1) 70 year old military veteran arrested for using a golf club as walking cane

https://whnt.com/2015/02/12/madison-police-to-hold-news-conference-today-support-coming-for-indian-man-badly-injured/

He seems to walk fine without a golf club.   Soon people walk around with a bat as a cane. 

what's your point ?

Cops have become thugs. its time to police the police, something has to give before things go real bad in this country.

What a f88888888 a$$$hole.

Female cops = the lowest form of species on this planet. Giving a weapon to someone who already has a chip on their shoulder does not a good move make.

Double light bulbs brother.

Wow police have better things to do I would think

Judging from the video though, it looks like she is responding to a complaint, not just patrolling and then spotted him

Blatant lie about swinging the golf club, what was she thinking?

I think it could have been handled better from both sides though.  The guy immediately was defiant and argumentative, and it probably is technically illegal to walk around in public with something like a golfclub.  Would have been cool if it was a bat, or a sword would have been the best

Commenting on Facebook, Whitlatch called civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri following the police shooting on an unarmed black teenager “chronic black racism," as pointed out by The Stranger.

“I am tired of black peoples [sic] paranoia that white people are out to get them,” she wrote. "I am tired of hearing a black racist tell me the only reason they are being contacted is because they are black solely because I am NOT black."

https://rt.com/usa/227575-golf-club-arrest-seattle/

Listen, this cop lady didn't just speed around a corner and happen to stop right where a guy was standing with a golf club.  Pretty safe assumption there was a complaint from a citizen or business owner for whatever reason which she was responding to.

Look, I'm no fan of cops generally.  Many are not all that intelligent and love the power trip.  However, anyone who has ever held a golf club knows an iron makes an awful cane.  That whole premise is absurd.  A putter is about the only club that would be good for a cane, and that wasn't a putter.  I would not be surprised if more info came out about a history with this guy an the use of his golf club cane.

Yes, the cop handled it badly.

However, would you go into a church, or a doctor's office with a tool belt on?  It's inappropriate, just like walking around downtown with a golfclub. 

A golf club and a toolbelt is an inaccurate comparison IMO.  A golfclub is either used on the course or as a self defense weapon.  MAYBE he uses it as a cane/self defense weapon, but you can't have downtown Seattle full of old war veterans walking around with golfclubs.  BTW, in a fight between a guy with a golf club and a guy with a toolbelt, guess who wins almost every time. 

I hope Seattle does organize a protest downtown and everyone brings an iron like the article said they were thinking of doing.  They'll find out real quick how ridiculous it is to walk around in a crowd with a golfclub.  Clubs are designed and weighted to beat the crap out of whatever it hits with as little effort as possible.  That's supposed to be a ball but a bunch of shins and elbows will do fine

Look, listen, however... This cop is a moron. End of story. BTW, I'll give you a five iron and I'll take a hammer. I'll turn your brain into jelly. 

Wow folks, there ya have it.

This is why I don't comment in GD much anymore on issues such as these. The level of critical thinking is so far beyond anything even mildly respectable for an adult, I can't even associate with some of these people.

This poster is attempting to shift blame from a cop (who not only is apparently caught in a lie, but has a history of police abuse of power as detailed in the OP) to a citizen because he believes the only golf club you should use as a cane is a putter.

What if the guy....DOESN'T OWN A PUTTER???

I mean, we all have full golf club bags hanging around with every club at our disposal (and even a caddy to follow us to the grocery store with if necessary).

Next thing ya know he'll be telling you a 7 iron isn't appropriate to remove debris from your gutter.

It's so entertaining reading people try to create what if scenarios to excuse stupid behavior.  What if he didn't own a putter?  What if he just bought the club?  What if he was on his way to a golf demonstration a couple of blocks away?  It's laughable

I have said from the beginning this cop is a liar and handled it in a ridiculous manner.  This dude is an idiot too though.  Walk around a crowded downtown with an iron, then instead of just dropping the club and then questioning the cop decide to be confrontational.

Oh and I_Need_A_Delouse, I would gladly accept your challenge, u wielding a hammer and me a 5 iron.  You would have to repost in the worst injury thread soon after.  A 5 iron against a hammer...are you high or someth...oh wait

Reading your posts........it appears you lost

 

My god, here they go again.

 

YOU ARE the one making excuses for the cop, subtly trying to shift blame by saying only a putter is reasonable to use as a cane.

That is why I RESPONDED. You created the initial scenario to be contested and by the looks of it, are the only one her somehow trying to give the cop some reason to arrest this guy, even if it is the smallest of passes.

 

And what's laughable about not owning a putter?

If the guy really was using it as a cane, and it was the only club he owned, he can carry it around as a free citizen of this country, regardless of whether he owned 1,000 clubs or not, or 1,000 putters and one iron. There is NO THREAT and it is NOT ILLEGAL to do so and until the cop proves he swung the club at her, her lies don't hold water, and her history betrays her.

So why are you still here and what is your point exactly? "She's a liar but he should have been using a putter as a cane ya know."???

My point of offering a scenario is not to excuse stupid behavior, it was to demonstrate that our judicial system is based on the idea that you are innocent until proven guilty.   This man has every right to walk around with a golf club, no matter how "inappropriate" you deem it to be. 

I didn't create the what if scenarios.  I was pointing out that from the video it looked very likely the cop was responding, and I was pointing out that the guy wasn't strolling around drinking coffee, he was walking around downtown with an iron, which is ridiculous behavior. 

The putter comment was to make clear how absurd the claim of using an iron as just your cane is.  Either you don't really need a cane or you have the iron for something else, because it does not provide stable support like a putter, or even a damn stick would be much more effective.

You keep commenting how it's so beneath you to have to read posts...well just go away...move along...from what I've read it seems unanimous (except for maybe Delouse and Jizzle77) this posting community would be happy with that

Thank you for responding in a civilized manner

It's stupid behavior because of the danger, or perceived danger by those walking around him.  Just because it isn't illegal doesn't mean you are free to do anything in public.  For example I suspect you would be reprimanded for doing cartwheels down a sidewalk in the middle of downtown Seattle, and if you decided to then keep doing it and insisted you aren't doing anything wrong so stop bothering you, you would end up where this guy did.

I also strongly disagree with your assertion that if he was white it would have been different.  I cannot imagine strolling around the mall, along a crowded sidewalk, or any other crowded place that isn't a pro shop and not inevitably being questioned by any law enforcement that notices and asked to leave the area or to get rid of the club.