Police brutality

A vigil for Imam Ayman Soliman was held on Thursday, July 17, near the Roebling Bridge spanning the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Ky. Soliman, who worked as a chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, has been detained by ICE after his asylum was revoked.

The vigil, which was on the Kentucky side of the bridge, was followed by a peaceful protest where protesters marched on the bridge. The attempt to walk the bridge — a non-violent civil disobedience practiced by MLK and John Lewis — led to police, armed with riot control weapons, being called on the protesters. Accounts vary on whether there was any kind of confrontation between a protester and police, and on the amount of time police gave marchers to disperse.

Regardless, what followed was pure brutality on the part of Covington Police officers, some of whom just beat the shit out of unarmed protesters. People were grabbed by the neck. Others were violently faceplanted into the pavement.

I don’t care that traffic was blocked. Covington police showed no restraint when detaining protesters. Videos of the incident are easy to find. Tell me that a cop repeatedly punching an unarmed man in the head once he’s already down isn’t police brutality. Tell me that the cop wasn’t just getting out all the rage he has. Tell me the cops weren’t on a power trip because civilians dared defy them.

Cops know they can get away with this kind of assault. Because any attempt to fight back is an automatic death sentence. We as a community are lucky that protesters didn’t try to save their companions, because it could have resulted in one or more of the protesters’ deaths.

Police violence should never be tolerated. It should never be celebrated. It is abhorrent. And we the people should nonviolently stand up against it.

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