I don't know if this has been diaried. Regardless. In one of the most disgusting displays of police brutality, a 12 year old girl is going through her second trail for alleged assault against a police officer. Here are the details of the case as they are being reported on boing-boing.
The Houston Press reports that final arguments are being held in the criminal assault trial against Dymond Milburn who was 12 years old when four Galveston police officers (David Roark, Justin Popovich, Sean Stewart, and Sgt. Gilbert Gomez) allegedly beat her up with a flashlight and threatened to shoot her puppy, while she was in her yard attending to tripped circuit breaker.
Background: One morning a couple of years ago, Dymond was in her yard, resetting a circuit breaker at the request of her mother. Four plainclothes Galveston police officers were driving by in an unmarked van, responding to a call that three white (my emphasis) prostitutes were working Milburn's neighborhood. The police spotted Dymond (who is black), jumped out of the van and announced that she was under arrest for prostitution. Dymond grabbed a tree and called for her father. The police officers allegedly beat Dymond so badly that she had to be hospitalized (for black eyes as well as throat and ear drum injuries).
Three weeks later, police showed up at Milburn's school and arrested her for assault. Hence, the trial against her.
There are several things that piss me off about this case that go beyond the obvious injustice committed here.
Several commenters to this story pointed out that she may in fact be a prostitute. My perspective? So what? Let's argue that she really is a 12 year old prostitute. In what fucked up universe do FOUR grown men need to beat-up a 12 year old girl, in her own yard, sufficiently to put her into the hospital. What crime short of a brutal murder could motivate FOUR men to do this to a child?
Secondly, I own the kind of flash light police officers carry. They're usually 12 inch mag lights that are heavy and painful, if wielded as a weapon.
Thirdly, as justification for the innocence of the officers, some have questioned why a young girl was supposedly tripping a circuit breaker. Some have suggested she is too young to know how, while others have questioned her ability to perform such a complex task. Other than referring to point one above, WHAT THE FUCK?!?! When I was younger I lived in house where turning on too many appliances would frequently trip the circuit breakers. The first time my parents asked me to reset the breaker they told me--didn't show me--told me how to do it. An untrained monkey could reset a circuit breaker as long as they know where it is. I used to reset the breakers all the time.
This whole story stinks of racism and police brutality. The enablers of police brutality, who make such comments should be ashamed of themselves. The cops should be thrown in prison.
Just so you know, the Galveston District Attorney is an elected position. Here's their contact info.
UPDATE 1: Holy Cow! I posted this last night and went to bed. This is my first time on the Rec list. Thanks everyone. I'll try to go through all the comments.
UPDATE 2: In response to several questions in the diary, to make matters worse, the current trial is the SECOND one. The first ended in a mistrial as several have indicated. Questions of double jeopardy have been floated by some comments I've seen. It is my opinion, and the opinion of others, that charges are being pursued to shield the police officers and the city from a civil suit that is ongoing in this case. I can't imagine the pain and suffering she has had to endure through two trials, and getting arrested AT SCHOOL after the first mistrial. In fact, the reason I posted the DA's contact info was to alert people to this young child's continued abuse at the hands of the DA's office.
UPDATE 3: OK, this is beyond the pale. Three comments:
- Apparently the second trial ended in another mistrial on Monday. Thanks to Caneel for the update. Fortunately, the police have chosen not to file charges a THIRD time.
- The girl is now fifteen, so this has been ongoing for THREE years. How the DA could do this to a young woman is . . . GODDAMMIT I'm pissed!
- One thoroughly flamed poster had the audacity to accuse the progressive blogosphere of rushing to judgment against the cops. The cops ARE guilty of using unnecessary force against a minor. Period. No one has disputed the fact that they beat her. I never suggested they be BURNED, but they should be incarcerated for that act alone. No one should have the right to beat a woman, much less a child, for any reason. The use of force they employed was unjustified and excessive.
UPDATE 4: Two themes I'd like to expand on that have gotten a lot of play from comments in the diary.
- The girl was originally arrested by four plain clothes police officers. The fact that she resisted arrest is understandable. Whether she was black or not, young girls are taught to flee men jumping out of vans and abducting them. Shouting "police" doesn't change that fear or her reaction.
From the comments:
adult women have been abducted and raped by men posing and claiming to be cops. 4 plain clothed cops simply IDing themselves as cops means NOTHING.
--by Clytemnestra (2+ / 0-)
Furthermore, if I were a twelve year old African American girl living in a country where driving while black is a reason for some policemen to pull you over, I'd be just as scared if four white men jumped out of a van and they WERE wearing police uniforms. That said, my comment and diary are not intended as an indictment of all police officers. Most are good people.
- Racism and police brutality is not limited to the South. Everyone on this diary that lives outside the South know that it occurs everywhere. I would appreciate people keeping their Texas/South bashing out of the diary.