh really?

[virgogal]

17. Naaaah,they just sit around on their asses all day an eat doughnuts.

I can't believe how much cop bashing goes on around here.

I don't get it.

And no,I'm not a cop and don't play one on TV.

[TroglodyteScholar]

29. I'm guessing a lot of us have been on the receiving end of mistreatment by police...

...if not plain brutality.

I, personally, have been falsely accused by highway patrolmen who pulled me over legitimately (for speeding) but decided they "smelled marijuana" (bullshit) and turned my car inside out. One then proceeded to ask why I had so much "fag music" when he was frustrated that he wasn't finding sheets of LSD (which he specifically asked about) in my CD cases. Not a very nice experience for a citizen innocent of everything but speeding.

I had another worse experience than that--which involved actual brutality when I was in no way aggressive--but I don't want to write any details about it b/c it still fucks with my head.

So yea...if you don't like the cop bashing, you're going to have to get over it. Few of us do it without good reason. I saw a statement upthread that couldn't be any truer: 99% of cops give the others a bad name.

[blueamy66]

23. I'm still trying to figure out

who, exactly, forces cops to become cops?

:think:

[EFerrari]

16. Those pictures are horrifying.

And it's hard to fight back against bad cops.

Good luck to you guys. :grr:

[MindPilot]

20. Buster Snider lives on... n/t

[Goldstein1984]

21. Look at the way the G20 protesters were treated in Pittsburgh

Rubber bullets...tear gas...LRAD weapons...

Pigs.

[babydollhead]

24. not only protesters,

students walking on Pitt campus, returning to dorms, were herded into stairwells and arrested

[Goldstein1984]

25. The success of the WTO protesters in Seattle in 1999

set an example that has to be suppressed--civil disobedience successfully shut down the Ruling Class of all nations gathering together.

Similar tactics were used in Copenhagen, including "preventive arrests." Both preventive arrests and extrojudicial extermination are based on a fundamental denial of the human right to due process.

The Ruling Class have no borders. U.S. presidents have more in common with dictators of other nations than they do with their own electorate. We fear the development of a police state, when, in fact, we are witnessing the development of a police planet.

[EFerrari]

34. Kick