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Dashcam video shows Vermont man being arrested after flipping off state trooper: ‘Freedom of expression’

https://nypost.com/2023/12/21/news/vermont-man-gregory-bombard-being-arrested-after-flipping-off-state-trooper-video-shows/

A Vermont State Trooper was observed in newly released video footage arresting a man for disorderly conduct after being flipped off and cursed at during a traffic stop – a move that led the man to …

Dashcam video shows Vermont man being arrested after flipping off state trooper: ‘Freedom of expression’

58 comments

tacosanonymous

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It’s been proven time and again that the cops don’t need to know or enforce actual laws. Suing cops is almost impossible, and when you sue the department, the taxpayers got the bill with little impact on the offending officer.

Police reform now.

superduperenigma

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when you sue the department, the taxpayers got the bill with little impact on the offending officer.

Police officers and departments should be required to carry professional insurance policies to cover these payouts, just like doctors are required to carry malpractice insurance.

billwashere

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My son is a cop and I’m completely for this. He’s an intelligent empathetic man that would definitely speak truth to power if called upon to do so. And I would say he agrees that the job attracts ignorant belligerent bully types that love pushing people around. And this behavior needs to stop for sure.

Old_Dude

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It was about 10 years ago, but someone had interviewed a panel of police officers of different ranks from the counties in the bay area of California. When asked how many cops shouldn't be cops, one officer responded 75%. The others agreed with that figure.

Serinus

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How long until he's out for doing the right thing?

The thin blue line won't tolerate him forever.

brbposting

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You might be right.

…there are more than 12,200 local police departments nationwide…

Nearly half of all local police departments have fewer than 10 officers.

The guy could work with five or ten other normal people.

brbposting

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I commented once that “ACAB” is discouraging to those of the 800,000 officers in the US who are good. It wasn’t well received. Would you agree?

WeirdGoesPro

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No. If you’re a good person who chooses to work for a corrupt organization, you are also choosing to shoulder some of the responsibility for the actions of that group. I would also like to know where you got the idea that there are 800,000 good officers in the US, because that feels like a made up number.

grue

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Part of the problem is that police unions retaliate against any politician that tries to reform them.

At this point, the police themselves are literally organized crime.

AbsoluteChicagoDog

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Why do the police get powerful unions but we get fuck all

grue

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Because police are enforcers for the ruling class, not labor. Their union is categorically different from a labor union.

Sylvartas

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Turns out it's pretty easy to get concessions from your rulers when you're quite literally the last line of defense between their beloved status quo and the other peasants' revendications

drmeanfeel

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At this point, spelled "from inception"

Psychodelic

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Don't forget the last bit, "and taxpayers continue not to care and blindly support the cops"

tacosanonymous

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You forgot to add cry about taxes

noride

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RickyRigatoni

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if we make the taxpayers foot the bill for their police departments bad behaviors enough maybe they'll start doing something about it

unlikely but it's worth a shot

TheDoozer

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That's how it currently is functioning and it doesn't work particularly well.

RickyRigatoni

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we're just not doing it enough

when you try to drown a rat who's good at swimming do you just give up or add more water?

Kase

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I love the analogy, made me giggle

irmoz

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That is already the case, and yet here we are...

Perfide

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That is already how it works

phoenixz

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Thank you for calling for reforms and not the moronic "defund the police"

originalucifer

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and these guys think they should be allowed to carry lethal armament their entire shifts. fuck you. this guy couldnt handle a finger

foggy

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"you have no idea how hard our jobs are!!"

Meanwhile, a 15 year old is opening up a target store on black Friday.

Grow a pair or don't be a cop. Preferably the latter.

wildcardology

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That finger looked like a gun, I was fearing for my life.

ares35

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officer: "...So here’s the issue: Although it may be freedom of expression, it’s so unusual that it requires intervention to make sure you don’t need help of some kind.”

so here's a solution, i guess: everybody starts flippin-the-bird to cops, everywhere and all the time. now it's not 'unusual', it's the norm.

Kase

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MegaUltraChicken

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ExfilBravo

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You guys weren't already doing this?

BigMacHole

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Republicans want these Snowflakes ARMED and in your Child's School!

ares35

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and digging through classrooms looking for a book.

NounsAndWords

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This is a very common example of freedom of expression in law schools. Unfortunately, law enforcement education on what the law is is shorter than this post.

Brkdncr

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I honestly wouldn’t expect a different response.

TheFriar

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thats the problem.

YoorWeb

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Well, he didn't get shot (yet) so there's that.

Slwh47696

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Yeah it's because he's white, if he was black the cop would've killed him

lennybird

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All I gotta say is thank fuck for the proliferation of cameras.

Can you just imagine the shit cops in places like the South especially got away with pre-video?

mjhelto

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Yes, yes we can, because what evidence did come out during those "dark ages" told the same exact thing, but with more racial slurs and the word, "boy" a lot.

kent_eh

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Seriously. What the fuck did he expect to happen?

Nurse_Robot

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To not have his constitutional rights stripped?

fathog

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As far as I can tell, the lawsuit is still ongoing? This is the most recent court document I could find, but it’s more than a year old: https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/sites/default/files/documents/bombard%20v%20riggen%20mello%2021-cv-176%2011-2-22.pdf

Very interested to see how much the taxpayers have to pay for another cop abusing his power

andrew_bidlaw

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I remember this one time Bush got the shoe. It ended up with many lenghty trials before the guy got sentenced for a year for what amounts to one of the biggest personal fuck-you acts in a recent history. And what would be the sentence for throwing a shoe at a random nobody officer from Vermont? Lemme guess...

extant

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Death penalty probably.

andrew_bidlaw

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Instant one at that. There are like millions of people working forces on the ground, and even a slight chance of having 'the bad one' and being put to death over a little conflict would bring a regretful amount of lives lost, like a little town of dead people. Cops who don't usually have a job more dangerous than a speeding ticket shouldn't have guns, there are SWAT, FBI, other units to handle big crimes, who are specifically trained for that, and cops should endure as much checks as other laborers do when using dangerous tools. Most big industrial toys I enjoyed had two buttons so I would need to place my two hands in safe spaces to press them before they start, because their predecessors ate that much limbs and whole people it became a problem. Why having a gun, a tool made to right-click-delete people, is so unregulated? Why cops are even trusted to have one, or even a couple? These said symbols of law and order are half a century back in regulating that law and order themselves.

GooseFinger

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I understand where you're coming from, but a lot of violence that police encounter is spontaneous and unpredictable.

Say they pull someone over for speeding, but the driver has a warrant for their arrest or something like drugs in their car. The cop begins this encounter expecting to issue a ticket and nothing more, but the driver knows more is riding on the line than that. Violently attacking the cop to increase their chance of getting away might sound like a good option, otherwise they'll spend years in jail for the additional charges they're avoiding.

A lot of this behavior wouldn't exist if our prisons focused on rehabilitation instead of cruel punishment. A simple drug charge can ruin someone's finances and career, which almost everyone agrees is unjust. If they're already facing many years in jail for crimes a cop would arrest them for, what's risking some additional time in jail for a chance to avoid an arrest altogether?

Prison shouldn't be something that people want to avoid at all costs, and the conditions we live in shouldn't push people to commit crime to get by. Currently, our prisons are cruel and our living conditions are terrible, pushing people to steal, sell drugs, and avoid prison at all costs.

Edit: And just to clarify, I'm only highlighting that police encounter violence in situations where people wouldn't expect it. A simple speeding ticket can end with the cop getting stabbed or runned over. Our justice system motivates people to violently avoid arrest, and our living conditions push people to commit crime. So not only do our police need reform, but we need to fix the underlying issues that push people to commit crime and avoid prison to begin with. If that's done, then police encounters that begin non-violently would more frequently end that way too.

Aleric

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Goddamn, you make a great point about the severity of treatment in prison driving extreme avoidant behavior. I had never thought of it that way before.

khannie

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There's a monument to the shoe in Tikrit now.

Aleric

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I found out Iraqi police required it to be removed after only two days. How disappointing.

khannie

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Oh boo! Absolute fun sponges.

Edit: amazing quote at the end of that article...

Throwing shoes at someone is a sign of extreme contempt in Arab culture.

I mean I think that's a sign of extreme contempt anywhere :D

Aleric

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It actually has religious connotations too, being mentioned in the Tanakh and Old Testament. The Israelites were not big fans of Moab or Edom, so TWICE it's said "Moab is my washpot: over Edom will I cast out my shoe", which is sun-zapped, crazy people speak for "fuck these guys".

Wildman22

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What a douchebag

DanglingFury

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"Gregory Bombard was driving through St. Albans, Vermont, in February 2018 when"....

Bro this story is like 3 years old

EisFrei

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Bro, 2021 was 2 years ago.

problematicPanther

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What do you mean? It's still 2020.

irmoz

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carbonprop

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I guess Mr. Vermont man made his point.

reverendsteveii

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The cop: "So here’s the issue: Although it may be freedom of expression, it’s so unusual that it requires intervention to make sure you don’t need help of some kind."

Tom Jones intensifies

FlyingSquid

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Sigh. I wish I could convince people not to use sources like the New York Post or Fox News even if the story is correct. Don't give them money by going to their websites. They're Murdoch companies.

Here's an alternative link to the story that isn't right-wing trash media: https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/it-looked-like-you-flipped-me-off-driver-alleges-trooper-wrongfully-pulled-him-over-for-giving-him-the-finger/