Chicago Police Take "Trophy" Photo with Arrested University of Pittsburgh Student at G-20 Summit

October 15, 2009 by david meieran

On Friday evening, September 25, 2009, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) campus was the setting for a massive police riot involving numerous law enforcement agencies from across the country - and this after the G-20 Summit had already ended. Police beat, gassed, blasted and arrested more than 100 people, including Pitt student Kyle Kramer, who the Chicago Police forced to kneel in front of police for an "trophy" photograph. The Chicago Police Department is now investigating the officers who were involved with the incident.

The Chicago Police "trophy photo" calls to mind the the shocking Abu Ghraib "trophy photos" that met with widespread criticism, even from the Bush administration.

While Kyle Kramer was not subject to the same degree of humiliation, the underlying amorality in both the Kramer and the Abu Ghraib photos is the same: both stem of a demonization of the "other" and dehumanization that was instilled in the officers by higher-ups. Just as the Abu Ghraib MPD's equated "Iraqi Muslim = terrorist," so too did the Chicago Police (and the many other law enforcement agencies that played a role in the friday police riot at Pitt) equated "young white protestor = terrorist." In both cases the police felt the object of their custody was less-than-human and hence they appear to have little qualms about engaging in degrading treatment of their prisoners - in clear violation of the 1985 United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment:

“... any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."

Note: the original video was removed by YouTube for unknown reasons. But it's now available on the G20media YouTube account. Watch now:

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