"This is not just jabs, they are hooks. Those are lights-out punches. Those aren’t like taps. You see it, you heard it. It was like ‘thump, thump, thump’ and then you see her head bouncing ‘bam, bam’ on the concrete. Then you hear her screaming, ‘No, don’t, stop.’ Then you even—at the end where she has her hands up like this—when it’s clear there is no more resistance, he takes another four or five shots."

That's how motorist David Diaz described the incident he recorded with his phone of a homeless African American woman being beaten by a white California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer alongside a Southern California highway.

The assault—which has generated millions of hits on YouTube and elsewhere—has prompted protests seeking justice, politicians demanding a federal inquiry, threats of lawsuits, and outrage against the CHP. The reaction virtually aligns with what happened in the immediate aftermath of the taped beating of Rodney King in 1991, when King's attack by Los Angeles Police Department officers went viral via a different means: the television.

"This type of police brutality happens too often with African-Americans and we have seen it time and time again," Rep. Maxine Waters, the Democratic congresswoman from Los Angeles, said Thursday. Waters described the incident as a "brutal attack" and said "there is nothing that can justify the officer punching a helpless woman on a freeway."

Marlene Pinnock, 51, remains hospitalized and under a psychiatric hold following the July 1 beating. The unidentified officer has been removed from the field, and both the CHP and local prosecutors are investigating.

Pinnock was taped walking barefoot alongside the 10 Freeway by the La Brea exit. The CHP said its officer followed the woman to prevent her from walking into traffic.

The officer ordered Pinnock to stop, according to a CHP document. Repeatedly, she ignored those commands, and then began walking "against the flow of traffic and into the traffic lanes," the document said according to a Los Angeles Times report.

An off-duty policeman helped the officer subdue the woman after the CHP officer wearing black gloves punched Pinnock at least nine times in the face.

Joe Farrow, the CHP commissioner, met with activists earlier this week and said "This is one of the most significant events of my 34-year career that I've ever dealt with."

Attorneys, too, have rushed to the injured woman's side. They include John Burris, who represented King in his civil suit, and Caree Harper, a former police officer turned attorney. "The officer started writing the lawsuit the minute his fist started hitting Ms. Marlene," Harper said. "The lawsuit is only a matter of time, you can be certain of that."

The filming of police is a controversial issue in many states, where there's ongoing litigation (for instance, a federal appeals court upheld the right to film in New Hampshire as recently as May). But in California, Diaz's recording was legal because he didn't get in the officer's way.

Flashback to 1991, the year when the four officers involved in King's beating were captured on film by George Holliday and eventually charged in state court. They avoided conviction on assault and excessive force allegations the following year. The outcome prompted the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The federal government stepped in, charging the officers on federal civil rights violations. Two officers were found guilty and two were acquitted in 1993.

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