Two Gallants attacked

[snuffbox 0]

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9314

 

The story and appropriate links are all there. Plenty of crazy things to read about & also videos. These guys are going to end up richer than Conor Oberst because of one retarded pig.

 

Houston: "Hey, at least we're not...uh...nevermind, I got nothing."

[vivalaultra 0]

Hey! Walter's on Washington...I saw Devendra Banhart there last year. Yeah, that was a pretty shitty thing for the cops to do. I can see a noise complaint being filed; the club's like...right in front of a neighborhood and a church and an apartment complex, but still...that's the first time I've ever heard of anything like that happening at a club...and I've been to a good many shows. I guess Two Gallants turn it all the way up to 11.

 

Are they any good, by the way? I've heard of them but haven't gotten around to listening to anything they've done.

[snuffbox 0]

They're a two-man country-ish band on the Saddle Creek label. Not something anyone could really call 'loud' or 'abrasive'.

 

http://www.myspace.com/twogallants

 

The cop is fucked. If the department/city does anything to protect him, they'll only bring themselves closer to bankruptcy with all the lawsuits. I think one of the kids that got tazered is well underage, and his dad was there.

 

Hey pigs - Dont smoke crack & convince yourself that attacking little indie kids is cool. K?

[Guest Felonies!]

I thought you meant a real pig.

[Guest Felonies!]

I mean, they do get violent when provoked, and I figured swine must hate Saddle Creek acts as much as the rest of us.

[vivalaultra 0]

Hey, I kinda know that cop. He used to come into Denny's when I worked there at like...4 AM and eat breakfast. He was a decent tipper.

 

Anyway, here's an article from the Houston Chronicle about the fracas, which includes the cop giving his side of the story:

 

Noise complaint at bar leads to melee

Accounts differ of incident where an officer says he was forced to use a Taser on patrons

 

 

By ANNE MARIE KILDAY and PAIGE HEWITT

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

 

A Houston police officer responding to a noise complaint Friday night at Walter's, a popular music venue on Washington Avenue, discharged his Taser at least three times when a melee ensued after he told a guitar player to turn down the volume.

 

Exactly how — and why — it all started depends on whom you ask.

 

Officer G.M. Rodriguez approached management about the noise complaint, filed by a neighbor, and the volume was turned down — but that as the officer was leaving, the volume went back up, said HPD's Sgt. Nate McDuell.

 

He said Rodriguez then went on stage and approached guitar player Adam Stephens, one of two members in the laid-back country rock band, the Two Gallants.

 

McDuell said Stephens, whose guitar was hanging from a neck strap, then used a sexual obscenity and shoved the officer with his shoulder.

 

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

 

Stephens, a 25-year-old from San Francisco, said that is "absolutely" not what happened.

 

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.

 

Accounts vary, but apparently several people then charged the stage, there was a lot of pushing and shoving, and the officer called for backup.

 

HPD's McDuell said several people were grabbing the officer from behind when he felt someone grab his pistol.

 

At some point during the incident, the officer removed a cartridge from his Taser, so that it would discharged "dry stuns," which are used for "close contact combat," McDuell said. He said the officer used the Taser three times.

 

Meanwhile, about six patrol cars arrived at the scene.

 

Rodriguez suffered bruises and cuts on his arms, at least four people were arrested, a valuable bass was broken. A tall, slender 14-year-old with shoulder-length hair was Tasered, and a University of Houston sociology student doing a "field paper on the music scene" also was Tasered.

 

Stephens, who left the scene and was not arrested, said he was Tasered twice in the stomach and that the officer was "out of control."

 

"He was extremely violent form the start," Stephens said. "It was frightening."

 

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

 

"An officer gets attacked by dozens of people in a club who have been drinking," McDuell said. " If anything, the officer was abused."

 

Pam Robinson, the owner of Walter's, said, "I wasn't here when it happened, and I don't know exactly what happened. I am sure it will all get straightened out."

 

Robinson said she "felt comfortable" leaving early Friday night, because of the "college student" audience that had gathered to hear the three bands — the Two Gallants, Langhorne Slim and the War Eagles, and the Trainwreck Riders.

 

Chronicle reporter Anita Hassan contributed to this report.

 

I wonder who the UH student that was injured was. I'll have to find out. I wasn't there and I don't know anybody who was there, so I'm not sure what happened...and the video of the thing isn't spectacularly shot so it's hard to tell the story. But yeah, that 14-year old getting injured thing is probably not going to be good.

[snuffbox 0]

Yeah, leave it to a cop to talk to the band before the guy at the soundboard. Time to look for a nice anonymous factory job.

[snuffbox 0]

You dont like ANYTHING on Saddle Creek, Czech? Not even Sorry About Dresden? Best band name ever.

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For the sake of taxpayers in Houston, I hope someone in power convinces the police dept to stop saying this fat twit was right.

[vivalaultra 0]

I'm not gonna say that the 'fat twit' was right, but I'm not ready to pronounce 100% blame onto him. I don't think you can just automatically take the other side. It's basically the cop's word vs. the indie kids' word. The cop said he went into the club, asked management to turn the sound down and went to leave, at which time they turned the sound back up. If that's true, I can understand the officer being upset and trying to take other measures. I don't understand why he walked on stage, but if what's-his-name from the band called him a sexual obscenity and shoulder pushed him, that's enough for a cop to take action. Then, if someone did make a move for the cop's gun, which he says happened, that's enough to justify having to use further action. I'm not saying I believe the cop's side of the story and I'm not saying I believe the indie kids' side of the story. I do know that the few shows I've been to at Walter's, they open the doors ridiculously early, like...2 and a half hours early and the crowds there get incredibly drunk, even for acts like Two Gallants or Devendra Banhart. It's certainly a terrible thing that a 14-year old got hurt and that other people got hurt, but I don't know why I should just believe the indie kids and disbelieve the cop based on the fact that...what? one's a cop? I don't have the highest opinion of law enforcement, but I don't have the highest opinion of drunk indie kids either, so, meh..

 

Anyway, I downloaded the Two Gallants CD, and it's pretty good. I hope this event doesn't discourage them from coming back to Houston.

[snuffbox 0]

Considering the cop is on two seperate videos acting like a meth'd out maniac while the audience is shouthing "What are you doing?!" and nobody seems to be attacking him...his story is kinda weak.

 

Sounds like they might've forgotten the Miranda Rights thingy as well. Oopsy.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, I think the Miranda Rights is only if somebody's placed under arrest...and nobody was placed under arrest...

 

And listening to the rest of this CD, I've decided it wears out after the first few songs. And I don't care for their cover of "Long Summer Day"...and he uses the 'n' word. Edgy.

 

And I maintain that the videos are obscure at best. I'm not able to get an accurate picture so as to assess blame based on them. They're rather one-sided. And you seem to just dislike cops in general. Bad experiences?

[snuffbox 0]

Several people were arrested.

 

Yeah, maybe I'm just biased. Maybe the cop just forgot to go to the soundboard or management before attacking people on stage...maybe the police just forgot the Miranda Rights...maybe he really thought the skinny 14 year old was a terrorist.

[snuffbox 0]

The part where the cop apparently smacks the camera out of one kid's hand is kinda telling as well.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, usually you don't give the Miranda Rights while you're in the middle of a small-scale brawl. Usually you wait until the situation is secure. I don't think the videos are as telling as you do. They're both less than a minute long. Neither one shows the entire event. They just show the reaction. They don't show any of the provocation, presuming there was some. They're not particularly well-shot. They're dark and jumpy. Now, if they had a full-video of the entire incident, it would be easier to judge, but I don't think a 45 second, jumpy cellphone video of a cop subduing a crowd that he alleges was very aggressive towards him is enough to judge the incident on. I don't feel it's enough to call him a fuckwad or a pig or anything else. What if the cop was telling the truth? What if right before the video started, one of the Gallants called him a fag and shoulder pushed him? What if somebody behind him grabbed at his gun? I think if that was the case, the cop had just cause to break out the taser. If not, well, he didn't. I'm not saying that the cop was 100% in the right; I'm just saying that I can't accurately make a determination so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions and start name-calling. You feel that you can make a judgment, so you did and you called him a fuckwad and a pig. That's certainly within your right, I just think that all sides should be explored before a conclusion is jumped to.

 

Edit: And the Chronicle article I posted says that the cop went to management and told them to turn the sound down and they did, but turned it up as he was leaving. Why he didn't go to the mixing board, or if he did go to the mixing board I'm not sure.

[snuffbox 0]

Hmmm, I find it hard to believe I said 'fuckwad' anywhere in this thread, but I'll take your word.

 

Here's another problem with the cop - And I'm even going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he went to managment, the sound was turned down & then back up, so he felt he had to do something...You're going to rush the stage (why, I have no idea) through a crowd of young people that have been drinking. You should probably call for backup instead of playing John Rambo. Even if he didn't make the first physical contact (he says vs. he says on this one) he is still risking alot of problems with a crowd that has been served alcohol (or even hasnt, as it is a crowd nonetheless & no one can say what they may have ingested prior to the show). Why not call & then wait for backup (if he did go to the soundboard/management once more, it didnt work, and he really felt he had to confront the band directly)? The only reason I can think of is that he was incredibly irrational to the point of appearing highly medicated. His behavior and mannerism (the second video on youtube has some good closeups of the cop's face and upper body during all this) are suspect at best. The videos DO show the cop acting alot more guilty (though the clear footage is minimal) than ANY of the audience. This would be a case of he said vs. they said, and They have several eyewitnesses and at least two videos. They also say that more videos are forthcoming.

 

From the accounts of those arrested, they were not given their Rights. Period. But time will have to tell on that.

 

The 14 year old is a guranteed lawsuit. There will probably be at least a half dozen others.

[vivalaultra 0]

Oh, my apologies for misquoting you. You said 'fat twit'. I'm not sure where I got fuckwad from. I like that word...fuckwad.

 

The more I listen to this CD, I don't think I wanna taze this guy, but I might wanna kick him in the nuts.

 

My closing remark: A terrible situation, to be sure, but until more facts come out, I'm not going to say that either party was 100% responsible for the actions. From the videos and the cop's sorta-flimsy excuse and aggressive behavior, it looks like he was more in the wrong than the other party, but...I'll never underestimate the stupidity and dumb behavior of a bunch of drunken indie kids. Still terrible about the 14-year old. I dunno, this Officer Rodriguez always seemed like a mild-mannered guy whenver I saw him. I guess he just hates Saddle Creek like Czech does.

[Guest Felonies!]

Wait, I don't get it. Snuffy, are you just anti-cop, pro-indie, pro-justice? You seem really worked up about this, whereas I just think it's a shame what happened.

[snuffbox 0]

From that list I will go with 'anti-cop'

 

I was content to just make jokes about the policedude but vivaultra started defending him in the face of heavy contradictions & I got a bit frothy trying to shoot down the cop's 'alibibi'.

[Guest Felonies!]

Is that when you say you were in two other places at the scene of the crime?

[snuffbox 0]

I'm not sure what that is...but I cant change it now.

[BUTT 0]

Two Gallants attacked

 

Damn you Goofus

[vivalaultra 0]

Whoa there....I didn't defend anybody. I just said that it's wrong to jump to conclusions when the evidence is the word of a bunch of drunk indie kids and two grainy cellphone videos. And I only said anything about not jumping to conclusions after you made your 'fat twit' post. All I did was post an article where the cop gave his side. You started out calling the cop a pig and whatnot. I just wanted parity. I don't think that's anything too far-fetched...and my name has an 'la' sammiched in between. What do you people have against 'la'? The first time it happened, I thought it was funny so I had to laugh, now it's getting old so all I can do is go 'ugh'! I'm even clever before sunrise.

[Slayer 0]

You may hate me but it ain't no lie, alibibibi

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Anyone but Two Gallants!

[snuffbox 0]

Wanna defend these guys too viva?

 

[JangoFett4Hire 0]

Have you seen the little piggies?

Crawling in the dirt

And for all the little piggies,

life is getting worse

always having dirt

to play around in...

[snuffbox 0]

DONT MAKE FUN OF COPS

[Slayer 0]

grrrrrrrrr ee-vil cops

[Guest Felonies!]

I dislike police brutality, but this is kind of weird.