Monday, October 08, 2007

Procedure To Death

Diane Ravitch: The Senseless Death of Carol Gotbaum - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...As anyone can see who has watched the airport surveillance video, which is widely available on the Internet, three burly police officers approached Carol, a slender woman of about 105 pounds, and promptly wrestled her to the ground, face-down. One of them appeared to sit on her back while she was handcuffed. Then they pulled her to her feet and dragged her away, with her hands cuffed behind her back. According to the police, they put her into a cell, hands still cuffed, and they shackled her to a wall with a chain.

The police report said that she continuously screamed. The police left her alone in the cell. They left this frightened, terrified woman who was obviously in great emotional distress, chained and cuffed like an animal. Alone, with no way to communicate with anyone she knew. Screaming, screaming, alone, frightened; no one cared. Within a short period of time--maybe 15 minutes, the screaming stopped. This got the police officer's attention. Screaming they could bear; silence was intolerable. A police officer decided it was time to check on Carol to find out why she wasn't screaming anymore. This officer found her unconscious, probably already dead, strangled by the chain that shackled her to the wall..."

The police say they followed procedure and did nothing wrong. Maybe. But it sounds rather like Nazis saying they followed orders. That is an explanation, not an excuse. Click on the link to read the whole sorry account.

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