The LAPD Video & How the Press Reacts

Yesterday, Sean Bonner of Metroblogging Los Angeles, who helped the LAPD birth a blog of their own, caught wind of a video taken on August 11 and posted on YouTube on October 18, showing a splice of an arrest with an officer punching a man in the face. Immediately, LAist wrote Council District 13, requesting a response. They were not aware of it and said they would let us know of any details to follow.

Here comes today and the video is all over the place: LA Times, LA Observed, LA Voice, etc, etc, etc. But what caught our attention was the Daily News homepage where the video is posted with a link to an article. You know that times have changed when a major media outlet is putting a YouTube video on their homepage. This is the second time Daily News has used a YouTube video on their site.

In speaking with the LAPD Press Relations department, they said they will have an official response today on their blog. In a very short amount of time, they have received nearly 50 calls from news outlets requesting information. Nothing like a little stress, eh?

In the end, while the video looks terrible, Chief Bratton says that his obligations are to wait until all the facts are in. And if we, as citizens deserve the right to a process, so do the two officers. Some may point to the Rodney King verdict, but we point to today: 14 years later with a consent decree.

To view the controversial video, it's after the jump...