“Well you don’t know about police brutality. I get it too,” said Arthur.
“I was speeding down this narrow street and this stupid old bitch was walking too slow down the street so I had to swerve around her so I didn’t hit her. Fucking A! I gave that bitch the finger and pulled my BMW right into the parking lot at work. That stupid bitch called the cops on me and they knocked on the door to the office and came in looking for me. They asked me to identify myself and if I was speeding down the street. I said who I was and I started cursing them out. We went back and forth for a while before they said ‘we’re reading you your rights.’ They pulled me outside scolded me and then told me not to do it again. I kept saying I didn’t do anything and telling them to get off me. They arrested me and dragged me to a prison holding cell where I stayed for two hours before my dad pulled up and got me out. They charged into my office and dragged me out for no reason! That’s brutality!”
Arthur is a white male approximately 20 years old. He’s originally from Russia. This scenario Arthur created has been of little consequence for Arthur. Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, and Anthony Baez weren’t so lucky to have been let off so easily. I’m sure any one of these brothers would’ve preferred a holding cell over barrages of lethal bullets or a fatal stranglehold.
When we discuss police brutality, we are talking about excessive, unwarranted force. In a situation where a police officer is being attacked, they are to preserve their lives just like we would. Arthur’s actions prompted the police to act the way they did, but I would not make the mistake of calling that police brutality. Arthur believed it was okay for him to be speeding in a residential area, nearly hit and curse out an old lady, and curse out police who were questioning his reckless behavior.
There are a couple of ways to analyze Arthur’s actions and the situation. He called it brutality because he doesn’t have a firm example of what brutality is. Had he known of the countless instances in which police have been aggressive without warrant to peoples of color resulting in jail time, hospitalization, or death, he would have used a more appropriate term. Whites do get brutalized by the police as well, but this was not brutality. This was a fool acting foolishly.
