Nair Rodriguez made it very clear to the police. “I’m recording, because this is too much.” These words spoken shortly after turning on her cellphone camera after multiple cops in Moore, OK., (just south of Oklahoma City in Cleveland County) had pepper sprayed and tackled her husband, Luis Rodriguez, to the ground in a movie theater parking lot back in February this year. Nair Rodriguez had a dispute with her 19-year-old daughter shortly before and had slapped her. A bystander called the police, and it wasn’t much later that an officer mistook Luis as a suspect and demanded to see his ID. Luis refused (which he was in every right to do) and, well, it only went downhill from there.
“You killed my husband!” were also the words spoken by Nair Rodriguez in her video, and she was right. Her husband was dead. The video can easily be found online.
A lot of people I personally know, as well as those in mainstream media, have been talking about the recent events happening down in Ferguson, Mo., after police officer Darren Wilson killed unarmed 18-yearold Michael Brown.
That is as they should be, of course, though it amazes me when other police-related news stories such as the one involving Luis Rodriguez are swept under the rug and the public just never gets informed about it.
While the Ferguson investigation is ongoing, tragically there was no effort made by prosecutors to bring charges against the police involved in the death of Luis Rodriguez. Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said that Rodriguez didn’t die because of any police brutality; rather, he died because of his physical health.
What a broken justice system we still have today, when lawyers deliberately lie like that and get away with it. Luis Rodriguez was 44, so maybe Mr. Mashburn’s explanation that Luis Rodriguez died because of poor health would make sense in 1183, but I can hardly imagine any medical professional would ever confirm something that outrageous in 2014, especially given the context of the man’s death. In fact, the medical examiner stated that there was evidence of physical struggle in Mr. Rodriguez’ postmortem examination.
Then again, if you watch the video, you don’t need to have a medical background to understand how this was the case. When police officers kill innocent, unarmed civilians- whether they tackle them to death, shoot them six different times (two of them in the face), or whatever other ugly and true stories are out there— we have to admit to ourselves that America has become a police state, particularly when people of color are exceedingly victims of this police brutality.
So how does this problem get solved? It’s totally possible to implement legislation that requires all police officers to wear cameras on duty and forbids police forces to act in a military-style force on the civilians they are supposed to protect. But that requires that anyone who actually wants these atrocities to stop vote for candidates for office who hold the belief that police officers are meant to serve and protect, not show off their latest toys that come from an over-the-top Pentagon spending trend. Speaking of questionable police ownership of military gear, did you know Ohio State University police has legitimate military hardware? It’s true. It’s called the “Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected” (or MRAP) and look, all I’m saying is that if the UW Police Department ever owned one of those, I’d hope to not be the only one to sound the alarm on that.
It’s important to me to not come across as anti-police officers, because I’m not. However, I am anti-police officers abusing their privilege of authority, because that often results in premature funeral arrangements (to put it lightly). When doing his or her job ethically, a police officer’s value is no less than that of any other noble profession.
The idea that a camera can document the accomplishments and shortcomings of local law enforcement so that steps can be made to regain trust from the communities they are supposed to serve, in my opinion, is one we all can find practical and decent. Who knows, maybe if police officers had been required to wear cameras with their uniforms in 2014, perhaps the deaths of Luis Rodriguez and Michael Brown could have been avoided and lawyers wouldn’t have to lie so often.
Tony is a junior majoring in Landscape Architecture. What’s your take on the increased use of police force? Do you know anyone in law enforcement who may have another perspective? Tell us what your view is. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com
