American comply or die policing is directed disproportionately at African Americans, but no everyday American is immune from the threat of police brutality. It isn’t just a few bad apples. It’s an American police mindset that affects every state of the union, even Hawaii. The no broken windows theory of policing, where the smallest infraction is treated like a major threat to the social order has led to untold levels of abuse that are now being revealed by cell phone videos and body cam videos. No one, including 73 year old grandmas who get confused while shopping at Wal Mart, is exempt from police abuse. What the following “highlight” video, edited by sound experts and a legal team shows is absolutely appalling. It’s not just heat of the moment violence. The following video shows the police involved in the brutality laughing and joking while watching the body cam video back in the police station while the detained, hogtied 73 year old woman suffers in pain alone in a cell where she can hear them laughing. These police revel in her pain. The female cop is worried that the male cop didn’t think that she was tough enough.
Every person who passes as white needs to understand that some day they may be having a medical emergency or a series of senior moments, or a mother, father or loved one could and they could end up being treated like this utterly harmless woman was. The American police brutality that has hundreds of years of history from the slave patrols, to the cells of GITMO, to the streets of Chicago threatens everyone in every state because the militarization of the police affects all of us. Even a confused woman with memory deficits picking flowers is a target of comply or die police.
Karen Garner was going to buy less than twenty dollars of merchandise from her local Wal Mart. She forgot that she didn’t pay and started to walk out of the store. She was stopped by store security. She then offered to pay. Wal Mart would not let her pay and took back the merchandise. She was walking home, not knowing that Wal Mart had called the cops on her as she walked out the door.
She picked a few wildflowers and was walking home when the Loveland police drove up and began to make demands of her. She didn’t understand. She was confused. She just wanted to walk home. That’s when the police violence began. Most any regular person would have noticed that Karen Garner was confused and possibly suffering from problems related to age and memory, but not these police. Non compliance would not be allowed, even by someone with obvious age related issues. This is what no broken windows policing looks like.
The original police encounter was shown about two weeks ago. What’s new in this video is how the police perceived their brutal actions back in the squad house. There is a chilling emptiness, a total lack of concern, about the welfare of the hapless woman they assaulted. And they laugh and joke about breaking her arm and hog tying her while she can hear them laughing in the holding cell in the back of the police station. She is struggling alone, in pain, while the cops laugh and joke about what they did. They are proud of themselves.
These cops are by no means exceptional. They are examples of an American school of policing. This is what happens when modern slave patrol tactics intersect with a senior citizen with dementia. This is how occupying armies behave. There can be no compassion or concern for the occupied because order is maintained by fear. Occupying forces are desensitized to the feelings of the occupied. Any deviation from compliance is seen as a threat justifying the use of force. Violence against anyone perceived as non-compliant is celebrated with jokes and laughter as it is in the video below.
The lawyers descriptions of the content are stated below the youtube video:
Ready for the pop? Here comes the pop.” The quote above is from a Loveland Police officer – Austin Hopp – said in reference to the sound it made when he dislocated and fractured Karen Garner’s shoulder. Hopp made this comment to two fellow Loveland Police officers while they watched his body camera video together at the police station. They all laughed about it. The comment was made while Karen Garner, who has dementia, remained handcuffed to a bench in a cell just 10 feet away from them, alone, confused and crying in pain. She would ultimately go over six hours without any medical attention. This horrific statement comes to light after Ms. Garner’s family hired a sound engineer to enhance the audio on Loveland Police station booking videos from the day of Karen’s arrest.
The video reveals a grotesque culture of callous disregard for the health and safety of citizens. The officers fist-bump one another multiple times in self-congratulation for both the assault on Garner and the intimidation of the citizen who attempted to complain about it. In an April 26, 2021 press release responding to the revelations seen in this video, Ms. Garner's attorney, Sarah Schielke of The Life & Liberty Law Office states: “This is utterly disgusting. These videos cannot be unseen or unheard. I am sorry to have to share them with the public. This will be traumatic and deeply upsetting for everyone to see. But as it often goes with bad police departments, it seems this is the only way to make them change. They have to be exposed. If I didn’t release this, the Loveland Police’s toxic culture of arrogance and entitlement, along with their abuse of the vulnerable and powerless, would carry on, business as usual. I won’t be a part of that.”“
Loveland knew. They’ve known all along,” Schielke continues. “They failed Karen Garner. They failed the community. And they did it all on camera. Do you realize how horrifying that is? That means they were used to getting away with it. That the comfortable norm in Loveland is one of zero accountability. That this is not just some ‘isolated incident.’ It is not just one single ‘problem.’ It is widespread, sociopathic criminality. And to attempt to shift the burden to Karen, or a bystander, or her family, or counsel, to report this? Shame on you, Loveland. You took an oath to protect and serve. This is a disgrace.”
Since filing a federal lawsuit against the City of Loveland and three of its officers on April 14, 2021, the Loveland Police Department’s gruesome arrest and abuse of 73-year-old grandmother Karen Garner has horrified the country, making national headlines (New York Times, Washington Post, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, Vice). The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s office, in conjunction with the FBI and Fort Collins Police, has since opened a criminal investigation into the Loveland Police.
Meanwhile, the City of Loveland has vowed to protect the “due process” rights of its officers, with Chief Robert Ticer putting one officer on administrative leave (Hopp) and “reassigning” the other two officers (Sergeant Metzler and Officer Jalali) to “administrative duties” (desk duty) until the various investigations are completed. To date, the City has yet to extend any apology to Ms. Garner or her family for the various atrocities witnessed on these videos.
The complete uncut booking area video is available here:
https://youtu.be/1iuuyg94-yI
Officer Hopp's bodyworn camera video of the assault on Ms. Garner is available here: https://youtu.be/VG0wfPMMR4k
CALL TO ACTION: Are you skilled with sound engineering and able to enhance audio to discern what words are being said on poor quality videos? There are still many inaudible sections of conversation in this video (and other videos) and we need your help figuring out the rest of what was said. If you think you can help us, please reach out directly to madie@lifeandlibertylaw.com.