Last year, Esmelin Fajardo was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. However, the only one assaulted in this incident was Fajardo.
The incident happened last September as police were shutting down a nightclub for being open too late. As police were 'protecting' society from the dangers of people being in a private establishment past 2:00 a.m., Fajardo tried to tell them that he worked at the club. However, officers weren't having it.
As cops were escorting everyone out of the building, all hell broke loose when one of them attacked Fajardo.
According to the cowardly officer's report, Fajardo balled up his left fist and attempted to swing at him. But, because of a birth defect, that is impossible.
"There was no way for me to make a fist," Fajardo said. "Especially with my left hand."
Fajardo's left hand has been disabled since birth and has no fingers with which to even make a fist.
"I stepped away. You can see it in the video," he said. "He grabbed me, punched my face, hit me with a flashlight. I was just trying to save my life."
Fajardo, fearing that he was going to be killed by this maniac officer, simply put up his feet in defense. This defensive move was interpreted by the cop as an attack, so he became even more violent.
"I just thought I was going to die that moment," Fajardo said. "I thought I was going to lose my life."
The video then shows Fajardo getting up, with the officer who had punched him striking at him again. Fajardo picked up a broomstick, again, in a move to simply protect himself as the pepper spray had blinded him.
"I couldn't see or breath after the pepper spray," Fajardo said. "I was scared."
As the officer took out his baton, the assault finally stopped and Fajardo was arrested.
According to the Providence Police Department, the unnamed officer is still on the force. However, they assure the public that he was disciplined. When asked what punishment the officer received for assaulting an innocent man and attempting to deprive him of his freedom for years, the department wouldn't say.
Luckily for Fajardo, after the video surfaced, prosecutors realized they don't have a case and are allowing him to plea not guilty.
Amy Kempe, the Public Information Officer for the Rhode Island Attorney General's office, explained that this matter will soon be off his record. "He was allowed to enter a not guilty plea," Kempe said. "If he stays out of trouble, the matter is off his record."
"I'm very relieved," Fajardo said. "It was very stressful. You don't even know what I went through over the past year. It was painful."
This case highlights the dangerous nature of violent cops. This officer committed a crime, on video, and could have ruined an innocent man's life. However, because he carries a badge and a gun, not only will he not be charged, he won't even lose his job.
"Allowing him to plead not guilty?" A perfect merger of Kafka and Orwell.
"Luckily for Fajardo, after the video surfaced, prosecutors realized they don't have a case and are allowing him to plea not guilty."
Orlwell saw it so clearly - the dumbing down of the only hope, the masses - the 'proles' - one must wonder if he was recruited into the PTB and tried to pull it off to write about it. It seems the closest he got (and barely) was the impossibly omprescient 1984, which BARELY got published before some virus/bacterial pneumonia (likely man made, I'd bet) got him at age 46.
He saw what was coming, including his future - and not in any supernatural way.
R.C.