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Last March, Houston, TX police chased down someone apparently guilty of a real crime — burglary — but the pursuit ended with the cops committing an even more serious crime than their suspect.

15-year-old Chad Holley was fleeing police, but was clipped by a police cruiser and took a dive. After falling, Holley laid himself on his stomach and put his hands behind his head to indicate that he was surrendering. But that didn’t stop the police from swarming him and subjecting him to an unbelievably brutal beating.

Immediately after Holley surrendered, one officer stomped on his head. Then three more officers joined in and repeatedly punched, kicked, and stomped on Holley’s head, torso, and legs. One officer even kicked Holley after he had been placed in handcuffs. In an interview with KVUE.com, Holley said that he blacked out during the beating.

The beating was captured by a nearby storage facility’s surveillance camera. The district attorney, mayor, police chief, and a federal judge all worked to prevent the video from being released for months supposedly because allowing the public to see it would prevent the officers from receiving a fair trial. ABC News was finally able to obtain a copy two weeks ago. You can see it for yourself below:

Raw video here

Holley filed a lawsuit last year against one the officers alleging that he suffered a brain injury as a result of the beating. He was convicted of burglary last October and sentenced to probation until his 18th birthday.

After the beating, the four officers who participated were given paid vacations and finally fired after a two month investigation. They were all charged with misdemeanor “official oppression.” They each face a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. ABC’s story insinuates that the officers should have been charged with assault instead, but considering the type and amount of force they used, I think it would have been more appropriate to charge them with attempted murder.

All four officers plead “not guilty” at an indictment. I imagine they’ll have difficult times explaining themselves when their trials roll around.

Yesterday, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said during a meeting with journalists that he is becoming concerned about people filming the police. “Officers are telling me that they’re being provoked.” McClelland said. “Even when they try to write a simple traffic ticket, people are jumping out with cell phone cameras scanning their badge numbers and their nametags. And I’ve asked them to remain calm and treat people with respect and dignity.”

McClelland said that this phenomenon, in conjunction with supposedly intensifying “anti-police rhetoric,” will lead to officers being attacked or killed. “This rhetoric can give someone a free pass to try to assault a police officer or kill a police officer, and I’m not going to allow that,” McClelland claimed. “My officers should be able to go out here and work in the neighborhoods and keep this city safe without fear and without hesitation.”

Something tells me that most people filming Houston cops aren’t trying to provoke or injure police so much as they’re trying to prevent a repeat of the Chad Holley beating. The four officers who beat Holley may have been fired, but this clearly isn’t a case of just a few bad apples. Several other officers were present when Holley was beaten, but none of them did anything to intervene. And the Chad Holley beating certainly isn’t the first or last time that Houston police have committed crimes.

Now that the Houston police know they’re being watched, maybe they’ll conduct themselves at least a little more appropriately in the future.