"Shut up, faggot!": New motto for DC cops?

Pepin Tuma, 33, was walking with some friends, Luke Platzer and Dave Stetson in Washington, DC. They were discussing the police incident with Prof. Henry Louis Gates and Tuma said: “I hate the police!” This is a sentiment he shares with many Americans, especially those who actually read news reports about how cops behave.

Tuma’s comment was overheard by police officer J. Culp. Culp, like a mad dog, became enraged and charged at Tuma “pushed him against a transformer box” and shouted “shut up, faggot” at Tuma. Culp then carted Tuma off to jail.

Meanwhile another police officer approached Platzer and Stetson and told them that he had witnessed Tuma resisting arrest and wanted the two men to sign statements to that effect. Both men told the police officer they were standing there when the police attack took place and that Tuma never resisted arrest. Platzer said: “We thought he was trying to trick us into saying that there was physical resistance by Pepin to the arrest. That is not true.”

Tuma says he did not resist: “I said nothing at this time [of the arrest], except asking why I was being detained, whether I was being arrested, and my belief that it was not a crime to offer an opinion to my friends about the police.” Tuma should know, he’s an attorney. Unfortunately for the uniformed thugs, Platzer and Stetson are attorneys as well.

Police claim that Tuma was guilty of “disorderly conduct,” for saying something they didn’t like. The local ACLU says that DC cops routinely use this charge “as a ‘catchall means of making an arrest, without proper justification.” So, when a DC cops feels pissed off, which is frequently, they can just charge someone with disorderly conduct and arrest the person, causing great inconvenience, at best, or imposing thousands of dollars in legal expenses. It is a means by which they inflict harm the public merely to satisfy their own emotional needs to hurt someone.

Records show that five different citizens have filed complaints about Officer Culp and the way he behaves with just one section of the bureaucracy. Other complaints have been filed elsewhere, including one by Tuma. Police are refusing to comment on the incident.

And cops can't figure out why so many people hold them in contempt. If the shoe fits, officer, wear it with my compliments. Police officials say they are investigating. That is police jargon for "saying something to placate people now, waiting until it dies down, and then exonerating the officer involved."