Rock Hill Cops Offer A lot of Words but No Legitimate Explanation for Searching Ricky Price's Car or Reason 4 White Cops Assaulted Him and Tried to Get a K-9 to Bite His Face to Make an Arrest

From [HERE]  and [HERE] The attorney and family of two brothers are calling out the Rock Hill Police Department after the Black siblings were arrested Wednesday during a struggle with police officers at a gas station -- sparking protests.

In the video posted to social media, a group of white officers is seen attacking two Black men they are attempting to arrest. One Black man is on the ground with officers on top of him hitting him. An officer also appears to be trying to get his K-9 police dog to bite the black man’s face or upper body.

Police say Price was pulled over after making an illegal turn and changing lanes unlawfully.

Price then pulled his Mustang into a gas station on Willowbrook Avenue and began moving around the vehicle out of officer’s view, according to a news release.

Officers say they called for a K-9 to conduct a vehicle sniff, based on prior interactions with Price. After a K-9 alerted officers to the presence of illegal narcotics inside the car, Price was asked to step out of the vehicle.

At a news conference Thursday morning, Attorney Justin Bamberg spoke on behalf of the family of Ricky and Travis Price saying the the force used by the arresting officers was excessive.

“There’s no reason for the level of force we saw used in that video,” he said.

Authorities released information Wednesday about what they said happened.

The Rock Hill Police Department Violent Crimes Unit and agents with the Department of Homeland Security were conducting a surveillance operation on June 23rd, when at 1:56 p.m. they saw Ricky Price, a known offender, driving a black 2017 Mustang on Dave Lyle Boulevard. Ricky Price made an illegal turn and unlawfully changed lanes, which led to a traffic stop at the gas station on Willowbrook Avenue, police stated in a news release.

Price was talking with his brother on a cellphone in the car at the time of the stop, police said.

A K-9 unit was called to the scene to investigate the car for narcotics because of past encounters police have had with Ricky Price, Rock Hill police said. [No, not so fast Dependent Media: what about the so-called 4th Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches? Does that apply to citizens in their actions with cops? Did the police conduct here meet the Constitutional standard? According to the Supreme Court:

“The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings, and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.” [MORE]

In order to justify a search it must be based on “probable cause.” 'Probable cause' exists when the facts and circumstances within an officer's personal knowledge, and of which he has reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient in themselves to warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that ... in the case of a search, a specifically described item subject to seizure will be found in the place to be searched."

Courts have explained, an allegation that a person is “known” to the police or one based solely on “past encounters” is ‘but a bald an unilluminating assertion of suspicion that is entitled to no weight in appraising a decision to search without more. . . Just as a simple assertion of police suspicion is not itself a sufficient basis for a finding of probable cause, we do not believe it may be used to give additional weight to allegations that would otherwise be insufficient.’ [MORE] And we know the Constitution binds all of us because we all signed it right?

Officers found a 9 mm pistol and two bags of pot in the Mustang. Police later found a Crown Royal bag containing crack cocaine where he sat, police said. [hup Dependent Media, is probable cause a results oriented analysis? The Supremes have stated, "It is axiomatic that hindsight may not be employed in determining whether a prior arrest or search was made upon probable cause." If the action was taken without a warrant, the information to be considered is “the totality of facts” available to the officer at the time of the arrest or search.”

Here because the white cops have based their search solely on “previous encounters with Ricky Price” or that he “was known” they have failed to establish any actual facts that existed at the time of the search to support their search and therefore it unlawfully violated the 4th Amendment [in so far as such rights have any meaningful existence to Black people in the US]].

Officers started to search Ricky Price when his brother, Travis Price, got there and walked up to the scene, police said. [any specific, articulable reasons for the search Dependent media? just search a NHGR because].

Travis Price tried to interfere and get Ricky Price’s things but was told to stay back by police, according to the news release.

Travis Price bumped officers back with his body to get closer to his brother while yelling at them, police said. Officers pushed Travis Price against a large tank and told him to put his hands behind his back. Travis Price continued to not be in compliance, police said.

Officers and Travis Price started to struggle when he was taken to the ground.

At that time, the other officers collected [stole] jewelry from Ricky Price since he asked that his things be passed along to someone else on the scene.

Officers agreed, but when they took off Ricky Price’s cuffs, he tried to run and threw a few punches, police said. One struck an officer in the face, the news release stated.

The police K-9 was used as a display of force to gain compliance, while the handler maintained control of the dog. [lol, totally reasonable to put the dog near his face, watch the video]

Ricky Price continued to struggle with officers. He and several officers fell to the ground in the parking lot.

“One officer delivered several punches to Ricky’s upper thigh on the common peroneal nerve to gain compliance. The strikes had no effect and Ricky continued to resist. The officer then punched again, striking Ricky in the nose which caused him to bleed,” police said in the news release.

Officers took Ricky Price into custody while other officers handcuffed his brother.

About 100 people took to the streets Wednesday night in protest blocking the intersection of Dave Lyle Blvd and Black Street for several hours. They walked to the police department and at about 11 p.m. lit a fire surrounding a tree in front of the station. A police officer and the fire department arrived after the fire was lit.

Attorney Bamberg said the men shouldn’t be punished in the process of being arrested and it blows his mind that this keeps happening “to people who look like us.”

“It’s about the underlying principal of why time and time again we have to see this level of force used on people that look like us,” he said.

According to Bamberg, Ricky Price is in a wheelchair and has a broken nose.

Bamberg was joined by South Carolina Representative John King and members of the Rock Hill NAACP who called on the city to a thorough investigation into the officers’ actions.

The NAACP said it will make sure the incident is investigated and officers are held accountable. King said he believes the officers involved should be taken off the streets immediately or fired.

Bamberg condemned whoever set the fire at the police station during the protests Wednesday night and asked that all demonstrations remain peaceful.

Ricky Price was charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, carrying a pistol unlawfully, unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent offense, and resisting arrest.

Travis Price was put into a patrol vehicle and taken to the Rock Hill City Jail and was charged with hindering police. Ricky Price was denied bond Thursday while bond for Travis Price was granted.