Chinese Diplomat beaten by Houston Police

[knloregon]

QUOTE(knloregon @ Apr 30 2010, 10:23 PM)

 

------ which lead to a logical conclusion----Mr. Yu's English perhaps, isn't entirely up to standards acceptable to the Houston police, and they used that as an excuse to rough him up. ------that, CLFers is how this relates to the new Arizona immigration law.

 

 

 

You mean speculative? And yes I still do not see the relation.

 

-----------

 

Ok, turnabout is fair play---as my op suggested----so if a US diplomat, without a rear license plate drives into the Consulate garage in GZ, the Chinese local police get to follow him in, force him face down to the concrete floor---push his face into it (probably where the injuries came from) ----and cuff him?? ---just want to be clear. Not seeing a lot of judicial thinking going on here..

 

And yeah, if this is ok with yuall, then I fear for the (legal) Chinese dishwasher in Arizona, on her way home from work after midnight ----without diplomatic immunity..

[chilton747]

QUOTE(knloregon @ Apr 30 2010, 10:23 PM)

 

------ which lead to a logical conclusion----Mr. Yu's English perhaps, isn't entirely up to standards acceptable to the Houston police, and they used that as an excuse to rough him up. ------that, CLFers is how this relates to the new Arizona immigration law.

 

 

 

You mean speculative? And yes I still do not see the relation.

 

-----------

 

Ok, turnabout is fair play---as my op suggested----so if a US diplomat, without a rear license plate drives into the Consulate garage in GZ, the Chinese local police get to follow him in, force him face down to the concrete floor---push his face into it (probably where the injuries came from) ----and cuff him?? ---just want to be clear. Not seeing a lot of judicial thinking going on here..

 

And yeah, if this is ok with yuall, then I fear for the (legal) Chinese dishwasher in Arizona, on her way home from work after midnight ----without diplomatic immunity..

 

I guess bottom line of what I am saying is that we weren't there, so we don't know what happened. As long as the Chinese dishwasher has his papers then all is well, right? Wouldn't this be the way in China as well?

[Randy W]

Having grown up in DC, I'm fully aware of the liberties the Consulate Corps from various nations take while in the US ------ but how do you go from being stopped for no plates to being---at the very least---manhandled and cuffed??? Its a mystery, and there is plenty of speculation here, based on what little has been released to the press.

 

But logic dictates that Mr. Yu didn't start his day with a car without license plates. (why would he??? He's ENTITLED to diplomatic plates) So what happened to them? Fair to say, no one here checks both license plates before they heads off to work. Hard to believe, as some have speculated here, that Mr. Yu DIDN"T immediately try to identify himself as a Consulate Corps member (and therefore, had complete immunity from this police action----I mean, WHO would be that stupid?? ) ------ which lead to a logical conclusion----Mr. Yu's English perhaps, isn't entirely up to standards acceptable to the Houston police, and they used that as an excuse to rough him up. ------that, CLFers is how this relates to the new Arizona immigration law.

 

 

Sorry, but, by Mr Yu himself, he ASSUMED that the front plate would be enough, and did not wait for the policeman to emerge from his patrol car.

 

Hard to believe that diplomatic immunity would be extended to anyone who simply CLAIMED to be a diplomat.

 

Just how stupid is he? I'm sure they'll find out.

 

Cops are REQUIRED to apprehend suspects who try to evade arrest

[knloregon]

Can't agree.

 

If a guy asserts diplomatic immunity, I believe the cops have to investigate before they start whalin' on the guy.

 

Particularly if he happens to be in the covered parking garage of the Consulate where he claims to be a member of the Consulate Corps...

 

DAH!

 

 

(btw, he could be driving with NO plates at all, and assert diplomatic immunity just fine, and expect to be exempt from that aspect of the local motor vehicle regulations.)

[Randy W]

Can't agree.

 

If a guy asserts diplomatic immunity, I believe the cops have to investigate before they start whalin' on the guy.

 

Particularly if he happens to be in the covered parking garage of the Consulate where he claims to be a member of the Consulate Corps...

 

DAH!

 

 

(btw, he could be driving with NO plates at all, and assert diplomatic immunity just fine, and expect to be exempt from that aspect of the local motor vehicle regulations.)

 

 

Or he could have found a church and claimed, "Sanctuary"?

[shenzhen]

"...As long as the Chinese dishwasher has his papers then all is well, right?.."

 

Papers? What papers?

 

He (she) is legally in the US as a Permanent Resident. Why should she need more than: Valid driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance?

Because it is a Federal law that a legal permanent resident carry their documentation of this at ALL times. Same in China.

[Smitty]

I'm going to have to go out on a limb here -

 

Since I have never been to Houston, I'm going to have to go by Randys comment that the consulate doesn't have a direct garage, and this sorta makes the basis for my iDeas regarding this event.

 

As per the article that Randy linked to, the driver pulled over when he noticed that the police car with flashing lights was following him. Good for him!

 

However, he decided that he could just drive off when he didn't see any action on the part of the police. Oh dear! Bad call number one! I would venture to guess that additional forces were on the way incase the driver of the plate-less car was a villain of vile nature.

 

At this point he is evading the police and since I didn't read about him pulling over again until reaching the garage, this is bad call number two.

 

Even I'm not stupid enough to think that leading police on a chase is going to result in anything nice happening to me, no matter what unmarked garage I pull into.

 

As a non diplomat, I know that if the police pull me over, I'm sitting in my car until I'm told I can go, not when I feel like it.

As a non diplomat I know that I need to have a rear plate, and that in some states front plates are optional, but most states they are required.

As a non diplomat, I know that pissing the police off means I get to kiss the concrete. I know that I get to kiss the concrete even if the police just have a suspicion that something might be up.

 

So while I'm not on either side yet, I'm thinking that the diplomat did one thing right in this series of events, and everything else was a major fnck up.

 

I sure at some point the videos from the cars will be out there, as I'm sure the consulate videos will be out there too!

[shenzhen]

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2010-05...ent_9800107.htm

 

China Daily write-up of the event. They way they wrote it up it sounds like he never even stopped the car and just tried to get into the garage. However they don't talk about beating, major injuries, etc. Seems rather tame.

[Michael]

The way I see it is that he should have not left the scene. But it still doesn't give the right to hit the guy. Bottom line is the cop should have got out of his car and responded. Chinese or not. They cop cannot hit you. This happens all over the place. Some cops should not be serving the police force. Got to think he did not have the right to enter the garage.

Now think of this. If this happened to American in China. How different are the rules. Cops do have the right apprehend suspects who try to evade arrest. But are not allowed to hit them. It was all on camera. So there for the cops did wrong.

[knloregon]

Michael, the cop can't even enter Consulate grounds without permission, much less try to arrest, or detain a foreign national.

 

Remember the rule of thumb: embassies and consulates are a little piece of foreign soil in the host country. I don't know if they still do it, since I haven't been to the US Consulate in GZ since 2002, but the US Marines used to always say: "Welcome home, sir" as I passed security.

[Smitty]

From news articles, and Randys comment, the consulate garage is not well marked, so how are they to know?

 

Now that all the officers have been giving lists of consulate addresses to memorize, I'm sure that all the consulate officers in Houston will breath easier...

[griz326]

I find it difficult - exceedingly difficult - to imagine that entrances to diplomatic properties are not well known by the police. ...and from the pictures of the garage entrance and the consulate building, they look to be connected to me...but that may just be the photographs.

 

A speedy and proper investigation is in order because there is clearly not enough information in the news stories to have much of an opinion.

[hakkamike]

Sort of a boring story here, it would be better if he would have taken a head shot before he made it home base.

[bullmastiff]

The police definitely made technical mistake . They are not allowed to enter Consulate or Embassy properties without permission. Whether they knew it or not is immaterial . It was their mistake . If you pass a stop light but you did not see it , you are still wrong and will be subject to fine. Laws should be a technical , not an emotional subject.

An apology from the Houston mayor is due in this case. Their employees made a mistake.

[Smitty]

There are approximately 78 consulates/foreign representatives in Houston, with an unknown number having different parking addresses from the main consulate.

 

Since it's more important for Houston police to memorize each address than to have a diplomat follow the law, I guess we know how Texas's tax dollars are being prioritized...

 

To take the devils advocate - If an unknown vehicle which is evading the police pulls into an barely indicated/unmarked consulate parking structure, should the police wait for the building to explode? Or just figure it is some dick with diplomatic immunity flaunting their defiance of the law and not worry about it?