Another Brutal NYPD Arrest Caught on Tape, This Time for Petty Marijuana Possession

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the star of yet another
cellphone video of an arrest that may have involved excessive
force. You can watch the chaotic scene, with officers meeting
resistance not just from their target but residents in the area
too, below:

What did the man on the ground do to attract all those cops
toward him to effect an arrest? This is your drug war. He was
allegedly seen with a little bit of marijuana (something New York’s
progressive apologists insist has been decriminalized in the city).
PIX 11 provides
details:

Police say officers in Bedford Stuyvesant saw 32-year-old
Jahmiel Cuffee in possession of a small amount of marijuana on
Tuesday night in front of 223 Malcolm X Blvd. The video picks up
after an officer asks Cuffee for ID. He hands over the ID, but
resists arrest.  One officer pulls his gun, but once
they get Cuffee to the ground, it gets worse.

In the video, an officer is seen walking away, then coming back
and making a motion with his foot.

“He abruptly stomped on top of the gentleman’s head,” said Gary
Dormer, who recorded what happened on his cell phone. “He
lifted his foot with excessive force and came down like he was
stepping on an ant or a roach or something at the time.”

To the cops’ credit, none of them appeared to try
to confiscate any of the cellphones recording the scene, although
it’s possible they would’ve been unable to even if they tried. The
NYPD says Cuffee was injured during the arrest, but not on his head
and that it is at least his eighth arrest for marijuana.

Community activists demand the cop who allegedly head-stomped
Cuffee be removed from the job because the “officer cannot
represent our community and work for us if he’s going to violate
people’s rights.” New York City’s police abuse problem is
inextricably linked to its policing priorities. So long as
appearing tough on crime (read: drugs, especially in minority
communities) wins votes for the Democrats in charge of the city no
amount of agitation may be enough to change things. If you keep
voting for the same people pushing the same policies you’ll keep
getting the same results, even if your rhetoric insists you support
something else. There is no “right way” to arrest someone for
possessing marijuana because it’s not something police should be
arresting people for.