Title: Over a Dozen Cops Swarm, Arrest Tiny Girl For Sitting Incorrectly on the Subway Source:
FromThe Trenches/FTP URL Source:http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.c ... ting-incorrectly-subway/216980 Published:Jan 23, 2018 Author:Jack Burns Post Date:2018-01-24 05:52:15 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:11823 Comments:97
Los Angeles, CA — Dramatic footage has just been released showing 18-year-old Bethany Nava, a West Hollywood resident, getting arrested for having her foot on the subway seat in front of her. According to the Facebook live video, Nava was riding the Red Line Metrorail when the confrontation with police occurred.
An unnamed LAPD officer, a sergeant, had reportedly asked Nava to remove her foot from an adjoining seat but she didn’t immediately comply. “It doesn’t matter. You’re getting off the train right now. I already told you what to do but you disobeyed me,” he told her in a normal voice. He then ordered her to stand up and told her she would be getting off the train at the next stop. “I paid to be on the train, asshole!” Nava told the officer as he laid his hands on her and pushed her off the train.
”I’m 18. He’s taking me off the train for having my foot on the fucking seat,” she told the person recording. The officer whose badge number is 5203, was then surrounded by concerned citizens who accused him of abusing his badge and being on a power trip.
”You’re a fucking scumbag,” said Selena Lechuga, a concerned citizen who came to Nara’s defense and calling into question the officer’s actions in forcing the teenager off the train. “You’re impeding my investigation. Back away,” he told Lechuga.
During the altercation, Nara attempted to flex her rights when the sergeant asked her for her ID. “I was on my way to the DMV. I have to meet my mother to get my ID. Cause I just turned 18. This is not fucking fair that you took me off the train because I had my foot there because I was comfortable like that. There is no law that tells me that I cannot sit that way because I PAID TO BE IN THERE!” Nara screamed. “It’s the rules of the train,” the officer stated.
“What’s the fucking rules of the train,” she asked. Both Nara and Lechuga asked the officer to provide the rules of the train for them to read. “I don’t have any fucking ID I was about to go to the DMV to get it…I should not be going to jail right now!” she exclaimed.
“I don’t have any form of ID. I don’t have any drugs. I don’t have anything that you can arrest me for! My foot was on a chair…what kind of fucking conflicts do you have that you need to take me off the train that I paid for,” she asked. “Nobody was trying to sit in the chair.”
Soon after, backup officers arrived. Instead of questioning the validity of the arrest, they promptly placed the two ladies in handcuffs and carted them off to jail.
According to CBS News LA, both women were cited for disorderly conduct on the train. However, that charge is now being called into question. One could argue the entire incident was started when the police officer escalated the conflict by demanding Nara forfeit her fare and leave the train. It was then and only then when tempers began to flare and choice words were used.
While the officer appeared to just be doing his job, how he handled it will likely be seen as professional by supporters of law enforcement, and abusive by freedom loving citizens. Perusing through YouTube one can find a myriad of videos where citizens claim to have been harassed while riding the Metro.
It’s unclear exactly how Nara was sitting which prompted the officer to remove her from the train, but de-escalation techniques could have been implemented. The entire incident may serve to illustrate just how easy it is to become a criminal in LA. Sitting on the seat incorrectly can now get you arrested.
#74. To: All, no gnu taxes, GrandIsland, Gatlin, sneakypete, A K A Stone, Deckard, VxH (#72)
You guys know I can't resist the followup.
LAPD sergeant drags rider from train after she puts her feet on a seat
Raw video of a sergeant forcibly hauling a young woman off a Los Angeles subway car—because she kept her feet on a seat—has ignited a divisive debate about police overreach, with some decrying the incident as an abuse of power.
The Los Angeles Police Department sergeant grabbed Bethany Nava, 18, by her arm and pulled her off the train at Metro’s Westlake station Monday afternoon, because she kept her feet on a seat after being asked multiple times to remove them, according to the LAPD. She was then detained, cited for “engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior,” and released, according to police spokesperson Mike Lopez.
A bystander who spit on the sergeant was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of battery, Lopez said. The LAPD has launched a use of force investigation.
Those who said the police overreacted found an ally in Metro CEO Phil Washington on Wednesday morning.
“I am extremely disappointed... Our riders deserve better,” the CEO said in a statement. “I expect more from our law enforcement partners. This incident is still under investigation, but I want to be clear: this is not the kind of policing I want on our system.”
But as the day wore on, he backtracked. His original statement was stripped from the transit agency’s news blog and later replaced with a message that is much more sympathetic to police:
I want to be clear about my position: We want our Customer Code of Conduct rules enforced, but I’m disappointed at the way the situation escalated.
As a 24-year retired U.S. Army veteran, I understand and respect our police officers and their day-to-day duty in working to keep our system safe and secure. They encounter hundreds of conduct issues each day, and some of them are faced with very difficult situations. But my hope is that we work to de-escalate situations as much as possible.
Meanwhile, we remain committed to enhancing safety and the overall rider experience for all of our customers, and look to our patrons to be our partners in that.
The arrest was captured on video that has been shared more than 155,000 times on Facebook. The roughly 10-minute-long video starts aboard a Metro train as it pulls into the Westlake subway station. It shows the sergeant speaking to a young woman, who later identifies herself as Bethany Nava.
“You’re getting off the train right now,” the sergeant says. “I already told you what to do, and you disobeyed me. Come on. Get ready to walk.”
The sergeant then starts pulling the young woman’s arm as he repeats, “Come on, stand up.” As he pulls her off the train, Nava loops her elbow around a handhold bar, and says, “I paid to be on this train, asshole. Stop!”
Off the train and on the subway platform, a bystander, identified by police as 22-year-old Selina Lechuga, approaches Nava and the sergeant as they argue. After several minutes, more LAPD officers arrive and take Nava and Lechuga into custody.
Lopez says Nava was released, but Lechuga was booked into jail on $20,000 bail.
Lopez says that before the sergeant dragged Nava off the train, he had repeatedly asked her to remove her feet from a train seat. Metro’s code of conduct stipulates that riders are not to put their feet on seats.
Deputy Chief Bob Green, who oversees Metro operations for LAPD, told KPCC that the department only recently started enforcing the code of conduct. He defended the officer’s actions:
”All that gal had to do was comply and this would be a non-event, because that same thing goes on hundreds of times every day throughout our system with our officers trying to restore order, and people who ride that train are begging for order on the system,” Green said.
The incident poses a broader question about policing policy aboard Metro’s buses and trains: Does dragging a rider off a Metro train for putting her feet on a seat contribute to public safety aboard transit?
Eric Mann, the executive director of the activist civil rights group Labor Community Strategy Center, says the police presence does a disservice to regular riders.
“If you’re black or Latino on the train, it’s virtually promised that you’ll have miserable experience,” says Mann. “The onboard police say, ‘We’re going to treat you like you are a criminal. Eventually we’re going to find something that you did, because we have so many statutes on the books that we can get you on anything.’”
Mann’s Strategy Center is suing Metro and the LAPD for failing to disclose information about police presence aboard Metro vehicles.
It seems that Fat Spitting Mouthy Bitch got locked up on $20K bail. Good! LOL
