Return of the mack: Police reaction at parade scarier than initial incidents

I'm not saying Baton Rouge Police Department officers used excessive force and arrested people unnecessarily at the St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday.

But it certainly looked like it.

I'm not sure what exactly sparked all the tension near Duvic's bar in the first place. Cops ran to an obviously frenzied situation beneath the overpass next to Duvic's. The most detailed answer I received from anyone running from area was "punches and Tasers."

But matters didn't die down after officers had taken care of whatever initially brought them all so closely together.

One man stood about 40 feet from the original incident. He didn't seem happy, but he was pretty much minding his own business — until police horses almost trampled him 10 minutes later.

Officers nearly ran him over as he backed across the parking lot. One horse turned its head and knocked the man's head with its neck. He pushed it away as he continued to back toward the street.

Mistake.

Multiple officers grabbed him, threw his torso to the hood of a car, tased and arrested him.
Police yelled at another young man to leave the area moments later. He yelled something back — I'm not sure what, but the officers didn't like it.

Mistake.

The police lifted him in the air, threw him to the ground and bent one of his arms behind his back to the point it looked like it would break. He put his other hand behind his back.

The cops continued to yell, "put your other hand behind your back," as he already had. He frantically screamed, "It is. It is."

Officers arrested another man shortly thereafter. I didn't see what he did, but it happened close and uneventfully enough that it couldn't have been too much. He probably mouthed off a little two much like the guy before him.

Mistake.

None of the three men probably handled their respective situations the best way, but neither did the officers.

I was more afraid of the police than of anything they were trying to stop.

I later told my friends multiple times to stop play-fighting because I was worried cops would mistakenly tase us.

Two of my other friends had run-ins with the officers around around the time of the third arrest I watched — though luckily neither was tased or arrested.

One took pictures of all the action — some from the street and some from what was probably the outskirts of Duvic's parking lot — until an officer told her, "I'm going to tell you one thing: Get that camera out of here. And that's all I'm gonna say."

Another friend was walking as part of the parade with one of the floats to make sure members of the crowd didn't get hit.

The float broke down, and he tried to ask the officers some questions.

They said they'd arrest him for asking too many questions.

The police shouldn't threaten people for legally taking pictures, shouldn't arrest people for asking questions and shouldn't make bystanders feel less safe than the bad guys made them feel.

Again, I'm not saying the officers necessarily broke any laws.

It seemed like it, but I can't know for sure. I wasn't in those conversations.

I'm sure dealing with crowds of drunk people is frustrating.

But officers are getting paid to be there, to protect and to serve.

I don't know if it's just me, but I think they should take it a little easier.

And citizens should probably be a little smarter in dealing with the frustrated police.

Jerit Roser is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans.



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Contact Jerit Roser at jroser@lsureveille.com