Thabo Sefolosha Gets A Dose Of Police Brutality

Thabo Sefolosha arrested by the New York Police (photo courtesy of http://www.blacksportsonline.com)

Police brutality has been a boiling point over the last few years. From the incident in Ferguson, Missouri involving police officer Darren Wilson killing teenager Michael Brown to the incident of Eric Garner getting choked out by the police after claiming that he could not breathe, trust in the police is declining at a fast rate, especially in the African-American community. Everytime we turn around, there is another incident where police conveniently forget they are here to protect and serve not kill and judge. And in every instance, there are those that defend the actions by shaming the victim, view the situation for what it is, or take the point somewhere that makes entirely no sense at all. But in almost all the instances, the victim seems to be the one that takes the worse public beating than the actual one who did the harming of the victim. In New York City, it seemed like another case was heading in that direction recently. Atlanta Hawks basketball player Thabo Sefolosha had just arrived in town with his team after a 96-69 win over the Phoenix Suns in Atlanta. Although it is not clear if the team gave them a curfew or not, the players were allowed to do what they wanted to do when they touched down in the city. Sefolosha, along with teammate Pero Antic, headed out that night and went to a club called 1Oak in Manhattan. Who would know that Sefolosha’s season would be coming to an end that night?

Sefolosha was there with Antic and there was another NBA player present as well. The Hawks were in town to take on the Nets the next day, but the Pacers were also in town as well. Indiana was set to take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the next day and former Knicks Chris Copeland was out enjoying the nightlife also. But apparently his enjoyment of the nightlife ended abruptly with Copeland getting in an argument and being stabbed. Copeland was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and has since been said to be well on his way to recovery. But that was only the beginning of the interesting incident that happened at 1Oak. Sefolosha and Antic, who were not there with Copeland, were outside when police showed up and were trying to clear things up. From what was originally reported, Sefolosha and Antic were in the way and were arrested for resisting arrest and trying to prevent the authorities from setting up a crime scene. Both players were taken in and released and missed their game versus the Nets in Brooklyn the next day. But that was not the end of the news for Sefolosha on the events of that night. When he was arrested, it was reported that he had to be wrestled to the ground because he came at the police aggressively. And in being wrestled to the ground, Sefolosha suffered a broken leg. Because of the injury, he is now out for the rest of the season. A key reserve, Sefolosha would have been a good piece the Hawks could have had at their disposal come playoff time. But now that is all a dream after this incident at 1Oak.

The way the incident was originally painted, the police made it seem like Sefolosha was way out of order the entire time and they had to take him down the way he did. But little did they know that there was film out there that proved Sefolosha was not being aggressive towards the police at all: Here is the actual link to the video obtained by TMZ:

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_5rib0nud

The first question in regards to this video is where is the aggression that was reported that Sefolosha had towards the police officers? In the entire incident, there was no aggression by him, only aggression by the police officers towards him. And secondly, there was a swing at Sefolosha’s leg by an officer (the one that consequently is injured and requires surgery now) with a club. The police already had him down on the ground and he was not resisting, so was the swing at his legs really necessary at all? In this instance, the police tried to paint a picture of something that did not happen. It does not appear that Sefolosha was disturbing the scene of the incident at all. It appears he was calm when the police approached him. And the police, in turn, were very rough and threw him to the ground and cuffed him. After viewing that video, what does that make you feel? The sense of anger and frustration definitely seems to come to mind. But imagine what Sefolosha is feeling at this time. His season has been ended by the New York Police Department and now he has to deal with legal issues that seemingly were instigated by the New York Police Department.

Going forward in this case, Sefolosha and teammate Pero Antic have said that the police are lying about their account of the incident and they will be fighting the charges. And they will not be alone in this fight. The NBPA will be looking into the matter as well for Antic and Sefolosha. It seems as if the New York Police Department did not recognize who they were trying to get over on this time and it could have serious consequences for all the police officers involved. Sadly, this case is a rarity when it comes to police brutality cases. Not all police officers are bad guys. Many do good things. But the overlying factor is that police brutality is an issue in this country. Police officers are taking their power overboard and instead of doing their jobs, some are acting like vigilantes and that is unacceptable. This type of behavior should not be accepted and sadly it is glanced over and justified a lot. Some police officers are out of line and it’s time that people call them out on it and strip them of their badges when they step out of line. The law is the law and even when you are the one that is supposed to enforce it, there has to be some accountability there.