Matt Agorist writes on Alternet:

Orlando, FL — Ryan Richard Diaz and two of his friends were huddling under the corner of a parking garage last July, trying to get out of the rain, when they were approached by officer Michael Napolitano.

Officer Napolitano was allegedly responding to a call of some teens “smoking marijuana.” However, no marijuana would be found on any of those involved in Napolitano’s stop.

According to a lawsuit filed this week, when Napolitano arrived he became very aggressive which compelled Diaz’s friend, Mario Manzi, to begin film.

Napolitano became irate after seeing these teens practicing their 1st amendment right to film the police; so, he proceeded to violate their rights by stopping them.

As Napolitano attempted to grab the phone, the teens began passing the phone off to each other. This behavior infuriated the already raging Napolitano, so he then resorted to his only available tactic — violence.

Because the teens didn’t immediate prostrate themselves before his divine authority, Napolitano struck Diaz in the stomach with his knee multiple times and threw him to the ground. While on the ground, the video shows Napolitano continue to dole out blows to Diaz’s legs and head.

During the melee, you can hear Napolitano attempt to take the phone several times.

When told by one of the teens that he cannot take their phone, Napolitano answers, “You don’t understand how this works. When you are detained, you do not run the show.”

“You cannot grab my camera,” one of them then says.

Napolitano’s answer, “Yes, I can.”

The other two teens involved were then molested by Napolitano as he searched them for the non-existent plant.

The entirely unscathed Napolitano then accused Diaz of battery on a law enforcement officer and arrested him. Prosecutors dropped the battery charges but, unfortunately, they held a lesser charge of resisting arrest without violence in October.

Diaz and his friends had committed no crime, they had harmed no one, yet they were subject to state-sponsored violence and harassment because a cop claimed to have “smelled marijuana.”

“This kid is 5-6, 130 pounds, and his only crime is being at the wrong place at the wrong time and trying to video-record a police officer,” said his attorney, J. Marc Jones.

Unsurprisingly, officer Napolitano faced no punishment and, in fact, received support from his superiors for his actions.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, police Cpl. Joseph Catanzaro reviewed video of what happened, talked to Diaz and his friends and concluded that Napolitano’s use of force was justified.

The video below shows a symptom of much larger sickness in America today. The state is addicted to controlling what individuals can and can’t put into their own bodies. In an ostensible attempt to protect individuals from themselves, the state will kidnap, cage, and kill you — for your own good.

If you are truly concerned about reducing the level of brutality among American cops, you cannot be taken seriously unless you address the war on drugs.