Mentally Ill Homeless Man Severely Beaten By Police Because His Beach Umbrella was Too Big

[TheFreeThoughtProject] Venice Beach, CA– A video released on Wednesday captured eight Los Angeles police officers beating, tasing, and hogtying a mentally ill homeless man as he tried to enjoy the simple pleasure of a day at the beach.

The man and his lawyer say that this abuse at the hands of the LAPD has been a pattern over the past year, and his hospital records show it. They are now calling for a federal investigation of the violations of his civil rights.

n the video taken on August 7, 2014, eight officers are seen brutalizing Samuel Calhoun Arrington, 52, who suffers from bipolar disorder. The incident began when he reportedly refused to sign a citation for “items placed on (the) city beach” and “property outside of designated space.”

What horrible items could have had on the beach, you ask? A chair and umbrella, which everyone else brings to the beach all summer long without being targeted for assault.

“To me, what they did in full view of every person on Venice Beach was to strip a homeless man, someone mentally ill, of their last shred of humanity,” Cleo Battle, Arrington’s sister told local news outlet KTLA.

According to the police report, Arrington had lunged at officers and attempted to grab one of their belts. Nazareth Haysbert, the attorney representing Arrington, told KTLA that the report stated his client “immediately broke the officer’s hold by aggressively moving his arms forward and then pulling his arms toward his body.”

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