SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
A mournful reminder that as America's macro atrocities go on apace - against the planet, women, schoolchildren, immigrants - so do its micro, often unseen acts of barbarity. Seven years after Freddie Gray (black) died of a broken neck from a Baltimore police van "rough ride" - all six officers went free - Randy Cox (black) is paralyzed with a broken neck from a New Haven police van "rough ride." In sickening video, cops jeered he "drank too much" before dragging Cox out of the van and into a holding cell. Their "level of callousness," said the city's mayor (white), was "deeply concerning."
A mournful reminder that as America's macro atrocities go on apace - against women, schoolchildren, immigrants and now the planet - so do its personal, everyday, often unseen acts of barbarity. Seven years after Freddie Gray (black) died of a broken neck in a Baltimore police van "rough ride" - and all six officers went free - Richard 'Randy' Cox (black) is paralyzed from a broken neck in a New Haven police van "rough ride." Cox, 36, was arrested on June 19 after someone at a party reported he had an apparently unlicensed gun tucked into his pants; handcuffed behind his back, he was loaded into a metal transport van with no seatbelts. At one point the driver, officer Oscar Diaz, stopped abruptly; body cam footage shows him lurch to a stop, followed by a sickening thud. Diaz said he was trying to avoid hitting another car, but footage shows he was speeding - 36 mph in a 25 mph zone - and residents say they often see police "careening around" in the vans to terrorize helpless prisoners inside. "Horrific" video released this week from inside the van shows Cox sitting uneasily in back as the van hurtles toward the station, trying to find a grip somewhere. When Diaz slams on the brakes, Cox' body suddenly, swiftly hurls along the smooth metal floor and cannonballs headfirst into the back of the van. He lies still. A few seconds later, you hear him softly whimper, "Help....help...help."
Diaz stops the van, gets out, goes back to check on Cox, asks why he's splayed on the floor. "I can't move," Cox responds. "I fall. I cannot move my arms." Despite standard police protocol fo wait for medical help if a suspect is in distress, Diaz gets back into the car and radios for an ambulance before driving to the station. There, he and three other officers, including Sgt. Betsy Segui, start shouting at Cox to get up and come out of the van. Cox repeatedly tells them he can't move, he can't feel anything and he thinks his neck is broken. Berating him - and despite standard human protocol - the cops roughly drag him from the van, sit him on the ground, and try to lift his limp body into a wheelchair; he keeps sliding out and they keep shouting "sit up" and "stop playing around." "You drank too much," leers Segul several times. "Sit up!" After processing Cox, again on the floor, they drag him to a holding cell and toss him in. "He's perfectly fine," Segui declares, holding a set of handcuffs. "Want me to put these on him" She cuffs him on the ankles and they close the cell door. After police eventually called for a medical unit, Cox was taken to the hospital for emergency spinal surgery. He remains hospitalized and paralyzed in critical condition, immobile from the neck down, sustained with a feeding tube; he communicates by blinking and bobbing his head.
Except that he's alive for now, Cox's case bears an eerie resemblance to that of Freddie Gray, 25, who died of a broken neck in 2015 after Baltimore police arrested him for a possibly illegal switchblade, loaded him into a prison van, and drove him roughly around for 40 minutes before taking him to the station, where he was unresponsive. His death, ruled a homicide, prompted widespread protests; State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six officers with crimes ranging from manslaughter to "second-degree depraved-heart murder," but they all walked free thanks to what she called "an inherent bias (when) police police themselves." "This is Freddie Gray's case on video," said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Cox's family. "Thank God we have the video so they can't deny what happened." At a press conference, Cox's sister LaToya Boomer called the newly released video - with Cox's "head bobbing (and) police dragging him around" - "mind-blowing." "I want to know where was the person who sees what's going on and says, 'Maybe he's not drunk, maybe he is in distress,'" she said. "At any point in time, if someone is saying, 'Help. I think my neck is broken. I can't move' - how many times do they need to say it?" Added an angry Crump, "Was he not worthy of humanity?"
\u201cThis video is HORRIFIC! Randy Cox was put in a police van without seatbelts and, after an abrupt stop, was thrown into the wall HEAD FIRST. We literally witness his neck break! As he was STILL lying on the van floor, he told the officers that he couldn\u2019t move. What did they do?\u201d— Ben Crump (@Ben Crump) 1656374460
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
A mournful reminder that as America's macro atrocities go on apace - against women, schoolchildren, immigrants and now the planet - so do its personal, everyday, often unseen acts of barbarity. Seven years after Freddie Gray (black) died of a broken neck in a Baltimore police van "rough ride" - and all six officers went free - Richard 'Randy' Cox (black) is paralyzed from a broken neck in a New Haven police van "rough ride." Cox, 36, was arrested on June 19 after someone at a party reported he had an apparently unlicensed gun tucked into his pants; handcuffed behind his back, he was loaded into a metal transport van with no seatbelts. At one point the driver, officer Oscar Diaz, stopped abruptly; body cam footage shows him lurch to a stop, followed by a sickening thud. Diaz said he was trying to avoid hitting another car, but footage shows he was speeding - 36 mph in a 25 mph zone - and residents say they often see police "careening around" in the vans to terrorize helpless prisoners inside. "Horrific" video released this week from inside the van shows Cox sitting uneasily in back as the van hurtles toward the station, trying to find a grip somewhere. When Diaz slams on the brakes, Cox' body suddenly, swiftly hurls along the smooth metal floor and cannonballs headfirst into the back of the van. He lies still. A few seconds later, you hear him softly whimper, "Help....help...help."
Diaz stops the van, gets out, goes back to check on Cox, asks why he's splayed on the floor. "I can't move," Cox responds. "I fall. I cannot move my arms." Despite standard police protocol fo wait for medical help if a suspect is in distress, Diaz gets back into the car and radios for an ambulance before driving to the station. There, he and three other officers, including Sgt. Betsy Segui, start shouting at Cox to get up and come out of the van. Cox repeatedly tells them he can't move, he can't feel anything and he thinks his neck is broken. Berating him - and despite standard human protocol - the cops roughly drag him from the van, sit him on the ground, and try to lift his limp body into a wheelchair; he keeps sliding out and they keep shouting "sit up" and "stop playing around." "You drank too much," leers Segul several times. "Sit up!" After processing Cox, again on the floor, they drag him to a holding cell and toss him in. "He's perfectly fine," Segui declares, holding a set of handcuffs. "Want me to put these on him" She cuffs him on the ankles and they close the cell door. After police eventually called for a medical unit, Cox was taken to the hospital for emergency spinal surgery. He remains hospitalized and paralyzed in critical condition, immobile from the neck down, sustained with a feeding tube; he communicates by blinking and bobbing his head.
Except that he's alive for now, Cox's case bears an eerie resemblance to that of Freddie Gray, 25, who died of a broken neck in 2015 after Baltimore police arrested him for a possibly illegal switchblade, loaded him into a prison van, and drove him roughly around for 40 minutes before taking him to the station, where he was unresponsive. His death, ruled a homicide, prompted widespread protests; State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six officers with crimes ranging from manslaughter to "second-degree depraved-heart murder," but they all walked free thanks to what she called "an inherent bias (when) police police themselves." "This is Freddie Gray's case on video," said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Cox's family. "Thank God we have the video so they can't deny what happened." At a press conference, Cox's sister LaToya Boomer called the newly released video - with Cox's "head bobbing (and) police dragging him around" - "mind-blowing." "I want to know where was the person who sees what's going on and says, 'Maybe he's not drunk, maybe he is in distress,'" she said. "At any point in time, if someone is saying, 'Help. I think my neck is broken. I can't move' - how many times do they need to say it?" Added an angry Crump, "Was he not worthy of humanity?"
\u201cThis video is HORRIFIC! Randy Cox was put in a police van without seatbelts and, after an abrupt stop, was thrown into the wall HEAD FIRST. We literally witness his neck break! As he was STILL lying on the van floor, he told the officers that he couldn\u2019t move. What did they do?\u201d— Ben Crump (@Ben Crump) 1656374460
A mournful reminder that as America's macro atrocities go on apace - against women, schoolchildren, immigrants and now the planet - so do its personal, everyday, often unseen acts of barbarity. Seven years after Freddie Gray (black) died of a broken neck in a Baltimore police van "rough ride" - and all six officers went free - Richard 'Randy' Cox (black) is paralyzed from a broken neck in a New Haven police van "rough ride." Cox, 36, was arrested on June 19 after someone at a party reported he had an apparently unlicensed gun tucked into his pants; handcuffed behind his back, he was loaded into a metal transport van with no seatbelts. At one point the driver, officer Oscar Diaz, stopped abruptly; body cam footage shows him lurch to a stop, followed by a sickening thud. Diaz said he was trying to avoid hitting another car, but footage shows he was speeding - 36 mph in a 25 mph zone - and residents say they often see police "careening around" in the vans to terrorize helpless prisoners inside. "Horrific" video released this week from inside the van shows Cox sitting uneasily in back as the van hurtles toward the station, trying to find a grip somewhere. When Diaz slams on the brakes, Cox' body suddenly, swiftly hurls along the smooth metal floor and cannonballs headfirst into the back of the van. He lies still. A few seconds later, you hear him softly whimper, "Help....help...help."
Diaz stops the van, gets out, goes back to check on Cox, asks why he's splayed on the floor. "I can't move," Cox responds. "I fall. I cannot move my arms." Despite standard police protocol fo wait for medical help if a suspect is in distress, Diaz gets back into the car and radios for an ambulance before driving to the station. There, he and three other officers, including Sgt. Betsy Segui, start shouting at Cox to get up and come out of the van. Cox repeatedly tells them he can't move, he can't feel anything and he thinks his neck is broken. Berating him - and despite standard human protocol - the cops roughly drag him from the van, sit him on the ground, and try to lift his limp body into a wheelchair; he keeps sliding out and they keep shouting "sit up" and "stop playing around." "You drank too much," leers Segul several times. "Sit up!" After processing Cox, again on the floor, they drag him to a holding cell and toss him in. "He's perfectly fine," Segui declares, holding a set of handcuffs. "Want me to put these on him" She cuffs him on the ankles and they close the cell door. After police eventually called for a medical unit, Cox was taken to the hospital for emergency spinal surgery. He remains hospitalized and paralyzed in critical condition, immobile from the neck down, sustained with a feeding tube; he communicates by blinking and bobbing his head.
Except that he's alive for now, Cox's case bears an eerie resemblance to that of Freddie Gray, 25, who died of a broken neck in 2015 after Baltimore police arrested him for a possibly illegal switchblade, loaded him into a prison van, and drove him roughly around for 40 minutes before taking him to the station, where he was unresponsive. His death, ruled a homicide, prompted widespread protests; State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged six officers with crimes ranging from manslaughter to "second-degree depraved-heart murder," but they all walked free thanks to what she called "an inherent bias (when) police police themselves." "This is Freddie Gray's case on video," said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Cox's family. "Thank God we have the video so they can't deny what happened." At a press conference, Cox's sister LaToya Boomer called the newly released video - with Cox's "head bobbing (and) police dragging him around" - "mind-blowing." "I want to know where was the person who sees what's going on and says, 'Maybe he's not drunk, maybe he is in distress,'" she said. "At any point in time, if someone is saying, 'Help. I think my neck is broken. I can't move' - how many times do they need to say it?" Added an angry Crump, "Was he not worthy of humanity?"
\u201cThis video is HORRIFIC! Randy Cox was put in a police van without seatbelts and, after an abrupt stop, was thrown into the wall HEAD FIRST. We literally witness his neck break! As he was STILL lying on the van floor, he told the officers that he couldn\u2019t move. What did they do?\u201d— Ben Crump (@Ben Crump) 1656374460