So, after a hard day’s bludging, my manager Michael comes home, opens up his inbox and finds this email plea to sign a petition from some guy called Daniel Halfassed, I mean Daniel A’vard…
“It’s a sad day when a grown man in uniform feels the need to brutally bodyslam a 15 year old girl.
I’m still shocked after watching the CCTV footage. After the girl walks through an open gate, he and a group of officers chase after her — seconds later, the ticket inspector throws her against the fence, picks her up and body-slams her into the concrete. The group of officers stand around him looking on.
Yes, she was attempting to break the law by not paying for a ticket, but that is no excuse for his actions. How is throwing someone half your weight to the ground ever appropriate? He was angry and defensive, but even worse — Metro Trains has supported his actions saying the officer “exercised his functions reasonably.”
There was nothing reasonable about his actions. And it’s unbelievable that Metro Trains could condone this sort of violence towards passengers. Shockingly, after a complaint from the officer it’s now the 15 year-old girl being charged with assaulting the officer for slapping him.
This young girl could have been paralysed, acquired a brain injury, or worse. This kind of violence against anyone is unacceptable. Systemised and accepted violence is even worse — and it’s up to us, society, to say this is not tolerable and denounce violence wherever we see it. Authorised Officers often get a bad rap, but in this case it is justified. Metro Trains now has the opportunity to show some leadership by denouncing confrontational violence as a solution.
I’m asking Metro Trains to call to account the officer involved and provide anti-violence training to all Officers to prevent future abuse. Metro Trains should also offer counselling to any officers involved in violent incidents.”
So, being far too nice and liberal for his own good, Michael took a quick look at the video, thought “That’s bloody outrageous!” and signed the petition that the guy has put out there. Then, of course, someone at the MensRights subreddit pointed out that things are not quite as they seem, Mike took a slow look at the video and sure enough, the little shit hits the man first. She may even be trying to gouge his eyes, though that is not too clear. So now Michael finds himself in the embarrassing position of having signed a petition on behalf of someone who is, according to her own supporters’ footage, a violent criminal, all thanks to this Daniel A’vard guy who completely fails to point out that in between the girl going through the gate and the guy body-slamming her, the girls attacks the guy at least once. Nice one, Dan, after all, it’s not like a man has the right to defend himself from violent, possibly crippling, attacks. And don’t even get me started on the idea that if both protagonists had been female this might not have caused such a hubbub…
So in an attempt to make up for his mistake, Michael has started his own petition in support of the officer, which puts him (not to mention myself) in an odd position given how anti-authoritarian we both are. But the fact is that all sentient beings – be they man, pig, or Pigman – have the right to defend themselves against violent attacks, even if they are working for the State.
Petition here ( the good one, not the bad one)
Video below.