Melee at Kokopellis; video disappears (UPDATED with VIDEO)



The explosive video from the melee inside Kokopellis bar in downtown Troy showing a cop using a Billy club on an unarmed man has disappeared.

I watched it on Facebook at about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and while it was shared by a number of people - nearly 300 if I remember including Council President Rodney Wiltshire - I can’t find it anymore anywhere on Facebook.

You can, however, now see the video on YouTube: 

The 44-second video does only show what I hear is a fraction of what actually transpired at the bar known for problems. The most damaging segment, if you’re a Troy cop, shows an officer beating an already beat up black man with a night stick. Two other officers join in and appear to kneel on him to hold him down while a woman is screaming “stop it, stop it.” Other officers are either watching the thrashing or standing guard apparently making sure nobody interferes.



From Facebook

It’s a brutal scene, and I’m not sure how the police can justify it, regardless of what happened before or after. At the time of the beating, it does actually appear the police have the situation under control too.

There is also a photo of a man on Facebook who claims his cousin was beaten up by cops but it doesn’t appear to be the one in the video. It’s posted by a guy going by the name of Quanlo Quanloo.

As I've said before, I’m glad I’m not a cop because I’m sure they get amped up just like every other person on the planet would if in a similar situation. The difference is police are trained to not give into their emotions and beat people up for what appears to be no other reason except it was, by all accounts, a pretty ugly scene.

Here is what we know so far, according to a number of media reports and people I have talked to:

-Police were called to the Fourth Street bar by the owners because a fight had gotten out of control.

-Ten Troy officers showed up and were not warmly welcomed by the unruly crowd that some say was in excess of 300.

-After the melee six Troy cops were taken to the hospital with a number of injuries consistent with having been on the bad end of a fight, bottles were thrown at them, some were pepper sprayed and one had a fire extinguisher sprayed at him. Someone tossed a garbage can through the back window of a cruiser. A number of other agencies were called into assist.

-Six patrons were arrested for crimes including disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.

-Rev. Willie Bacote (pictured above right) is already front and center on social media rallying the masses and screaming racism. If he hasn’t already, I’m guessing he will organize another march in protest of police brutality in the very near future. I know of no one who is in favor of police brutality – black or white – and somehow I don’t think police were thinking about the person’s color when they were spraying pepper spray or throwing bottles.

-There are video cameras in the bar so hopefully we will see the entire scene and not just a 44 second snippet.

-This comes on the heels of two higher profile beatings by Troy police as well as another on Christmas Day. In the first Officer Kyle Jones was cleared of using excessive force while arresting Brian Houle in June 2012 after the two got into an argument on Facebook over the definition of a hero. Houle now has a $3 million lawsuit pending. In the second, Internal Affairs confirmed Jones used excessive force while arresting Frank Fogarty in December, 2012. That one is still causing a ruckus. The third, a police officer allegedly beat a man already under arrest in the Police Department and it’s captured on video tape. Fogarty and Houle are white, by the way.

-It comes at a time when there is chaos in the TPD hierarchy with Police Commissioner Anthony Magnetto is going back into retirement and Police Chief John Tedesco is threatening a lawsuit if he doesn’t get back control of the department’s day-to-day operations.

In the end, there is no way this one goes away anytime soon.