The YouTube video capturing a Seattle police officer punching a young woman this week quickly circulated around the Internet, and the event has become a national news story.
It’s not a pretty sight; no one wants to see a 17-year-old girl get socked by a cop. However, I would have to say that these girls were in the wrong. Officer Ian Walsh was simply doing his job when he stopped the group of four women who were jaywalking on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, about to give them tickets. One of the girls, 19-year-old Marilyn Levias, started to walk away, ignoring Walsh. He went after her, only to be pushed around by Levias’ 17-year-old friend, Angel Rosenthal. To maintain control of the situation, as there was a crowd of people gathering around — who knows what could have happened — Walsh struck Rosenthal in the face, and arrested the two girls.
When you watch the video, you can hear, “Seriously?” from one of the onlookers. Yes, seriously. These two girls were disrespecting Walsh, one of them trying to assault him. They were completely amiss.
Cops go through hell every day. They have to face people with knives, guns and bad attitudes, like the ones these girls displayed. How many people in America can say they go to work wearing a bulletproof vest, with the possibility of not coming home? Cops put their lives on the line every day. The job of the police force is to protect and serve, and Ian Walsh was doing just that when he stopped these young ladies.
Jaywalking is against the law, even if it’s not seen as a big deal. Levias and Rosenthal deserved a ticket. If Levias had simply listened to Walsh and accepted the ticket, her friend’s face wouldn’t be black and blue, and they’d have been on their merry way. Walsh could have been a lot more forceful in this situation — he could have used his club, his mace, his taser, or his baton. He didn’t, and I commend him for that. He was extremely restrained in the situation. The only foul language and abuse we see is performed by Levias and Rosenthal.
Does anybody recall the shooting of four police officers in Lakewood last November? The last thing we need is another cop tragedy. The punch was an act of discipline that Rosenthal clearly needed. One lesson we can all take away from this is that you never touch a cop, and you don’t bad-mouth them. I hope the girls learned it.
They could have posed a serious threat to Walsh’s safety, and he did the right thing in detaining them. I only hope that the South Seattle community doesn’t crucify Walsh for simply doing his job.
Abigail Dambacher, Federal Way
