by Brian A. Wilkins
4/12/2010


Rutland Police thug Michael Nesshoever has
resigned since the video surfaced. Photo
from Rutlandherlad.com.

It seems every New Year's Eve, a young, "black" man is either murdered or assaulted by police thugs somewhere in this country (see Oscar Grant). This past celebration of the new year is no different.

It was at Jilly's Bar on the early morning of January 1, when 26-year-old Mr. Jamek Hart apparently got a little too drunk  and started acting like drunk people do. According to the police report (which obviously must be taken with a grain of salt), Mr. Hart was outside the bar "flailing his arms" and "yelling" at police. View PDF HERE. Mr. Hart was handcuffed and placed in the back of the cop car, as the Rutland Police believed they had probable cause to arrest Mr. hart on disorderly conduct charges.

So far, everything appeared to be a regular, routine, New Year's Eve arrest, in a country that glorifies alcohol. It is what happened after Mr. Hart was taken to the cop shop which caught this website's attention, along with the ACLU's and several concerned Vermont citizens'.

First, watch a report from WPTZ Newschannel 5 in Burlington, VT.



Now watch the raw video of Rutland police thug Michael Nessover repeatedly shooting Mr. Hart, who was handcuffed and in a holding cell, with a pepperball gun.



Of course it took four months for the video to surface. Since the video has come to light, thug Nesshoever resigned from the police force after an investigation, since the video speaks for itself as far as what happened that night. Also, Mr. Hart has retained counsel to file civil claims against the City of Rutland, but the attorney he got, Mark Furlan, seems to simply want his cut of the inevitable settlement, as opposed to representing the young man. When asked about pending civil litigation, Furlan made sure to emphasize this is solely a civil case and insinuated that the acts of thug Nesshoever and the City of Rutland were not criminal.

But William Sorrell, the Attorney General for the State of Vermont, said that Nesshoever will in fact be the subject of a criminal investigation which he asked the State Police to conduct. Sorrell, who actually seems pretty sincere in his concern for the people of Vermont, when he told the Burlington Free Press, "I recognize that there may be a perception out there that there's a problem [with] rogue cops or cops who are not trustworthy."

We'll see if Sorrell is truly concerned with citizens or paying them lip-service in the near future. But judging from police throughout the state of Vermont, this "investigation," and many others are long overdue.

Rutland cop David Schauwecker (one of the cops who initially arrested Mr. Hart) is currently facing child pornography and malfeasance charges; former Vergennes (VT) Police Chief Michael Lowe plead guilty to felony fraud (fake prescriptions) and DUI in January; former Bellows Falls (VT) Police Chief John Dunfee was sentenced to probation in federal court last month for using taxpayer dollars for gambling; and former Vermont Police Academy training supervisor David McMullen committed suicide in January when reports surfaced that he had child pornography on his work computer.

Vermont is the seventh-smallest state in the USA and is second only to Wyoming as being the least populated (about 620,000 people). For this many of these disgusting incidents to be happening there obviously means the powers-that-be up there have allowed, encouraged, and rewarded this type of behavior from their law enforcement.

Mr. Hart posted bail in January and the charge of disorderly conduct is still pending in Rutland County Superior Court.