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Video: US Cop Punches 17-Year-old Girl In Face For Jay-Walking

Daily Mail
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:08 UTC

This is the moment a white American police officer punches a teenage black girl in the face after a dispute about how she and her friend crossed the road.

Video footage of Officer Ian Walsh lashing out at the 17-year-old in Seattle has shocked the U.S.

The confrontation began after Walsh spotted a man jaywalking - the American term for not crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or junction controlled by lights - and went to speak to him.

According to the police report a group of four girls were also spotted doing the same and the officer called them over to his patrol car.

The women became verbally abusive and started to walk away ignoring the Walsh's instructions to remain where they stood.

When he tried to stop the teen two of them began grappling with him.

As the 17-year-old, wearing a pink top, tried to push away Walsh, he lashed out with his fist.

Other officers who had answered a call for help arrived on the scene and handcuffed the 19-year-old.

Both teens were charged with jaywalking and assaulting a police officer.

The case echoes the case of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by police prompted the Los Angeles race riots in 1992.

A police spokesman said they will review the video tape but said punching is a trained tactic for police officers.

'There will be a thorough investigation into this incident,' said a spokesman.

Both girls have now been released from custody

Reader Comments

redrock12 · 2010-06-16T17:27:34Z

Just Another Uniformed Thug

Punching a 17 yo girl in the face FOR JAYWALKING? What a gutless piece of slime.

ocean59 · 2010-06-16T18:00:01Z

uncalled for escalation

While I'm thinking the race card is somewhat irrelevant in this story, I still can't help but think that:

When a teenager walks away from a cop after jaywalking, the cop should shout "DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM ME OR I WILL ARREST YOU RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW" I can think of a million ways to address the situation without walking up and grabbing the teenager, scaring the bejeezus out of her, and creating a "fight or flight" adrenaline based situation.

Clearly the cop grabbed her first, this after she tried to leave, I just can't envision any other way it would've went down. (She was just trying to leave and continue being peaceful, and just taking a guess here, but it looks like the type of neighborhood people might have a right to be a little more afraid of the police than some other places)

I think her friend acted out of instinct and mutual fear, and probably was not fully conscious of the fact she was assaulting an officer, but defending her friend who was being unnecessarily groped by a creepy looking guy and screaming "Get your hands off of me, get off of me"

Which in any other context, makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately, this was a psychopathic police officer, and sad to say, we are probably lucky he only punched her (as opposed to tasing, drawing a weapon, etc.)

Joe · 2010-06-16T18:23:57Z

Good analysis

Ocean59, on all points. While tasering would have been worse for the girl, there is something about him punching her in the face that says "total breach of protocol" and makes it pretty scary. The sad fact is that, in many other places in the world, such police violence is routine, (and I dare say it is more common in the US than we know, we just don't get to see it all). The real significance of this story I think is that it lays bare the facade of the US as a "great democracy" for all to see.

What I'm wondering is what effect (if any) the broadcasting of such incidents to a wide audience may have on the stability of American society. With the anger over the oil spill and the increasingly tough economic situation, it really seems as if things are moving in the direction of some kind of social fracture in the US. Hard to know where it will all end up though.

System · 2010-06-16T21:19:51Z

“He did nothing wrong”

Here in Seattle where Police brutality is validly under investigation for the April 17th kicking and stomping of a Latino man who was wrongly detained for a crime he wasn’t involved in, this recent event with the 17-year-old girl attacking the Officer in defense of her 19-year-old friend who was caught jay-walking is really an embarrassing side-show and I’m surprised to see SOTT pick up on it.

I take exception with the article title “US Cop Punches 17-year-old Girl In Face For Jay-Walking” which completely misconstrues the event. I think the title should be “Girl assaults cop and gets punched”. The girl that attacked and engaged the Officer in an exchange of force was not the jay-walker, she was trying to intervene on behalf of her friend that did jay-walk across a five-lane major arterial plagued with jay-walking problems. (In fact the pedestrian overpass the city installed to overcome the jay-walking problems is immediately visible in the background of the video.)

In yesterday’s Seattle PI the police union president is quoted saying, “He [Officer Walsh] did nothing wrong.” I have to agree. The jay-walker resisted verbal detention, then physically fought detention before her friend physically assaulted the officer to prevent the detainment receiving neutralizing reprisal.
_[Link]

Over the past year I’ve bungled my way into three different encounters with Seattle police temporarily detaining me for minor reasons, and while each circumstance was very frustrating for the seemingly trivial circumstances I got cited for, two things consistently stood out to me in each situation: The officers seemed to exude exasperated duress while simultaneously conveying clear communications strictly adhering to procedures. Though it seemed obvious to me the officers no more wanted to be detaining me than I wanted to be detained, they were exceedingly clear about the job responsibilities they were upholding, and all exchanges concluded with a patient smile of goodwill. However had I tested their patience I’m 100% sure the minor situations would have become major like this side-show demonstrates.

Metro · 2010-06-17T02:52:26Z

Pretty straight forward

We don't get to see how the arresst for jaywalking began. However it is obvious she is resisting arresst. Followed by another 17 year old intervening and pushing (somewhat violently) the officer away. Should he have punched her? Probably not, we also dont know how much force was in that 'punch'. For somebody who was punched in the face she still manages to struggle.

To also take into account that the officer is surrounded by a group of people and how mob mentality quickly escalates the longer a situation continues. He showed great restraint and put his own safety aside to arresst two individuals who created this situation to begin with.

PRao · 2010-06-17T09:24:00Z

why surprise ?

>who was caught jay-walking is really an embarrassing side-show and I’m surprised to see SOTT pick up on it.

This is a case of police brutality. why shouldn't SOTT carry?. There are better methods, protocols and training given to police and they can always call for backup, which were not followed. Punching is not part of the protocol for sure.

I have to wonder what the hell going on to the people in this country?.
People are ready to tortured by govt. and ready to defend abusing the officials, security industry and their puppet politicians and companies and even ready to sacrifice their life for some body's GREED. We are not able to distinguish we see on movies and media time pass programs vs. REALITY.

mkrnhr · 2010-06-16T22:47:05Z

a 17 yrs old girl

A 17 yrs old girl is a child, a minor.
Punching a woman/girl who is not attacking you is a complete disgrace, a minor is worst, this guy is a shame. She is not being violent she doesn't resist, she just escapes his grip.
Now this cop is stupid (pleonasme) because he doesn't know what to do. If he's too brutal with the girl, someone could get upset and be really violent with him (in some cases, people should have the right to defend against violent cops) and if he releases her, he thinks that it will diminuish his image of authority in the eyes of the witnesses.

neodsa · 2010-06-17T09:00:37Z

she was lucky

The first girl was resisting arrest , the second girl was obstucting the officer in the lawfull execution of his duty and by pushing him was also commiting assault.The officer who appears to be alone and surrounded by a crowd of hostile whitnesses ( who appeared intent on inflaming the situation and building a case for themselves), showed remarkable self control.There are certain types of people who think that by shouting and making a fuss they can get away with any thing , in fact they act like children , they must be made to learn to grow up.No right thinking person would have blamed the officer if he had immediatley used mace or his taser ,the fact that he chose to physically overpower the suspect should earn him a comendation. Because though it was more difficult and personnaly dangerous for him it was less harmfull to the suspect.

Joey Tavares · 2010-06-17T17:19:04Z

Grow Up

The cop let his emotions get the better of him. He was surrounded by unruly teenagers who were questioning his authority, and he reacted viscerally.

There was no call for a punch.

Nor was there a call to the police (I'm certain) for jaywalking.

He was throwing his weight around (over JAYWALKING?), and then he threw a punch.

Since when does 'the lawful execution of duty' include physically reacting to a group of baiting teenagers?

Perhaps he could have let the jaywalking go? Or had he already slapped in on the table by then, and had to prove his authority?

Crossing guards are for jaywalking. Police officers are supposed to be protecting kids, not getting into vocal altercations with them. The resulting escalation speaks for itself.

Ever consider the youngster might have been resisting a ridiculous physical arrest?

Ever consider the youngster 'knows what's coming' when a police officer starts getting physical?

Ponerized middle my sun-less watoozy. Get the rose-colored glasses off before coming to SOTT.

They have...

Joe · 2010-06-17T17:45:24Z

dbhayes

you wrote:

"Over the past year I’ve bungled my way into three different encounters with Seattle police temporarily detaining me for minor reasons, and while each circumstance was very frustrating for the seemingly trivial circumstances I got cited for, two things consistently stood out to me in each situation: The officers seemed to exude exasperated duress while simultaneously conveying clear communications strictly adhering to procedures. Though it seemed obvious to me the officers no more wanted to be detaining me than I wanted to be detained, they were exceedingly clear about the job responsibilities they were upholding, and all exchanges concluded with a patient smile of goodwill. However had I tested their patience I’m 100% sure the minor situations would have become major like this side-show demonstrates"

There's nothing wrong with obeying authority figures like police when they enforce, in a clear way, completely ponerized laws. All conscious people should do it in most circumstances. It is another thing to defend those ponerized laws in your own mind, which seems to be what you are doing, and as a result propping up, if only with your awareness, a corrupt and screwed up system of justice and law enforcement.

System · 2010-06-17T21:39:20Z

apparently they're angels

I don't hear many facts in the rebuttals to the perspective I've tried to convey and rather Joey's "Grow Up" content invalidates itself with its indignant self-righteousness and wild swinging mud slinging, so I'll just try to qualify a little further with first-hand knowledge of the situation.

I'm not sure how laws against jay-walking became "completely ponerized law" but I do understand how it could be perceived as such. I jay-walk all the time so if I were distantly observing the situation I would have the same suspicion of the veracity of the charges against the suspect. I keep my jay-walking violations to quiet streets with little traffic and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Seattle doesn't qualify. Martin Luther King Jr. Way is a busy multi-lane roadway and at the very location where the altercation occured it crosses with Rainier Ave. another major multi-lane roadway (Google Maps helpfully illustrates). This area is plagued with jay-walking problems (to the degree they installed the pedestrian overpass the girls neglected) and I've experienced the very problem first-hand narrowly averting tragedy. I think jay-walking laws are especially relevant to such a context and for purposes of pedestrian and traffic safety it makes a lot of sense to me.

The girls jeopardized a tense traffic situation, then resisted detainment forcing physical engagement, and ultimately resorted to assaulting the officer. The officer may deserve blame for overreacting, but ignoring the culpability of the girls actions neglects a complete picture.

Raintree · 2010-06-18T00:32:10Z

You're missing the point dbhayes

Maybe if you rewind and watch several times again the part where the police officer punches the girl in the face it will become clear to you that it was totally uncalled for police brutality? I agree with you about the context of the jaywalking in a dangerous multi-lane roadyway as you have pointed out, but that is not the point of this article. It is the animalistic reaction of the cop to an ignorant minor - a child - that is the issue here. Would you punch your kids if they do something wrong to put themselves and others in danger or if they try to push you away if you hypothetically grab them and get in their face about it if they don't want to stay put and listen?

Metro · 2010-06-18T09:26:24Z

Super cops

I sometimes wonder what world people live in. They expect officers to serve and protect 'us' against 'them' people. Yet when 'them' become 'us' they expect a different form of treatment. This is not a 17 year old child. This is a 17 year old adult jay walking across a busy road. She has prior knowledge to not jaywalk. The school has informed and asked these adults to stop jaywalking. They continue to do so and risk serious accidents. The school then contacted the police to issue fines and stop the jaywalking for the safety of the students and drivers (This is from as much information I could gather).

We could of well been reading a story of how this girl caused the deaths of a family driving home from school as they swerved to miss her. This possible event was one the school had forseen as a possible outcome if the jaywalking had continued. What then? A news story of how the school took no action?

The adult who resisted arrest should be charged to the full extent of the law on all accounts of the actions she was aware of taking. The officers so called 'punch' was nothing more than a light tap. A 'punch' isn't as straight forward as people think it is. It requires practise and training to give a punch the slightest bit of power. The officer does not twist into the punch, he straight shots the punch while quickly turning the suspect around to arrest her. She continues to struggle and shows no signs of injury. The reports later confirm that she needed no medical treatment.

System · 2010-06-18T15:33:59Z

Age idealization, misplaced blame

Refusing to acknowledge the reckless endangerment committed by the girls looks like a popular tactic for scapegoating the officer. Fixating on the punch and after-the-fact reality check of age sounds like pretty convenient intellectualizing to me. And talk about twisted word meanings, equating the Officer with Israel completely inverts reality. It makes as if the girls were not imperiling the community and the Officer had no business doing his duty. The girls acted like Israel recklessly endangering infrastructure and humanity and then crying out as if under attack by the Officer trying to do his duty to protect the community. All the projections idealizing the age of the girls ignoring their hazardous conduct and aggressive actions, instead vilifying the community protecting actions of the officer seem to be missing something.

Metro · 2010-06-18T17:05:42Z

Raintree

After reading your comments. It seems to me that the need for a police officer is an offensive concept to you. It also seems fair for me to say that you ignore the use of language that these women use "Get you fucking hands off me" "Get the fuck away from me" "Get the fuck off her". Do you really believe, given then evidence shown by their behaviour. That these women when issued with a fine for jaywalking said "A fine for jaywalking? I'll pay this tommorow morning". Most likely it was a reply of "Stick your fucking ticket, I aint paying no fucking ticket".

I'm not sure if you're actually saying these things to get a reaction?

"she tried to save her friend from his relentless groping while she kept asking him to let go of her???? Come on man! "

Groping is usually called resisiting arrest. Officers haven't been known to release suspects when asked nicely.

As for bringing comparisons with Israel. It's absurd to do so.

Raintree · 2010-06-19T14:53:56Z

The point is

that the police officer should had used a non aggressive manner of dealing with the situation from the very START, especially when dealing with ignorant kids and a minor offense. Plain and simple.

dbhayes, when you are defending the right of an officer to punch a kid in the face and call it the "community protecting actions of the officer", that to me seems to be missng something. And all this just for the minor offense of jaywalking.

Metro, you wrote:

"After reading your comments. It seems to me that the need for a police officer is an offensive concept to you."

If you are talking about the needs of the officer to exhibit his authority over kids in the manner that he did, yes that is offensive to me. Why couldn't he just let go of the girl and allow her to calm down a bit instead of trying to continually manhandle her? Was his life in danger from the young girl or the crowd? NO. Instead he wanted to show everyone watching that he was the man in control, and when the girls friend came to try to rescue her friend in needless distress, she gets punched for it because the cop felt threatened by her!?!?!

The actual rights of the police officer has a human being are of course not an offensive concept to me. And yeah, thanks for trying to make it look like I am against police officers and the law. Sheesh.

neodsa · 2010-06-17T20:52:23Z

grow up

The arrest is non negotiable,resisting is a violation in itself.Submit to the arrest then argue your case in court. Thats the system , its not dificult to understand.

wildheart · 2010-06-17T23:02:27Z

Be Real

I gotta say I'm on the cops side this time. He was Clearly attacked by the woman in the pink shirt, while defending himself against the other woman he was trying to arrest who was actively resisting that arrest.The people in the street were clearly against him. And oh by the way,would YOU stop to ask for ID when someone is hitting on YOU? In my opinion he did a good job.

Joe · 2010-06-18T07:17:40Z

Attacked???

a fully grown male cop attacked by a 17 year old girl...I see.

jncschroer71 · 2010-06-18T00:56:42Z

Alternative diagnosis!!!!

Maybe he was practicing his new boxing skills.....No? .......Sorry!!!

Breton · 2010-06-18T01:20:06Z

"To serve and protect"

Well I was not there, did not see what led up to it, and I am second guessing someone who has a difficult job, but I still would say this fundamental principle of what police are supposed to do needs to be reconsidered by the police.

There might be some officers that still think their job is to "serve and protect" the citizens of a free country.

If so, maybe they should have a long talk with this fellow officer of theirs about this concept.

An officer has a choice, and sometimes, given the situation, one serves and protects by backing off, and at the same time admitting: "we can let this one go, it is escalating into an ugly situation that I probably caused by my heavy handedness" rather than "I must assert my authority under all and any circumstances". Even to the point of doing a DESPICABLE act. That is what it was.

I must say with all the other freely available evidence it is looking very bad how many police are interpreting their purpose. The signs are there, if you want to see them.

System · 2010-06-18T02:02:49Z

Neither party used their brain

Assaulting a police officer is usually a bad idea. It gives him/her a reason to use force and/or charge you with a small grocery list of additional crimes. Punching a young adult in the face is also probably not the best option. Now his career is probably in question, thankfully. Both the cop and the punch-ee were vessels for mindless aggression. Zealously enforcing the jay-walking law seems laughable, as does getting that worked up over being scolded by a cop. You can't legislate common sense and basic respect for other human beings, and you can't always evade rule-crazy egomaniacs with a power-trip and a badge. There are bigger problems to worry about right now though, like drowning in oil.

Joey Tavares · 2010-06-18T11:38:45Z

In Our Society...

... do parents call 'the cops' when children are misbehaving?

Last I checked, a child is a child until the age of majority.

Thus, should schools be calling the cops on their unruly students? Or should our society recognize the role teachers are in (full time parenting and rearing of society's young) and make assurances they have some authority?

Before the Goon Squad's brought in...

Metro · 2010-06-18T12:16:16Z

Yes, in our society

Do people sue schools when they fail to protect their children? Last time I checked they do.

Let's clear this up shall we. She's 17 not 7, I'm starting to thing some of you are having trouble with numbers. Had this woman been hit by a car. I'm sure her parents would be suing the school for not dealing with a known problem of people jay walking through dangerous traffic. The police were called in as a last resort to issue jay walking tickets. The girl obviously decided to treat a police officer with the same contempt she would show a campus guard/security officer.

A campus guard allows the priviliaged to walk all over them while a police officer has to deal with dangerous meth heads. We should be thanking this police officer for allowing her to learn a hard lesson of how a police officer NEEDS to deal with the majority of people he has to arrest.