Policy

Get Cuffed for Filming Police; Your Dog Gets Upset; Cop Kills Your Dog [UPDATED]

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Here's the way it is, America: annoy a cop, even doing something perfectly legal, and he might cuff you. And if your dog sees it and gets upset, he might kill your dog.

Latest example in this video uploaded to YouTube yesterday from Hawthorne, California  of a man filming police on the street, when they then approach and cuff him.

Warning: if watching a dog die would upset you, don't watch. It looks to me like the cop was approaching the dog before the fatal moment more than the dog was attacking the cop:

UPDATE: A local news source, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, notes the police claim that the dog owner, Leon Rosby, was playing his car stereo too loud at an investigation scene. Rosby has had past run ins with the police, the paper reports:

Rosby spent the night in jail on suspicion of obstruction and was released at 5 a.m. Monday.

He said Monday he believed police were retaliating against him because of previous run-ins and struggles with officers. Court records show he has previous convictions for resisting, battery and driving under the influence. Rosby, who is black, said he has filed six complaints against the Hawthorne Police Department, alleging mistreatment and racial profiling.

Rosby filed a lawsuit against the city of Hawthorne and two police officers in March, contending officers broke one of his ribs when they responded to a domestic violence disturbance at his house, not far from the dog shooting scene.

"There's been a pattern of harassment against him and other African-Americans in Hawthorne," said Rosby's attorney, Michael Gulden. "Last July, the police responded to his home and beat him unnecessarily, then threw him in jail for no reason. We sued for that. We'll amend that complaint to include the dog incident."

UPDATE II: Rosby discusses the incident: