Though he refused to accept money, what Ochse is doing is referred to as busking. According to Wikipedia, "Busking cannot be prohibited in an area where other forms of free speech are not prohibited. For example, if busking is regulated or banned but people are allowed to conduct free speech behavior for pickets, protests, religious, political, educational, sports, commercial or other purposes, then the law is illegal."
Since other forms of speech are permitted along the Arts Walk and Hamilton Street, Ochs' civil rights were violated.
It makes you sick reading stories like this about our own community. You see it in the news, and you think to yourself, "luckily, stuff like this doesn't happen. Our community is different." But as it turns out it is no different. This is the second case this month I've seen of Allentown police violating the rights of residents, I hope it doesn't become a trend. Better training is needed for these so called officers.
ReplyDeleteIt's the "City With No Limits!"
ReplyDeleteWhat part don't you get?
Let us see what a real attorney will make of this. We all know about you, your limitations and your hatred of anything successful.
ReplyDeleteSo the patrons of Shulas have to sit there and listen to this guy disrupt their dinner? At least you have disorderly conduct. Granted how the officer reacted could have been different but if you see the guys history, not too long ago he bit an APD officer in their 10th st station. So maybe this officer was fully aware of what the singer has done in the past.
ReplyDeleteThat section is not public property, never was. It was formerly an empty lot and a building before the Corporate Plaza sinkhole. Check into it.
ReplyDeleteA brilliant scam to generate cash, that's all.
ReplyDeleteIt is, after all, the NIZ --- Home of The Pawlowski Barons, Land of Free Money.
I bet they didn't have this problem at promenade shops.
ReplyDelete^^^ I am not a lawyer, or even a disbarred one as you put it. I am a veteran that has seen at what cost was given to get our rights. With that being said, YES this is a 1st Amendment issue!
ReplyDeleteO'Hare, your description of "body slam" just shows how patently wrong you are, and what your agenda is. Look at the video. This guy was not lifted into the air and body slammed. He was lowered to the ground while actively resisting arrest, after the officer attempted to cuff him while standing. He resisted, and was put on the ground, properly. He was not beaten, or abused at all. Try police academy before rendering your expert opinions.
ReplyDelete12:09:
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that it is appropriate for an officer to handle a situation like this with the action that is shown in the video? Do you really feel that this force was appropriate? Officers are supposedly trained in the " continuum of force" which should be taught in the academy. http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/officer-safety/use-of-force/pages/continuum.aspx
To me, no matter how annoying the person was, despite whether this is a public space or not, regardless of whether he is a good singer or not, this take down was quite unnecessary and proper procedures were not followed.
VOR
so you are a police brutality specialist, and a member of the APD internal investigation staff? Moron. A complaint was made. Police responded. He fought, he resisted, and he was removed. Period. He wasn't punched, kicked, tased or shot. He was arrested for failing to obey commands, and appropriately escorted from the area without injury.
ReplyDeleteOnly a money hungry loser would scream police brutality. It was a set up and a scam and everyone knows it.
Maybe the perp was poluting the air with his breath. How many people would not call the cops if someone was on a public sidewalk in front of their home singing?
ReplyDelete8:20 Corporate Plaza was ACROSS the street from here
ReplyDeleteRead the first amendment. It's not too long and does not have any big words. What this man was doing is constitutionally protected. Had he been in a residential neighborhood city council would have the right to regulate his behavior. But this is a mixed use area. People who move into an urban environment have to expect urban behavior, just as people who move next to a farm should expect to smell cow shit. Incidentally, that's what you've been heaping here, over and over.
ReplyDelete"O'Hare, your description of "body slam" just shows how patently wrong you are"
ReplyDeleteIt was clearly a body slam and a completely unnecessary use of force.
" What a trainwreck. You are so blinded by hatred and jealousy you do not even see how crazy you are. "
ReplyDeleteI think we all can see ho is blinded by hatred and jealousy and who is crazy. Mezzacappa, you are not supposed to be on this blog.
Read the First amendment. Like all the amendments, there are limitations. Some drunk screaming in your face on private property demanding money crosses the line. You provably forgot that from when you had a lawyer job.
ReplyDeleteYour overwrought emotional hatred of Pawlowski has always clouded your judgment. of course that is the case with all your posts.
I think I've met this guy. He is very sweet. Obviously, he has some screws loose. But, he's clearly not a danger to anyone (in this situation) and did not deserve the treatment he received. There were other, more delicate, ways of handling his disruptive behavior.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very bad for the APD AND it's very bad for Shula's and surrounding restaurants. Clearly, this particular officer does not have a handle on managing run-of-the-mill crazy people - how is he going to react during an actual crime?? Plain and simple: I don't trust this cop's instincts.
Maybe some other people didn't trust this cop's instincts? This does seem like a set-up to me.
your confused again. A mixed use area is a zoning term and doesn't nix half the crimes code moron. keep sipping the vodka.
ReplyDeletetreat him delicately? Hes a violent unstable criminal with a history of biting police offers. Too bad they did not attach a face mask during the arrest.
ReplyDelete1:52, I think we all can see where the "overwrought emotional hatred" is coming from. Had this happpenede in Bethlehem, Easton or Nazareth, my reaction would be the same. But it happened in Allentown and is obviously part of the gentrification process. There is no evidence that this fellow screamed in anyone's face or was demanding money. In fact, the evidence is that he turned money down. All people have the right to be annoying, not just you.
ReplyDeleteYour ridiculous claim of a "body slam" is made up. The nur job was resisting arrest and practically pulled the officer on top of him. He kept trying to face the officer rather than submitting to restraint. If there was no just cause to arrest, that will come out during arraignment. You do not know the whole story. Your hatred of cops in general, and Allentown in particular is clouding your judgement. You have jumped to conclusions that fit your provocative agenda.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who watchesd that video can observe Ochse being taken from behind, twisted around and taken to the ground. That is a body slam. What's more, the officer, just had to dig his knee into Ochse' kidney, which could be life-threateneing. His use of force was clearly disproportionately, just like your own defense of the indefensible.
ReplyDeleteYou see what you want to see Bernie. Others see it differently. The guy was resisting arrest and caught the cop off balance. Even then he kept trying to twist to face the officer. That is what internal investigators, judges and jurors will see.
ReplyDeleteProgressive Liberals looking for free money, as usual.
ReplyDeleteHard-working Taxpayer is the one who gets screwed after the APD lose the lawsuit.
Thanks!
he used to be a runner until he was hit by a bus. he's obviously suffered head trauma. it's a sad story. the police officers response was uncalled for. even if he needed restraint, slamming him to the ground was beyond excessive. the guy has trouble walking and often uses a cane. hardly a formidable foe.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to hear about his accident. I may have met him, many years ago.
ReplyDeleteSame guy?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-empire-state-building-run-up-02032015-20150203-story.html
Yes.
ReplyDeleteNo right to intrude on people. No right to harass people and pretend you are singing.
ReplyDeletePolice followed proper procedure. The guy resisted and was subdued. Noting to see here.
Had he been harassing people, charges would be justified. But your assertion is contradicted both by the videos and the numerous people who have chimed in and said nice things about this gentleman. His real offense was being different, and we can't have that in gentrified Allentown.
ReplyDeleteLets see how many armchair warriors come to his defense when he has to answer the charges in court. Sort of like your 'online petition' to Fire Trachta.....howd' it work out?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure people will be lining up at the hearing to tell the judge how 'nice' he is. ROFLMAO
That worked out well. Trachta has lost most of his power and that is thanks in large part to the number of people who signed. of course, he still needs to go, like you need mental help.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteO'Hare, your description of "body slam" just shows how patently wrong you are, and what your agenda is. Look at the video. This guy was not lifted into the air and body slammed. He was lowered to the ground while actively resisting arrest, after the officer attempted to cuff him while standing. He resisted, and was put on the ground, properly. He was not beaten, or abused at all. Try police academy before rendering your expert opinions.
That's the problem. The police academy is giving these guys the license to violently assault a citizen who is not acting violent or threatening and whose "crime" does not warrant arrest at all. This officer could not devise a way to get this man to move along in any other way? It took him about 15 seconds to go from conversation to inflicting unnecessary harm.
I'm all for officers using these techniques on dangerous individuals. I'm doubting this guy was dangerous.
Given his age and the fact that he appeared to be complying with the officer's illegal order, I believe the officer used excessive force. Where on the continuum of force is this kind of behavior justified. The knee digging into this person's kidney could have killed him.
ReplyDeleteso you are a police brutality specialist, and a member of the APD internal investigation staff? Moron. A complaint was made. Police responded. He fought, he resisted, and he was removed. Period. He wasn't punched, kicked, tased or shot. He was arrested for failing to obey commands, and appropriately escorted from the area without injury.
ReplyDeleteOnly a money hungry loser would scream police brutality. It was a set up and a scam and everyone knows it.
Please. If that was "resisting arrest" then cops could brutally assault any citizen for merely pleading their case. Get a club, Columbo.
1:52, I think we all can see where the "overwrought emotional hatred" is coming from. Had this happpenede in Bethlehem, Easton or Nazareth, my reaction would be the same. But it happened in Allentown and is obviously part of the gentrification process. There is no evidence that this fellow screamed in anyone's face or was demanding money. In fact, the evidence is that he turned money down. All people have the right to be annoying, not just you.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the overuse of force but turning this into some systematic order of brutality for "gentrification" is a stretch. Now moving people along? That's part of the gentrification process - sort of. I mean, in 1979, we used to get "moved along" by the APD when hanging around Hamilton Street after business hours.
This is part of the gentrification process, in my view. It's not overt, but its there. The security guards are at Starata so that suburbanites can feel safe, and the goal is to push anything out that is different. Poor is different. Minority is different. An odd person is different. They interfere with the "dining experience."
ReplyDeleteYou could say the same thing about nice parts of Manhattan or Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The questionable characters are there but they can't be hanging around. Keep moving. That's what they used to tell us as teenagers.
ReplyDeleteAnd when they did, they violated your first amendment rights. Just three months ago, an unanimous Supreme Court handed down a decision that negates nearly every vagrancy or busking law on the books. Singing, incidentally, is regarded as artistic speech. It can be regulated but can not be banned.
ReplyDeleteWell as predicted vulture Orloski is now representing this nut job. I would take what you provocatively describe as a "body slam" any day of the week to get paid a sweet settlement. Sure beats working for a living! This guy is just an attention seeker and a deadbeat looking for a handout. Now he will get one from Allentown's insurance company. This was all about money from the start. Pretty soon the guy will be sitting pretty, dining on filet at Shula's.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of working for aliving, you must have lost another job, Mezzacapppa. You are spending all your time here, spewing your venom. Stay off this blog.
ReplyDelete