What would you do if you were a 12-year-old girl and several men jumped you, insisted you were a hooker and tried to drag you to their car? Would you submit or would you fight and scream for help? From the Houston Press:
It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn's home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on.
As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me."Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the men covered her mouth. Two of the men beat her about the face and throat.
I'll bet you already guess that the three men were police officers. They were investigating allegations of prostitution two blocks from Dymond's home. The prostitutes they sought were white and elsewhere, but the officers apparently decided that Dymond, who is African-American, would do because she was wearing tight shorts. Really.
Even though "Dymond was hospitalized and suffered black eyes as well as throat and ear drum injuries," she was arrested at school three weeks later for assaulting a public servant. With her face, I guess.
Two years later, Dymond and her family have filed a lawsuit (PDF) and expect to go into mediation in 2009.
This story is already getting plenty of buzz, but it needs more attention. Galveston Police Officers Justin Popovich, Sean Stewart and David Roark, and Sergeant Gilbert Gomez (who apparently supervised the attack) assaulted a young girl who didn't begin to match the description of the suspected prostitutes they were investigating. The women they were seeking allegedly engaged in non-violent, consensual activities of the sort that would hardly seem to justify a violent arrest anyway.
And the men were in civilian clothes in an unmarked vehicle, giving a frightened girl no reason to believe that the people attempting to kidnap her did so under color of any "legitimate" authority whatsoever.
They also, by the way, threatened to shoot her dog. What is it with cops and dogs?
This is bad enough. Once the dust settled, the Galveston Police Department would have been well-advised to issue an abject apology to the Milburn family and to, at least, pick up the tab for medical expenses. A little butt-kissing would have been in order, along with harsh discipline for the officers on the scene.
Instead, having sent a 12-year-old girl to the hospital after a severe beating by grown men, police apparently stewed for three weeks, and then compounded their error by arresting the victim at school for putting up whatever meager resistance such a girl is capable of under attack from three adults.
So the Galveston Police Department's position is that it's a criminal act for a little girl to resist being dragged into a van by strange men? If that's the lesson the police want to send to the community, then it's nothing more than an association of thugs intolerant of the slightest challenge to its authority. It's certainly not an agency for preserving the peace and defending the rights of local residents.
A police department like that shouldn't just be sued; it should be disbanded.
Hat tip to Radley Balko, a top-notch civil liberties journalist, for stirring the pot in this case.
Poll: Should police officers in the Dymond Milburn case be prosecuted?
You might also enjoy these:
You can discuss hot topics with other readers, click through a regular feed of Civil Liberties Examiner headlines, and check out categorized compilations of stories. Join now!
Or follow me on Twitter: Libertywriter
Contact J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com
Comments
where is al sharpton on this one he is so quick to jump into everything else
J.D.-
You know the police can't apologize! That would suggest they actually believe their thuggish tactics were inappropriate.
And even if they privately express any remorse whatsoever, they can't afford to air it publicly for fear that the sheeple might awaken and attempt to restrain their power.
Criminality is endemic and systemic to government police. It is its very nature.
Citizens for Legislative Change, America has tons of stories equally as disturbing, countless civil rights violations in video and print...
cfcamerica.org
America, the new Nazi Regime...
"America, the new Nazi Regime... "
What a disgusting statement. To compare the great USA to Nazi Germany is a stretch for even a far left lunatic.
This is the most free open country in history. Do we have problems, you bet. Are they worthy of the Nazi comment, not a chance.
If my little girl was getting "kidnapped" by civil clothed police I do believe I would have pulled a gun on them. And if they would have pulled theirs, then a few people (myself included) would probably be dead.
DWalker: Why would you look for a civil rights leader to speak out on this? Surely this case is so egregious that any right-minded citizen should be outraged and would speak out in support of justice for the victim and punishment for the criminals. And just to be sure, it's the three officers who are the assailants of the 12-yo girl, not the other way around... right?
happy indep, I suggest you take off your red, white and blue glasses and take a real look at what we have become. Patriotism blinded the german people as well. Remember NATIONAL socialism.
Outrageous. This isn't a political issue, it's a civil rights issue and shouldn't be a platform for right and left arguments. Whether you're a liberal or a conservative has nothing to do with how you would react if this had been your 12 year old daughter.
This wasn't a vice bust gone bad, this was a premeditated statutory rape by all the men involved.
Any of the cops who laid a hand on this poor girl should be registered as sex offenders and be stripped of any official titles.
cfcamerica.org
Download the Full Lawsuit...
Officers are looking for a WHITE prostitute..., seeing this little BLACK girl, in shorts... Do a quick Beat-Down on her... then proceed to arrest her father.
Good, would have been that the dad would have beat them down...
Better, would have been that he had a 12 guage auto and blew them all away.
Gestapos, Nazi America...
The police will go on working.. getting paid, and the parents and child will be persecuted... Good ole American Justice.
IN RE: Happy Indep: "America, the new Nazi Regime... "
America is the Whore of the world. This is fast becoming a NAZI nation.
I would strongly advise you get on the net and wake up.
I have a video on my site, you sure need to see it.
Do a search on the site for the article:
License to Break the Law
Two Tiered system of Justice. Ordinary Americans are subjected to the most mercilous criminal injustice system in the world,they break the law, and the full weight of the Criminlal Injustice system comes crashing down upon on them mercilously. But our Political Class, the same elites who have imposed that incredibly harsh framework on ordinary Americans, have exempted themselves and the leaders of that political classs from the laws they have created. They have a license to break the law.
Wake UP Man cfcamerica.org
Sounds like a good time to re-institute the old tradition of lynching criminals. In this case, the Jack-booted thugs posing as police, their supervisors who didn't immediatly arrest them, and the elected and appointed drones defending them.
@ Happy Indep: "This is the most free open country in history."
We aren't, you know. We're less free than most of "socialist" Europe.
check worldaudit dot org slash democracy. We are only 15th now, and heading down.
Bwaaahahahahaaaa! You stupid puss bag Americans will never figure it out. What goes around comes around. I hope the cops beat the f##ck out of each and every one of you filthy bastards.
ive had several run ins with the police before and each of them i was denied my rights and treated completely disrespectfully! And whats sad is people don't even realize that they are slowly having there freedoms taken away from them. what started out as a neighborhood watch/mulisha back in the 1700's is now a way for people to push us around for stupid things. If something doesn't harm or effect others in a negative way than it shouldn't be illegal! its called liberalism!
I don't mean to encourage violence when I ask this, but when is it ok to shoot a cop? With incidents like undercover cops kidnapping 12 year old and cops stealing guns AFTER Katrina, when do we drawl the line? At what point do we say that the right to carry guns against our own government also means USING those guns against the government when that government has gone to far. I don’t have kids, but I do carry, and I know with out a doubt, that if I had a 12 year old daughter and three tugs jumped out of a van and grabbed her, I would come running with my gun drawn, give the thugs one chance to let go, then give them 230 grains worth of incentive to let go.
I don't mean to encourage violence when I ask this, but when is it ok to shoot a cop? With incidents like undercover cops kidnapping 12 year old and cops stealing guns AFTER Katrina, when do we drawl the line? At what point do we say that the right to carry guns against our own government also means USING those guns against the government when that government has gone to far. I don’t have kids, but I do carry, and I know with out a doubt, that if I had a 12 year old daughter and three tugs jumped out of a van and grabbed her, I would come running with my gun drawn, give the thugs one chance to let go, then give them 230 grains worth of incentive to let go.
Kimberfan, the world may never know. Personally I'm not sure there will ever be organized resistance of an armed nature. It will be random screams of "NO MORE!" coming from those in the country who have their personal lines crossed. Will it be reported? Will they (most likely) be murdered by the state only to see the values they hold dear die with them? Will they simply disappear in the night before they can resist?
I don't think anyone knows, but I think the government is working on plans should any of this come to be.
When is it OK to shoot a police officer? I HIGHLY suggest you dig up the still-valid supreme court case of John Bad Elk vs United States.
Happy hunting !!!
Wolverines!
Those plainclothes are lucky to be alive. Had the father a handgun, I'm certain they'd all have been shot dead. And no jury in the world would have convicted, since they were plainclothes and were attempting to kidnap his daughter after calling her a prostitute. I know had I been the father, those guys would be dead.
When is it alright to shoot a police officer?
When that police officer is attacking and kidnapping your daughter maybe? or when that police officer is violent without reason, or when that police officer is a rapist?
Not all officers are protectors of the law, many of them are offenders and should be treated as such. Just because they carry a badge doesn't make it okay for them to murder, kidnap, or rape anyone they please.
got the direct e-mail address of the top prosecutor in the Galveston County DA’s office. Here it is: kurt.sistrunk@co.galveston.tx.us .
Last night I sent him a nastygram. I encourage all of the other readers to do so, also.
The e-mail I sent to him is as follows:
Dear Attorney Sistrunk:
I am a US citizen who recently read about the prosecution of Dymond Milburn. I really love my country’s constitution, and therefore am exercising my rights to contact you and complain. Also, as a parent of 3 kids and 2 step-kids, I cringe to think of what this poor little girl must have been going through.
Please pardon my language, but to be frank, it’s downright bloody abusive for this little girl and her father to be prosecuted. Rather, the perpetrating lawbreaking officers should be charged with whatever Texas statutes govern disorderly conduct, battery, physical abuse of a child, causing mental harm to a child, misconduct in office, and your state’s version of the RICO act. I think there is enough evidence to submit such a case to a jury and let a jury decide their culpability and state of mind. Isn’t your office an agency that participates in the administration of justice? I would hope that it isn’t some sort of brownshirt protection agency. The thugs’ decision to arrest this little girl for prostitution on the sole grounds that her shorts were too tight is sexist, and is inherently discriminatory against women. It smacks of outdated notions. I mean, do these hoodlums in uniform tell rape victims they deserve it if their clothes were too tight?
I’ve visited every US state except for Hawaii, Alaska, and Rhode Island. I’ve also traveled extensively in foreign countries. Although my family, friends and I would occasionally mock Texas as a corrupt place where the rule of law didn’t apply when I was a teenager back in the early ’80’s, I had thought that Texas had, by the year 2008, changed. Evidently I was mistaken. The kind of misconduct that is reported by these thugs is the kind of corrupt conduct that I experienced in the early 1990’s when traveling in Yugoslavia and Greece, being shaken down and detained by corrupt border guards. It’s the sort of conduct that my uncle experienced in the 70’s in Mexico, when he was detained and shaken down merely because he was an American whose car broke down. It isn’t the sort of conduct that one expects to occur in this country.
I’m putting Texas on my list of places NOT to visit, ever again. I’ll take my three kids and stick to the Northern part of the US, and spend my tourist dollars there, instead.
Please let me know if you are going to prosecute the Nazi thugs who abused this kid. Please don’t give me any excuses about only taking cases submitted to you by law enforcement. They guard their own, and aren’t about to be referring their own to you for prosecution.
Please also let me know if you’re going to give the assistant persecutor, er, I meant prosecutor, who had the lousy judgment to go after this kid, the sound dressing down that he or she deserves.
Thank you.
(then my name and address went here).
Funny thing...if i was the father...would of been a cop killer and been just fine with it. Even after the incident, would of just..."hunted" them.
those cops..and any other that cross the line...should be put to death before a firing squad. I do not believe in death sentences, however a representative of our government (police, judge, governor...etc) should not only uphold the law but be judged more harshly because they represent the law. The only way to keep the "checks and balance" in balance is for the general public to demand it be done. If a representative of the government had any fear that his crimes were punishable and actually would be punished harshly, perhaps they would focus their attentions on the real criminals...the rapists, murderers and thieves.
It is time for the public voice to be heard. It is time for the people who work in a public position, who work for and are supposed to protect the citizens be held accountable in a huge way.
kill the cops with electricity or gas. but we got to get rid of them. they are terrorists. torture and kill them. poor girl, let her eat their brains as dessert after they have been sodomized by horses and killed by bees. small town minded absurdness shound't be tolerated!
hey mr. bad policeman suck my cock
regarding John Bad Elk v. US, the key point of the conviction is that the officer used the least necessary force to arrest the defendant. The fact that these animals beat this child is obviously over the threshold of least necessary force and therefore completely illegal and immorally brutal. Also the officer in this case was not plainclothes and announced his intent of arrest to the defendant.
The father had the right to kill all these corrupt and brutal men. In my opinion, there's little excuse other than not owning a gun for his not killing them.
regarding John Bad Elk v. US, the key point of the conviction is that the officer used the least necessary force to arrest the defendant. The fact that these animals beat this child is obviously over the threshold of least necessary force and therefore completely illegal and immorally brutal. Also the officer in this case was not plainclothes and announced his intent of arrest to the defendant.
The father had the right to kill all these corrupt and brutal men. In my opinion, there's little excuse other than not owning a gun for his not killing them.
"small town minded absurdness shound't be tolerated!"
Lol. That's epic irony there, Horatio.
This is not un-towards for Texas Law Enforcement agencies. There is a history of such abuses in the system there, which is truly documented yet continues to be a problem neglected and seldom addressed by the governing bodies in that state. "Yankee" police departments, ie: New York, Chicago, DeTroit, etc., get the bad rep in news media and film, while the "Good ol' Boy" Blue Brotherhood of Silence in the south gets away with such atrocities on a daily basis.
Don't get me wrong... Cops, for the most part, do their job for the right reasons, quite often risking life in the pursuit of Keeping The Peace. God knows I was happy that on many occasions an officer was nearby and responded to my needs... but there is a disease in the south, racist and ignorant in nature, which pervades even the most honest of governmental systems. What can WE do about it? Make noise, post these abbhoritions often and DOCUMENT THEM WITH FACTS, not just hearsay.
Trust me... the GOOD Cops out there will back you up.
Oh...and as an aside, as a Yankee, and not a big NRA guy, and a father who raised his daughter for a few years in Texas as well as other Southern states, following employment opportunities, as a person who, in his teenage years, baby-sat for the daughters and sons of several police officers in my small town... if an individual or individuals came onto my property and harassed or even so much as got within a few feet of my child, be it Texas or Tennessee or L.A. or Buffalo, that individual or individuals, cops or not, would have had only brief seconds to back off while facing my Grandpa's old 12-gauge Ithaca Double-Barrel before I let loose a double-shot... and I can split a Lucky Strike Pack at a hundred yards off the saddle from the hip with that old gun, so imagine what I might do from the comfort of my front porch...I expect those men and women who don those blue uniforms and carry those gold badges to do what they promised to do... protect and serve... and the ones who misuse that stolen power they wield do a great and terrible dis-service to those honest and brave ones who put OUR care above their own every time they button up and climb in that cruiser.
Some cops are bad... most aren't. Kind of like the rest of us. If we, as individuals, begin to police ourselves, the "good cop/bad cop" ratio will evolve into the positive, and maybe they'll sell Texas back to Mexico... and if Mexico's smart, it'll sell it to Peru, or Cuba or something...
Wow this is ridiculous. How can the people of this town even trust the police officers anymore? I would expect a riot against this police department, and I agree that they should be disbanded. How absolutely disgusting.
So the state's gestapo gets to beat up little girls that they imagine may be paid for sex? And we can't do anything about it? And then arrest a child for "resisting arrest" or whatever? Good luck on having the KGB working the streets Galveston! Someone needs to have fired back on these goons, seriously.
Come try that at my house, officers. I promise self defense would apply in that context and your families would be getting pensions.
What a ridiculous way to get prostitutes off the street . Was the women they were looking for the girlfriends of the cops? maybe that is why they were disguised and didn't want to be identified as police officers. If I say someone down the street is doing something illegal the police still need proof and a warrant to do anything. Maybe Tom Cruise next movie will be Valkrie II :Sergeant Gilbert Gomez
Maybe they should round up his family and send them back to Mexico even if they are US citizens . A little eye for an eye
That is one of the worst things I've heard all year. There's few things I despise more than unjust or dirty police who think the badge gives them the right to do things like this without consequence.
I hope those 3 get thrown in jail for a very long time.
if this is in fact true, i'd eat the three responsible. prejudiced cowards. there is absolutely no excuse at all whatsoever. none. if i was anywhere near this location i would'nt stop until something was done. at least the gestapo were efficient. all i can think of is 3 dumb, quartzbrained morons.
of course it might be embellished, you know how these things are.
nah they wont go to jail.
1) they're cops
2) a little girl hurt them
3) they didn't have drugs
FTP!!! If that were my daughter, as God is my witness, the story that you read above would be about three dead cops.... Those punk, coward pigs ought to be ashamed, but they aren't. They won't learn until the local rapists and child molesters assault their children. think about it. Those pigs will reap what they sow.... and that right soon....
this makes me sick, those pigs should be torured for the rest of their lives. theres some messed up people out there... and mabye they should die.. to even out the situation of hunger and other population problms, but as long as greedy evil bastards are in charge they keep pushing it further... when are we the people going to say thats enuff im not going to be told things i cannot do that i beleive are right, RISE TOGETHER STOP POLICE BUTALITY-
"Write the senator to put a end to the cold and silence.
Let's unite fight back know our rights watch the government.
Apply better laws and enforce harsher punishment,
For pigs who beat kids for no apparent reason.
We acted on the defense while battlin the precinct.
If the system wont respond to your truth and facts,
Bear arms, they've been warned, retaliate and shoot back." -Fight untill the end By Immortal Technique
I hope these police officers get a large lawsuit against them. If I, as a parent, did that kind of damage to my child I would be arrested. To arrest the child once more at school for resisting arrest is a joke and a waste of taxpayer money. We are talking about a child who is taught from birth not to talk to strangers. Once you are grabbed you are supposed to fight back. I am disgusted that the police officers haven't apoligized to the family and done all they can to make sure the child is ok psycologically.
I hate this crap. Not only did these three irresponsible creeps hurt and terrify this poor child and her family, they hurt their entire community. My father is a police officer, and a good one. Its cops like that that causes people to have no respect for the law. How can anyone respect authority figures when some of them abuse their power so flippantly. We should be able to respect and even thank police officers for protecting us, not fear them and feel that we need to protect ourselves from them. Just keep in mind everyone, they arn’t all bad.
Amen. The worst of law enforcement comes from the top, not the bottom. The fact that the Galvaston police department tried to intimidate this family with their illegitimate arrests for resistance is indicative of their grasping at straws. Hopefully heads will roll at the top as well as the four officers involved in the girl's illegal beating.
This is just unbelieveable, reprehensible, and intolerable to say the least. How does a story like this not get the national recognition it deserves so that this kind of conduct can be totally exposed and properly examined to find out why it can even happen in civilized free society. This is barbaric! Even though it may be a "inconvenience" authorities must be accountable for their behavior ALWAYS!
Interesting enough, I actually know something similar happening to a friend of mine. My friend, who is also partially African American, went into a pharmacy to buy some candy when a bunch of cops surrounded her and arrested her for stealing Mary Kay Products from this store. Funny thing was, they don't sell Mary Kay at this pharmacy. These were products I LENT to her, previously given to me by my aunt who works for Mary Kay. Anyway, she was handled very violently and was banned from the pharmacy for a year. How fair is that?
Wow the creeps cops arrest have better morals then the cops themselves that or the law does not apply to the enforcer which is a load of bull i would say every person capable of doing so should go to the girls defense on the date of court to ensure she wins as the injustice does not stop at the law enforcement but might go all the way through the judicial areas as well
Spit in the face of those dogs.
Really, you've covered just about every point I would have in your piece above.
What a horrific experience for the poor girl. Nothing angers me more than such an unspeakable injustice against an innocent kid.
I know it's not the case, but from here in Australia, for instance, about the only Police stories we get out of the U.S are ones like this. I remember a guy being tackled to the ground by 3 officers and being assaulted for jaywalking a while back. I remember watching a video of another guy getting tasered in front of his family for speeding. I don't want to openly criticize such an otherwise great country, but why is is that
a nation that continually espouses freedom and liberty for its citizens seems to have Police who make Nazis look like reasonable people. Is it poor training, don't you pay them enough? By the way, I'm not sure if you realise it but few countries in the world would ever consider actually electing law enforcement officials like you do in some places. It is self-evident from an outsiders point of view that, particularly in smaller communities, such a system is asking for
corruption, injustice and nepotism.
There Is a Way That Seems aRight Un2 Man... These Brutes Do Have JurisDiction 2 Do What They Do :: The General Populous Is On Their Turf :: the First Step Is to Position OneSelf Appropiately : & Make tranSition from WareHouse Good(s) to Living Being :: It's All a Matter of LawForm :: Even the Method of Trial deTermines proSecution or Not :: People Lack This Science : & HenceForth Perish :: I AM One Of Many Who Offer ' Proper ' Counsel On Proper Law Formats & deJurisDiction(s) :: Police de facto Are Here to ProTect the Presidents' InVested InTerest(s) i.e. HuMans Voluntarily ( & inDirectly ) reGistered As Municipal Stock(s) & Bond(s) :: This's What the Matrix® imPlies In metaPhor :: UnTill This Is Addressed & Corrected : General Public CITIZENS Will Be : By Reason Of Written aGreement: subJekt to inHuMane proCedure(s) WithOut Fear of obJektion beCause People @Large Are unAware Of the Actual Problem Much Less a Proper & Simple Solution :: For Further InTel: Link ForWard :: IruShalome ::
Pages
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!