Philadelphia Police Brutality:
This all occurred last night after the Bamboozle Road Show’s stop at the TLA. The bands pulled their van in the back alley to load out as the usual process, the South Street bike cops came through the alley, yelling at the bands to move their vans because they were not allowed to park. The bands asked the cops if they could have a few extra minutes so they could get all their gear out; cars rarely travel down that alley and there was no rush. The cops didn’t care and started writing a ticket for the parking violation. They made claims that the trailer tags were invalid and wanted to see proof of insurance but when the bands went to look for it, the cops replied “No time to wait, you’re getting a ticket anyway.” The bands were instructed to move so once they finished packing, they attempted to move the van, BUT they were given another ticket for a moving violation.
Four tickets were written and it upset Trevor (tour manager) so he tried to contest them and was arrested for what I’m assuming to be “obstruction of justice.” As they had him in handcuffs, Chris (who sells merch on the tour) tried to come outside to contest his arrest, he was yelled at to stay inside and in discussion the police lost patience and literally beat him back inside the door, then to the ground, and arrested him for “assaulting a police office” when he did not touch them nor gave them any incentive to think they were in danger. An office has the right to use force when he fears his own safety is in danger. A verbal argument is not justification to beat an innocent bystander with metal batons. After the cuffed him and picked him up, a large pool of blood was on the ground where his head was.
More yelling ensued outside. After a few minutes passed and we exchanged looks of horror standing by the blood, we saw our friend Ian (guitar tech) being thrown back inside with an officer yelling “I told you to stay inside!” Ian replied that he was just trying to do his job and load the equipment into the trailer, the cop had no patience for that, began to beat him and toss him into the door, sending him to the ground. He was turned over and cuffed immediately without any explanation as to why he was being arrested.
Please reblog, retweet, repost, reanything this video to spread the word that these acts of hate need to end. This is not the first time I witnessed the same exact cops abuse their power of authority. My band has played the TLA many times and I’ve been to many shows where the officers have no patience for touring musicians and have arrested friends on false terms.
EDIT: Let me make it known that I support the PPD and their right to “Serve and Protect.” My family has ties with the Philadelphia Police, I have several neighbors who are officers, a close family friend was one of the officers killed in action recently, and my brother is an officer in New Jersey. I do not support the fact that certain officers take their power of authority to an extreme level with no intention to protect the public, only to hurt them.
