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Do make sure to read this story from the Washington Blade's Lou Chibbaro, which chronicles the arrest last weekend of local attorney Pepin Tuma, 33. Tuma says he was arrested at 17th and U Streets NW on Saturday night by 2nd District Officer J. Culp, after Tuma loudly and “jokingly” said to a couple of his friends while walking by Culp, "I hate the police." Tuma further contends that during the arrest, which was for disorderly conduct, Culp at first did not inform him why he was being detained, and then later called Tuma a "faggot." The Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating.
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Don't you mean TCO J. Culp?
The White House still has time to send out two more invites to this evening's Beer Summit!
Wow. I guess I won't be blasting N.W.A. in my VW Schwimmwagen while I'm cruising for tranny hookers anytime soon. Time to break out The Weather Girls.
Prosecutin' attorneys are MC Tuma, Ice Cube, and Skippy Muthaf*ckin' Gates!
Order! Order! Order!
Monkey, you can still blast NWA, you just need to be a little creative.
It's times like these that I'm happy there are so many lawyers in DC. Similar incidents happen all the time, and the cops usually get away with it because no one wants to spend the time and effort to take legal action against them.
Great - dick lawyer mouths off. Asshole cop overreacts. Dick lawyer mouths off further resulting in Dick lawyer's arrest. Dick lawyer raises pointless stink.
Real democracy in action here - makes me wanna dust off my dookie chain, my kitchen clock, top hat and baggy pants so I can scream "FIGHT THA POWAH!!! WE GADDA FIGHT THA POWAZZ THAT BE!!"
Idiot commenter admits asshole cop overreacts. Idiot commenter claims lawyer raises "pointless" stink. Idiot commenter fails logic 101.
Douchebag poster (who supposedly makes his living as an 'Uh-Tur-NEE" and insists on reminding everyone at every opportunity despite no one giving a rat's ass) fails to understand that 'pointless' is an opinion and that OP wasn't attempting a syllogism but merely expressing his opinion.
Jesus - you're Clarence Fucking Darrow, aint'cha?
Because overreacting is so objective, isn't it? Just think before typing. That's all we ask.
I'm struggling with why the lawyer's actions are "pointless" if the cop arrested him for no particular reason other than the fact that he was "overreacting"? What, pray tell, would be an acceptable response by the attorney to his unnecessary arrest?
"Good day to you sir...I said GOOD DAY."
I'm glad we are getting more coverage of "cops are power-abusing ass holes" stories, because, well, they are.
Yeah, but he "jokingly" called Tuma a "faggot," which makes things okey dokey if you extend Mr. Tuma's rationale of his own behavior. Actually, I agree the the "faggot" comment was uncalled for. On the other hand, a little "wood shampoo" for being an asshole would be thoroughly warranted.
yea, that pesky freedom of speech thing does tend to get the popo riled up.
Nothing like delivering a good beating to build your ego back up after some stranger says mean words to you.
Exactly! I knew the commentariat would understand. But seriously, it's called living in a civilized society. Expressing a political opinion contrary to the majority belief is one thing, and rightly protected. Disparaging public servants who are doing their job and protecting your safety is just being an asshole. It's simply a matter of being a decent human being. How about Mr. Tuma comes to your job, hates on you, and points out everything you're doing wrong. Should you have to endure that in order for one smarmy, unfunny little fellow to feel better about himself while he claims a right to "protected speech"? Bet you, or anybody else, would hurl a few epithets. Maybe not "faggot" (or is that protected speech, too?), but you probably wouldn't be inviting him to lunch.
First cell phone pics of the Metro driver reading and now gay lawyers provoking police with 3rd grade epithets (I.e. harmless taunting): just one more way to ensure our public servants are doing what they're paid to do and not treating DC like their own little universe, at which center they exist.
More power to him. It's about time people took back this city from the lazy corrupt incompetence that's been allowed to exist, relatively unfettered, for god knows how long.
I think the reading bus driver was the montgomery county bus system but I generally agree with the point.
Can we please put to rest this line of argument, which keeps popping up ever since the Gates arrest, that it's okay for cops to overstep their authority, as long as the other guy was acting like an asshole too? I don't let my 7-year-old get away with that, so I'm not inclined to let an adult cop get away with it either. Frankly, I don't care if Tuma was being an asshole. Why? Because I don't pay his salary and entrust him with a deadly weapon. If this cop is man enough to shoulder the responsibility of deadly force, he should be man enough to know when to let a harmless asshole keep walking and go about the business of being a harmless asshole. Officer, we give you a frickin gun, do you really need to whip out your junk every time your manhood feels threatened?
A cop calling you an asshole because he doesn't like you is an overreation. A cop arresting you because he doesn't like you is a fucking abuse of power.
Grrr. "Overreaction."
Definitely sounds like the cop overreacted, but I'd still say there's a lot more basis for Tuma's "disorderly conduct" arrest than there is for Gates'. He was standing on a public street corner loudly repeating "I hate the police" in a sing-song tone (i.e., starting a chant) while officers were engaged in actual police work.
That sounds like it has the potential to be disruptive to me (the line between individual mockery and trying to rouse a crowd to action can sometimes be thin), and I think an officer would be completely justified in walking over and asking him to stop it. Frankly, it even seems like it might reach the standard for disorderly conduct under the DC statutes, which are admittedly vague. It also strikes me that this is extremely childish behavior from an adult in his 30s who, by virtue of his occupation, is officially an "officer of the court."
Forced to choose sides on this one I'd probably go with the lawyer, but I wouldn't be all that thrilled about it.
The headline should be: Local Lawyer's Name Irredeemably Pretentious and Junk-Punch Worthy
Insulting cops is generally not illegal. Criticizing cops is not at all illegal. In fact, criticism of the police force would be considered by the Supreme Court to be 'core political speech,' thereby meriting the full protection of the First Amendment.
Disorderly conduct is a charge that many officers use when they want to arrest someone who has not committed a crime. In most cases, the charge will come down to the word of the accused versus the word of the officer. Generally, courts are willing to believe police officer's testimony, rather than that of the accused, because cops are supposed to be honest and uphold the law.
In reality, many police are oblivious to the law, or choose to openly flout the laws, believing that they are above such petty restrictions.
If the facts of this matter are as reported, the cop should be reprimanded, if not fired. I'm sick of police who cannot seem to remember that they SERVE the public.
/yes I am an attorney
//welcome to the police state
The White House still has time to send out two more invites to this evening's Beer Summit! Tampa dui defense lawyer