Chicago cops sued for beating man who photographed them abusing other suspect

If this story is true, and it certainly rings true from my experience in dealing with far too much hubris in far too many police departments (local officials genuflect to the police the same way federal officials pander to the Pentagon), those cops should be fired and then some. 

From WLS Chicago:

Brad Williams was standing on the front porch of his home when he saw the driver of a Chicago Police car reach his arm out the window and grab a man walking alongside the....

Williams took a photo of the incident and the driver’s partner exited the vehicle and approached, telling him it was illegal to photograph the police and he did not want to be on YouTube, the suit claims....

Both officers then returned to Williams, and verbally and physically assaulted him, the suit said. They handcuffed him and grabbed him by the throat.

Williams’ mother tried to open the door and an officer held it shut, then let go of it, causing her to stumble through the door and fall to the ground, the suit claims.

More from legal expert Jonathan Turley:

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit became the latest court in a recent decision to rule that police efforts to bar such videotaping is a violation of the First Amendment. That case involved Boston attorney Simon Glik, who was arrested for recording another arrest in public. We discussed the case earlier.

These cases continue to occur because officers are not disciplined for such abuses. Most such threats probably succeed and other cases are simply dropped with no action taken against officers. In the meantime, city council members and state legislators have done little to protect the public from such violations.