Bears running back Cedric Benson was arrested last weekend for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and he has said from the outset that he did nothing wrong and was mistreated by police. The friends and relatives who were on the boat with him have backed him up.Now a witness who apparently has no connection to Benson is corroborating his story. A man named Toby Patch told a local TV station,
"It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it. ... It seemed to me they were manhandling him a little bit. As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped, he said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him."Benson has suggested that he might file a lawsuit, and unless he and these witnesses are all lying, that would be a good idea.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I called this from the first time Cedric spoke up:
This is a typical example of white Southern local cops harassing a middle or upper class black man (continuously, it seems, from the accounts of his man "random" stops), of whom they're probably just jealous.
I say this as an educated, white, middle class Southerner, who has on multiple occasions witnessed the bigotry and violence of county police officers. It's disgusting, and it's real.
Keep in mind county cops are not college educated. The entry requirements are essentially nil, and the nature of the job appeals to a certain type of @-hole ex-HS jock with a chip on his shoulder, a sense of entitlement, and a desperate need for unearned respect.
Real men join the military, p@ssies become local pig cops.
Posted at 11:00AM on May 9th 2008 by Tipcpup
2. Gotta be one of his friends or relatives, if they used the term "ludicrous". No one but a smoke would use that word. Remember mike tyson"thats ludicrous"
Posted at 11:28AM on May 9th 2008 by jimbo
3. Thanks for the kind words, Loser :). If you're looking to get personal, though, you're way off base. Was educated at one of the best colleges in the country, currently an established and respected engineer, valued parishioner at my church, and to top it off a former military officer and Iraq war veteran (and yes, I left with a perfectly honorable discharge after my term was up).
Now do I get harassed by cops? Hell no, not once arrested or even threatened, but only because I don't "fit the profile." I'm a clean cut All American Boy white guy. Yet time and again I've watched equally well educated, professional, respectable friends of mine get hassled and pushed around by local cops simply because they're not
white. I've actually heard these words spoken, they were being detained simply "because [they] don't like the way he looked."
My point is this: institutional racism and harassment is alive and well in law enforcement nationwide, but especially in Southern states. Anyone who has spent significant time in the South knows this, even if they're not so willing to admit it. Benson's story is not only plausible, it's probably spot on, especially now that it's being corroborated by unrelated, third party witnesses.
Hope those Austin po's get the karma that's coming to them.
Posted at 11:36AM on May 9th 2008 by Tipcpup
4. Wow, what an intelligent and well thought out comment. Let me guess, you are a Meth head with no teeth who has been arrested well over twenty times for drugs and for being a homosexual prostitute. I am sure Cedric Benson was an exceptional student at UT. And gee why would his family and friends bad mouth him, and say he was intox and acting poorly? That would be a little counterproductive don't you think. By the way who has the chip on their shoulder now? LOSER JERKOFF
Posted at 2:54PM on May 9th 2008 by ULoser
5. There are some law enforcement officers who use their power to harass people they don't like. If Cedric has nothing to hide then sue the police for harassing him. Plain and simple.
Posted at 1:07AM on May 10th 2008 by George B Vieto