James Blake, American former Tennis pro, profiled and assaulted by NYPD due to his race

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's be clear - I hate that people are so quick to dismiss the racial element. Blake was racially profiled in the sense that the officer felt the need to tackle him, instead of just asking for his ID.

If you think white people don't routinely get tackled by cops then you are seriously mistaken.

But that said, police should not be tackling anyone without a good reason.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, could be his brother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's be clear - I hate that people are so quick to dismiss the racial element. Blake was racially profiled in the sense that the officer felt the need to tackle him, instead of just asking for his ID.

Well, I hate that there are those like you so reluctant to let go of the racial element.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having watched the video again a few times, the argument that Blake was "racially profiled" comes across as utterly and completely ludicrous. In the video, one can't even distinguish any meaningful difference in skin color between Blake and the cop that tackled him, nor can one see anything about Blake's clothing, behavior or demeanor that would signal anything whatsoever about his race.

Yes, the cops got it wrong, but playing the race card here is a serious stretch.

If you're reluctant to see this as a racial profiling incident more power to you but that doesn't make this incident negligible or irrelevant as far as improper conduct. Police should not be able to physically attack non-threatening individuals on the presumption that they are suspected of non-violent crimes. The officer acted in poor judgment - period.

Yes, the issue is tackling Blake when the suspect (who turned out to be completely innocent and not associated at all with the crime) was wanted only for identity fraud. Which means that you or I could have been tackled as well in a similar situation. I worry for my own safety now when I see that some police officers act this way.

On another note, I'm an older white woman. So maybe the police officer wouldn't tackle me? But then if he wouldn't tackle me because I'm an older white woman, then he must be profiling based on something. But I'm going with the possibility that this shows this could happen to anyone -- since some of our DCUM friends are insisting this wasn't racial profiling. Fine - then tell me why I, as a taxpayer -- who until recently had assumed that police officers as a group exercised a certain amount of professionalism -- shouldn't be livid that there are folks who think we should just get over this because it wasn't racial profiling.

So, this one incident changed you mind that as a group police officers exercise a certain amount of professionalism? If so not much of a conviction there.

As for the profiling. Is anyone suggesting that because it isn't profiling that it doesn't still matter as to what happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, could be his brother.

Dude doesn't even look black to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wow, could be his brother.

but uhh... thats not the suspect. Neither one of them are. Nice PR job by the NYPD though.

[Anonymous]

http://www.tmz.com/2015/09/10/james-blake-tennis-nypd-arrest-real-suspect-photo/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/11/1420432/-Not-only-was-tennis-star-James-Blake-innocent-so-was-the-other-black-man-they-said-he-looked-like

[calexander]

[Anonymous]

The photo and description came from an informant - a courier service that was suspicious of illegal activity by someone they were working for.

[Anonymous]

I definitely believe the police officer used too much force, but for the OP to say in the subject line that he was assaulted due to his race is not accurate.

He seems to have been targeted because he matched a description of the person for whom they were looking.......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I definitely believe the police officer used too much force, but for the OP to say in the subject line that he was assaulted due to his race is not accurate.

He seems to have been targeted because he matched a description of the person for whom they were looking.......

Obviously he was targeted because he matched the description of a suspect...but why was he physically taken down like that?
If the suspect in an identity theft and credit card fraud case was described as looking like Andy Roddick do you think the cop would have ran up and tackled him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The NYPD's stance on the matter has been met with skepticism from Blake's family members. "If James had looked European I don't think the violence perpetrated by the officer would have been the same," Blake's stepmother Linda Blake told the news on Thursday. "All they had to do was go up to him and say, 'Excuse me sir, could I see some identification.'"

As to Officer Frascatore, he managed to rack up five civilian complaints over the course of seven months in 2013. In one instance, Frascatore arrested a woman for allegedly failing to quickly turn over a bicycle they had deemed evidence. After that incident, Frascatore reportedly lied under oath.

1,000 time this. This was a credit card fraud case - why didn't the office just show his badge and ask for ID? There was no gun, Blake did not resist - why was it necessary to be so aggressive, "suspicion" is not enough to treat another human being this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely believe the police officer used too much force, but for the OP to say in the subject line that he was assaulted due to his race is not accurate.

He seems to have been targeted because he matched a description of the person for whom they were looking.......

Obviously he was targeted because he matched the description of a suspect...but why was he physically taken down like that?
If the suspect in an identity theft and credit card fraud case was described as looking like Andy Roddick do you think the cop would have ran up and tackled him?

We have no way of knowing. If your claim is that police don’t tackle white suspects, you would be incorrect.
This is more a case of an overly-aggressive cop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely believe the police officer used too much force, but for the OP to say in the subject line that he was assaulted due to his race is not accurate.

He seems to have been targeted because he matched a description of the person for whom they were looking.......

Obviously he was targeted because he matched the description of a suspect...but why was he physically taken down like that?
If the suspect in an identity theft and credit card fraud case was described as looking like Andy Roddick do you think the cop would have ran up and tackled him?

We have no way of knowing. If your claim is that police don’t tackle white suspects, you would be incorrect.
This is more a case of an overly-aggressive cop.

Every ethnicity is at risk of being subject to over aggressiveness by the police. Its just happens to black people a heck of a lot more. So they scream the loudest about it. You best believe if suburban whites were continually harassed and thrown against the ground for their marijuana, drunk driving or "higher-end" drug activity (or alternatively, financial and insurance fraud), changes would happen quite swiftly. Thats what happens when 1) you are the majority and 2) you collectively have way more resources and connections than everyone else.