Jim Ochse, a 61 yo fitness trainer, was brutally assaulted by police
The video footage shows Jim Ochse, a self-employed athletic trainer, singing a Beach Boys song in a public area of downtown Allentown. A cop confronts Ochse, saying that he has to stop singing. But Ochse asserts his right to sing on public property.
That's when two suit-wearing security guards show up. Ochse points to both of them and the police officer, telling them "You get out of here." Ochse knows he hasn't done anything wrong or illegal. He starts walking in the opposite direction, never have been arrested, nor detained. That's when the officer throws him to the ground. Ochse can be heard in the video screaming in pain and begging the officer for mercy.
Ochse even informs the cop and security guards that the Allentown Police Department had specifically given him permission to sing in the area. But they didn't need to give him permission. On public property, it was absolutely Ochse's right to sing.
Ochse never touched police officer in the video, in spite of what officers would claim.
An eyewitness, Louisa Ranis Soos, was told by the guards that Ochse had "touched the officer," according to the police report. But a newly-released second video confirms that he never touched the officer. CopBlock notes that Ochse is known for his cheerful singing in public.
Facebook seems to have removed the original video of the incident, for reasons that have not been clarified by the social media giant. But copies of the file were quickly made by viewers and uploaded to YouTube, CopBlock noted.
"These guys need to be prosecuted," Ochse said to the The Morning Call, regarding the security guards and the officer. "They have to be held accountable for the actions."
Comment: Pretty twisted, from the video's is clear that Ochse was completely non-violent, and that the police had no right to interact with him, let alone assault him. Unfortunately this is the new normal in America, if you do anything that the police deem offensive, if they don't like the color of your skin, or just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (read as: anywhere near police) - they can assault, kidnap, torture, rape and/or kill you. Generally, the local regimes (aka 'the legal system') protects them from any repercussions and thus the pattern continues.
As long as we, the general public, tolerate this kind of behavior from our officials it will continue.