A cop walks into a bar

Is this some kind of joke?

Hey, at least they didnt' surround the place and burn it down with everyone in it..

Texas indeed ;)

Police agitating a situation? Unpossible!

Assaulted and charged with battery.

/recycled

Loud noise - that's a tasering *zap*
Waving guitar like a perv - that's a tasering *zap*
Being a young long-hair - that's a tasering *zap*

McDuell said the officer then tried to arrest Stephens for assault and forced him to the stage floor of the stage

english language > author

There's a myspace page with pics and an account of the story that got circulated to Houston bands over the weekend.

http://myspace.com/hpd_has_problems

A tall, slender 14-year-old with shoulder-length hair was Tasered,

Whats a 14 year old doing in a bar?

Why is there no Texas tag???

A cop walks into a bar...

"... several people were grabbing the officer from behind when he felt someone grab his pistol..."

/so sorry

"A tall, slender 14-year-old with shoulder-length hair was Tasered"

This guy wins the award for the Most Descriptive Sentence Describing The Most Meaningless Detail.

FTA: "A tall, slender 14-year-old with shoulder-length hair was Tasered."

I love adjectives!

Maybe the band REALLY sucked.

Glad to see some version of this article get greenlit. Two Gallants is a great band, but combined weigh less than this cop.

They don't mention the 14-year-old who was tazered was there with his dad, and just in the way of the chase. Stories and photos here.

/Seeing them Sunday.

also, who calls in a noise complaint against a music venue?

laid-back country rock band, the Two Gallants.

henceforth known as a laid-back-and-twitching country rock band.

from TFA:

a University of Houston sociology student doing a "field paper on the music scene" also was Tasered.

Congratulations, anonymous sociology student, now you're a gonzo journalist!

Here is a video of some of the action. I don't think it includes the tasering though (unfortunately.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxKQb03A0bw (pops)

I once saw a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar and do the same thing.

This article apparently written by the "tall, slender 14-year-old with shoulder-length hair"'s MySpace Sugar-Daddy.

The_Original_Roxtar: also, who calls in a noise complaint against a music venue?

Who buys a house on an approach path to a major metropolitan airport, then biatches about planes flying overhead?

Only in America!

Everyone from around Houston who has met a cop or been a victim of crime only to see the HPD not lift a finger to seem to do any work knows to keep their distance from the police. They are just a tad more trained and honest than New Orleans' or Mexico City's finest.

Well it IS Houston. Actually even old Austin is getting into the L.A. Police style confrontational arrests. They managed to shoot an unarmed kid in the back here( at least the police officer was fired- though she should be in jail), and people are getting tasered left and right. They will taser you if you don't respond fast enough, talk back(i.e. " what did I do?"), etc. what ever the hell reason they feel like making up. They have surely increased their prestige and respect in the community they "serve". Add this to the fact that almost of our police live out in the white-bread suburbs, and not the communities they police, and there has become a pretty sizable disconnect. Houston, however, was a hellhole before Katrina, can't imagine what it is like now.

Texas cops.Gotta love 'em

From TFA: McDuell said the officer's approach was commendable and that it was fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon.

Uhm, a taser is a weapon..

Gosh I suck. Take a little too long with the html and my link becomes old news.

"2006-10-16 02:53:15 PM Sid_6.7

from TFA:

a University of Houston sociology student doing a "field paper on the music scene" also was Tasered.

Congratulations, anonymous sociology student, now you're a gonzo journalist!"


His greatness was thrust..,well, shot into and upon his abdominal wall,the barbs of fortune clung to his tunic, and his electric presence was felt by all he touched....

Gee, cop causes melee under cover of authority. What are the odds?

/Fark cops

90% of policemen are just violent thugs who would be in jail themselves if they weren't cops.

There, I've said it.

Whatever happened there is one very clear thing: The cop is a total fark-up and it's scary the HPD doesn't recognize this.

Either:

A) the ENTIRE BAR's version of events is true and he's an abusive cop who should be charged with assault. Or

B) He's telling the truth and he's an incompetent twit who lost control of a crowd and started an altercation without proper back-up. Given that he has a gun, a mistake like that could easily have been fatal for himself and or several bar patrons.

Therefore whatever happened the one thing you can be sure of is that he did NOT "act appropriately" and the spokesman for the HPD going on record essentially pre-clearing him means the whole thing's gonna get swept under the rug until somebody sues for a few million and the city forces this idiot into early retirement.


/and you you all hate lawyers again why?

direct link to video

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=128660953 2

hulk SMASH!!!

Nightjars

From TFA: McDuell said the officer's approach was commendable and that it was fortunate that he used a Taser instead of a weapon.

Uhm, a taser is a weapon..

A taser isn't a weapon Nightjar, its a tool - like a butcher knife, or a harpoon, or an alligator.

ChairmanKaga

"What really happened."

I'd like to know what's 'really happening' in your head to make you have no logic. Is there a circus going on maybe?

You mentioned 'TFA' yet you neglected to understand that only two tales were told in thi story: the cop's and the guitarists.The article tells no other versions except to say that "accounts vary". It didn't say that 'everyone else agreed with the guitarist. If you don't want to get tasered, don't get in a large group and charge at a cop from behind. What kind of idiot would believe the story the guitarist gave anyway? "Stephens said he was sideways and singing on the stage just before he turned around and saw the officer, who then shined a flashlight at him and said, "Stop."

Stephens, who denied shoving the officer, said he responded, "Why?"

He said the officer moved closer to him and yelled, "Stop!"

Stephens said he again asked why and that the officer then grabbed him by the neck and forced him to the floor."

That sounds like my kid made that up. Why would you keep asking the cop 'why'? So all of a sudden the cop turns into Bruce Lee and takes him down by the neck? Sounds to me like the guitarist was being an a**hole and refusing to cooperate. What kind of club let's a 14 year old in anyway? I don't care how 'tall and slender' he is. Did he have a beard or something? I know some that can pass for 16, but 18 or older? The doorman was either blind or an idiot.

http://punknews.org/article/20328
That news story gives the bands side of the story along with a video of the wild pig walking around like he's tough stuff.

$10 says that cop is 'roided out. Just look at him in some of the pictures and videos. The anger management issues come with the territory in that case.

It's possible everyone else in the entire world is lying, but it sounds like the cop was being a power hungry total dickhead who escalated the whole situation needlessly... having dealt with Houston cops before this is totally expected.

/Also I've been to Walter's several times - saw Brian Jonestown Massacre there when they played for like eight hours for no reason at all...
//Best. Show. Ever.

Was Ashlee Simpson singing?

/DNRTFA

that stupid pig has no business going in there alone with no backup anyway. too bad the crowd didn't rip him apart.

The video's show pretty clearly the cop was not in control of himself or the situation. A riot could have easily broken out. Cop or no cop, if someone is walking around a bar randomly tasering people, they need to be restrained. Unfortunately, even if the cop was proven to be out of line, the only people who would likely face any consequences would be those who tried to subdue him.

"... several people were grabbing the officer from behind when he felt someone grab his pistol..."

Bad touch. NO!

/Hot taser action!

Pigs keep getting more and more violent and more and more abusive of their power. This is just another reason why I have absolutely no respect for pigs.

puckhead: henceforth known as a laid-back-and-twitching country rock band.

Winnar.

/I lol'd

I JUST saw these guys in Philly a few nights ago. Not only did they play fairly gentle, undisruptive songs, but they were two of the nicest guys I'd ever met. I can't believe Adam would yell at an officer, especially in Houston. Hell, if I'd have known they'd get this kind of attention, I'd have bought more shirts to sell. On another topic- anyone who can, make sure you see these guys. Stephens is one of the greater guitar players I've seen in my life, and Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles were so much fun the entire room was up dancing.

A cop walks into a bar....

... and said "ouch".

Do they sell these tasers that cops use commerically? It would be great for parties.

curlyjoe
Sounds to me like the guitarist was being an a**hole and refusing to cooperate.

Go watch the third video link on this page, and see Officer McRoid walk up to a guy who isn't doing anything and taser him in the neck.

It's a wonder this asshat didn't start a riot and get himself and others killed.

I hate big lawsuits, but this is the kind of stuff big lawsuits are rightly made for

Even if the cop was being an idiot, why the hell didn't the guy stop playing when he was told to? He asked "why?" and continued playing. If a cop tells you to do something, you do it. As long as he wasn't asking for a BJ there is no reason the guy should have refused the officers demands. I doubt it would have escalated so much if he just did what the cop said.