Steve Duin
The Oregonian
Sunday, April 25, 2004
http://tinylink.com/?QgZLYCzRk9

She was 71 years old. She was blind.

And in the middle of the dogfight -- in which Eunice Crowder was
pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland's courageous
men in blue -- the poor woman's fake right eye popped out of its socket and
was bouncing around in the dirt.
....
The cops aren't apologizing.

The cops aren't embarrassed.

The cops haven't been disciplined.

And the cops are still insisting, to the bitter end, that they "reasonably
believed" this blind ol' bat was a threat to their safety and macho culture.

Eunice Crowder, you see, didn't follow orders. Eunice was uncooperative.
Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old
red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which
her yard debris was being tossed.

Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of
Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried,
unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to
the ground.

When she kicked out at the cops, she was pepper-sprayed in the face with
such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her
stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac's electric stun gun.

And when Nellie Scott, Eunice's 94-year-old mother, tried to rinse out her
daughter's eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller
do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice's lawyer, the cop pushed Nellie up
against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon.

Paranoia runs deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're
always afraid . . .

Afraid and belligerent. "Cops have changed," Warren said. "When I grew up,
they weren't people who huddled together and their only friends were the
cops. You had access to them all the time. You weren't afraid of them."

What did Police Chief Derrick Foxworth have to say about the case? "This did
not turn out the way we wanted it to turn out,...but I feel we need to
recognize Ms. Crowder has some responsibility. She contributed to the
situation."

Granted. But Eunice was 71. She was blind. That probably explains why a
judge threw out all charges against her and why the city, in a stone-cold
panic, settled ASAP.

"This was like fighting Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder," Warren said. "It
wasn't a fair fight."

No, but it was another excuse to haul out the usual code words about the
cops' "reasonable" belief that they were justified to use a "reasonable
amount of force to defend themselves."

If you have a different definition of "reasonable," you just don't
understand the Portland police. You need to remember the words of Robert
King, head of the police union, defending Officer Jason Sery in the March
shooting of James Jahar Perez:

"What sets us apart from people like most of you is that you'll never face a
situation in your job where -- in less than 10 seconds -- the routine can
turn to truly life-threatening," King wrote. "When that happens to us, when
we have to make that ultimate split-second decision, we don't just ask for
your understanding, we ask for your support."

She was 71 years old. She was blind. She was lucky, I guess, that these
cops -- set apart from people like most of us -- didn't make the usual
split-second decision and draw their guns.

Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; Steveduin@aol.com; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland,
OR 97201

In article <408c8555$0$28901$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>,
"Catullus" <no_one@nowhere.com> wrote:
Steve Duin The Oregonian Sunday, April 25, 2004 http://tinylink.com/?QgZLYCzRk9 She was 71 years old. She was blind. And in the middle of the dogfight -- in which Eunice Crowder was pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland's courageous men in blue -- the poor woman's fake right eye popped out of its socket and was bouncing around in the dirt. ... The cops aren't apologizing. The cops aren't embarrassed. The cops haven't been disciplined. And the cops are still insisting, to the bitter end, that they "reasonably believed" this blind ol' bat was a threat to their safety and macho culture. Eunice Crowder, you see, didn't follow orders. Eunice was uncooperative. Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which her yard debris was being tossed. Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to the ground. When she kicked out at the cops, she was pepper-sprayed in the face with such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac's electric stun gun. And when Nellie Scott, Eunice's 94-year-old mother, tried to rinse out her daughter's eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice's lawyer, the cop pushed Nellie up against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon. Paranoia runs deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid . . . Afraid and belligerent. "Cops have changed," Warren said. "When I grew up, they weren't people who huddled together and their only friends were the cops. You had access to them all the time. You weren't afraid of them." What did Police Chief Derrick Foxworth have to say about the case? "This did not turn out the way we wanted it to turn out,...but I feel we need to recognize Ms. Crowder has some responsibility. She contributed to the situation." Granted. But Eunice was 71. She was blind. That probably explains why a judge threw out all charges against her and why the city, in a stone-cold panic, settled ASAP. "This was like fighting Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder," Warren said. "It wasn't a fair fight." No, but it was another excuse to haul out the usual code words about the cops' "reasonable" belief that they were justified to use a "reasonable amount of force to defend themselves." If you have a different definition of "reasonable," you just don't understand the Portland police. You need to remember the words of Robert King, head of the police union, defending Officer Jason Sery in the March shooting of James Jahar Perez: "What sets us apart from people like most of you is that you'll never face a situation in your job where -- in less than 10 seconds -- the routine can turn to truly life-threatening," King wrote. "When that happens to us, when we have to make that ultimate split-second decision, we don't just ask for your understanding, we ask for your support." She was 71 years old. She was blind. She was lucky, I guess, that these cops -- set apart from people like most of us -- didn't make the usual split-second decision and draw their guns. Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; Steveduin@aol.com; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201

My lord! These thugs must be punished.

Mark Wendt <markwendt@spammenotmac.com> wrote in news:markwendt-
821B56.18455226042004@isp.ash.giganews.com:
My lord! These thugs must be punished.

Well, they won't be, because the cop's life is very mysterious and the rest
of us just can't know how deadly a 71-year-old blind lady can be when she's
crawling around after her glass eye around after you knocked it out with a
blast of pepper spray.

God, can you imagine actually *being* that guy and ever telling that story?
What a bunch of pussies.

--
--Robert

"I did once get him to admit the beauty of Bembo," he adds, "a serif."

http://www.livejournal.com/users/spimby/

"Robert Lee" <cranchingwire@earthpiddlydiddlydoolink.poop.net.pe epee> wrote
in message news:Xns94D7C1DBEDC0Bcheezycreezy@207.217.125.206. .. Mark Wendt <markwendt@spammenotmac.com> wrote in news:markwendt- 821B56.18455226042004@isp.ash.giganews.com: My lord! These thugs must be punished. Well, they won't be, because the cop's life is very mysterious and the
rest of us just can't know how deadly a 71-year-old blind lady can be when
she's crawling around after her glass eye around after you knocked it out with a blast of pepper spray. God, can you imagine actually *being* that guy and ever telling that
story? What a bunch of pussies.

I seriously wonder if one or more of the responding officers wasn't drunk,
or high, or just whacked out on something his/her doctor prescribed. This
is such gross misjudgement that it suggests somebody - and I don't mean the
victim - isn't in their right mind.

Mark Wendt <markwendt@spammenotmac.com> wrote:
In article <408c8555$0$28901$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>, "Catullus" <no_one@nowhere.com> wrote: Steve Duin The Oregonian Sunday, April 25, 2004 http://tinylink.com/?QgZLYCzRk9 She was 71 years old. She was blind. And in the middle of the dogfight -- in which Eunice Crowder was pepper-sprayed, Tasered and knocked to the ground by Portland's courageous men in blue -- the poor woman's fake right eye popped out of its socket and was bouncing around in the dirt. ... The cops aren't apologizing. The cops aren't embarrassed. The cops haven't been disciplined. And the cops are still insisting, to the bitter end, that they "reasonably believed" this blind ol' bat was a threat to their safety and macho culture. Eunice Crowder, you see, didn't follow orders. Eunice was uncooperative. Worried a city employee was hauling away a family heirloom, a 90-year-old red toy wagon, she had the nerve to feel her way toward the trailer in which her yard debris was being tossed. Enter the police. Eunice, who is hard of hearing, ignored the calls of Officers Robert Miller and Eric Zajac to leave the trailer. When she tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the hands that were laid on her, she was knocked to the ground. When she kicked out at the cops, she was pepper-sprayed in the face with such force that her prosthetic marble eye was dislodged. As she lay on her stomach, she was Tased four times with Zajac's electric stun gun. And when Nellie Scott, Eunice's 94-year-old mother, tried to rinse out her daughter's eye with water from a two-quart Tupperware bowl, what does Miller do? According to Ernie Warren Jr., Eunice's lawyer, the cop pushed Nellie up against a fence and accused her of planning to use the water as a weapon. Paranoia runs deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid . . . Afraid and belligerent. "Cops have changed," Warren said. "When I grew up, they weren't people who huddled together and their only friends were the cops. You had access to them all the time. You weren't afraid of them." What did Police Chief Derrick Foxworth have to say about the case? "This did not turn out the way we wanted it to turn out,...but I feel we need to recognize Ms. Crowder has some responsibility. She contributed to the situation." Granted. But Eunice was 71. She was blind. That probably explains why a judge threw out all charges against her and why the city, in a stone-cold panic, settled ASAP. "This was like fighting Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder," Warren said. "It wasn't a fair fight." No, but it was another excuse to haul out the usual code words about the cops' "reasonable" belief that they were justified to use a "reasonable amount of force to defend themselves." If you have a different definition of "reasonable," you just don't understand the Portland police. You need to remember the words of Robert King, head of the police union, defending Officer Jason Sery in the March shooting of James Jahar Perez: "What sets us apart from people like most of you is that you'll never face a situation in your job where -- in less than 10 seconds -- the routine can turn to truly life-threatening," King wrote. "When that happens to us, when we have to make that ultimate split-second decision, we don't just ask for your understanding, we ask for your support." She was 71 years old. She was blind. She was lucky, I guess, that these cops -- set apart from people like most of us -- didn't make the usual split-second decision and draw their guns. Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; Steveduin@aol.com; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201

My lord! These thugs must be punished.

The cops ? They probably won't be. You see, some animals
are more equal than others and for decades we've been
told that the "safety" (perceived or otherwise) of cops
over-rides any other concerns. A-OK for them to fill
you full of lead if they imagine you're a "threat",
a-OK for them to sic dogs on you, hose you down with
chemicals, torture you with electric devices. So long
as they intuit the slightest resistance, you have no
rights, no humanity and sometimes no more life. Cops
are a protected species, above the constitution, above
ethics, above everybody.

Can't blame the 'right' or 'left' ... this reversal of
roles - from public servant to street-dictator - has
been building for many decades ; tolerated, indeed
encouraged by every flavor of congress you could ask for.
Cosmetic PR-style attempts to reign-in the cops were
plentiful, true, but for every power regulated they
received ten more.

Robert Lee
<cranchingwire@earthpiddlydiddlydoolink.poop.net.pe epee> wrote:
Mark Wendt <markwendt@spammenotmac.com> wrote in news:markwendt-821B56.18455226042004@isp.ash.giganews.com: My lord! These thugs must be punished.Well, they won't be, because the cop's life is very mysterious and the restof us just can't know how deadly a 71-year-old blind lady can be when she'scrawling around after her glass eye around after you knocked it out with ablast of pepper spray.God, can you imagine actually *being* that guy and ever telling that story?What a bunch of pussies.

Not 'pussies' ... 'bullies'. Cops are a priviledged
class. Their lives are more important than OUR lives.
Our rights don't exist when they contradict the will
of the cops. This situation has been developing for
many decades now and nobody has done much of anything
about it outside of a few cosmetic fixes.

Did the cops go bad because the criminals got worse,
or was it the other way around ? Hard to say. One
thing IS for sure however, we're not too far from
a 'Clockwork Orange' style of policing ... where
the State sticks a badge on bully-boys and gives
'em licence to wreak terror and mayhem.