Video Showing Dancing Polynesian Men Getting Pepper Sprayed Causes Police Investigation
- Posted on October 24, 2011 at 7:45am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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A police officer is shown confronting a group of Polynesian men performing a traditional dance. (Photo: The Desert News)
ROOSEVELT, Utah (The Blaze/AP) — Police in a small Utah town are being accused of overreacting after using pepper spray to break up a group of Polynesian men and boys performing a traditional dance called the Haka after a high school football game.
The police action came after a pair of officers unsuccessfully attempted to disperse the dozen or so performers who were blocking an exit after the Union-Uintah game Thursday night, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“The cops were yelling, ‘Make a hole! Make a hole!’ But the coaches, the players, family members were saying, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK, Let them do it,’” she said one of the wives of the men, who asked not to be identified. “It was continual spraying and spraying.”
Video posted on YouTube shows what happened:
A form of the Haka has been popularized by rugby players in New Zealand who chant, beat their chests and gesture aggressively before matches. The Maori tradition also can include fierce facial expressions. Haka are now performed at football and rugby games around the world. You can watch the All Blacks perform it below:
The group in Roosevelt, a town of 8,000, had traveled about 125 miles east from the Salt Lake City area to watch a relative play his final game for Union, which lost to rival Uintah and finished the season without a victory.
The group reportedly was trying to boost Union’s morale with the Haka as the players left the field.
Spectators, coaches and players told police that everything was fine and they should let the men perform, Jessica Rasmussen said, but officers asked them to make room and started using pepper spray.
Rasmussen said she and other bystanders also got spray in their eyes, ears and mouths.
Union fan Jason Kelly said the way police reacted was an embarrassment to the community of Roosevelt.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kelly said. “It was totally unprovoked.”
Police said the incident is under investigation, and anyone wanting to lodge a complaint should contact the department.
Police said many people in the crowd knew the group was going to dance, but the two officers and others didn’t.
Spectator Shawn Mitchell said while he didn’t view the dancers as a threat, the impromptu performance might have played a role in how police responded.
“If they’re going to do something like (the Haka), maybe some planning could be done ahead of time,” he said.
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Comments (82)
Boblabla
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:38amAgree 100%!
Report Post »American_Made
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:28amI guess you are no longer free to dance. I sure did not see anything to warrant the actions taken by the police. I think we have a clear issue in this country where the police are becoming quite overbearing. I think it is time to make them police again and take away all their high dollar SWAT toys. Gives them a big fat head.
Report Post »Black Eagle
Posted on October 25, 2011 at 4:40pmThere is no more public sanity. The public is insane, especially in mobs and groups. The cops are also insane, and can’t seem to remember they are public servants, and are too damned quick to pull the gun or spray, etc. We had a guy near my town who was shot 35 times by 19 different cops, simply because he refused their orders. They “thought he had a weapon”, of course, naturally, but the insanity of their actions was how 19 different cops blasted away at that poor slob even after he fell on the ground. Several reloaded new clips and blasted away even more. Not one was reprimanded. It was the “fault of the assailant” — like an unarmed man was assaulting the cops merely for telling them to buzz off. I tell you, the human race — cops, criminals, and ordinary people — are simply out of their minds, especially when gathered together in groups.
Report Post »mcFirst
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:06amsports and haka dance should not be mixed.
The NFL would be fining anyone trying that and rightly so.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 11:41amthis isn’t the National Fruit League. this is a real sport. look it up.
Report Post »BetterNTexas
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:00amI would be very surprised if these police officers didn’t know the Haka. Not only is there a large Polynesian population in Utah, it was made famous in Utah by a movie about a rugby team from Utah. It’s a great movie–Forever Strong. It’s not just about putting on your war face–it’s about unity and coming together as a team, etc.
However, I do have to add that having played against Polynesian teams I can see why police would be nervous. The article says their team lost. In my experience, relatives/parents of Polynesian team members can get very emotional and sometimes lose control of those emotions. Of course, that can apply to anyone. But if you’ve never seen a Polynesian parent go nuts after a tough loss, well, let‘s just say they’re fierce and pretty scary! They can go from these loving, wonderful people to ferocious in the space of a heartbeat. If these police officers have witnessed that transformation, I can see why they would be nervous. There‘s not enough info in the story to really know what was in the officers’ minds. I tend to think they over-reacted. But there may be more to the story.
Report Post »caladesi
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:35amIf that isn’t threatening to the police, I don’t know what is!
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:57amI can’t believe how willing people are to accept jackbooted thuggery by these so-called peace officers.
They’re days are numbered. I hope they continue to abuse the public so the public will turn against them. Then there will be no escaping. We have them surrounded.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 11:42ameverybody sleeps. ;)
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 12:27pmThe police were thugs and didn’t bother to flesh out the situation before resorting to violence. Yes, pepper spray is violence. People who accept this behavior from our police are sheep waiting for the slaughter.
Report Post »SeanW
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 2:45pmWow you are truly a scary individual. “First they came…”
Remember those words when they come for you.
Report Post »whitaker
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:34amCant see what happened to the second officer off camera. So there is no way for us to say what would cause him to spray the crowd.
Report Post »Badmancomith
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:29amNot a good idea to yell and scream at a cop. Next time try pouring gas on a fire.
Report Post »SeanW
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 2:47pmIt is not illegal to yell at a cop, it is not illegal to dance and sing. To hell with the Gestapo and all of their supporters.
Report Post »Dirty Harry
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:20amCops with shaved heads are a good clue as to their militaristic mindset. They see their job, not as peace officers, but as enforcers, heavies, bouncers.
Report Post »Boblabla
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:34amYou have got to be kidding me with this crap!
Report Post »Dirty Harry
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 12:17pmKidding? Hardly. I trained cops for many years, I think I have a pretty good handle on how they tick. Twenty five percent of them are great – the other 75% are adrenelin junkies who habitually abuse citizens’ rights, and see every person they meet as a suspect.
Report Post »lthm
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 3:02pmYou’re absolutely correct, Harry.
I’ve known several police officers who are good people outside of their law enforcement role. They freely (and independently of each other) volunteer that any cop who says he or she got into law enforcement to help or protect people is lying. Cops get into law enforcement to play with the cool toys, drive fast, and shoot things.
There is one retired officer I know who currently runs a large police training facility is proud of the fact that the local police force still invites him out on some drug enforcement raids, and he looks forward to it, because in his experience he’ll get to shoot something living every time. Their standard procedure here is to kill dogs when they do a raid, regardless of actual threat from the dogs, and he says virtually every house he’s raided for drugs has dogs.
Making matters worse is the fact that police forces around the US are no longer in the business of protection, but are becoming paramilitary organizations for brutal enforcement and unparalleled privacy violation while acting above the law themselves.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:15amRule #1-You do what the police say or suffer the consequences.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:42amI agree with you in an one-on-one encounter. Here the crowd was telling the police to stand down according to the article. I thought the police were supposed to evaluate a situation and then respond. These ‘dancers’ were in an exit being watched by the crowd, which asked/told the officers to back off. Which were these officers: enforcers or servants?
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 11:46amdon’t bite the hand that feeds you…
Report Post »Dirty Harry
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 1:33pm“When our government (police) fear citizens, you have liberty. When the citizens fear government, you have tyranny.”
Report Post »ToddinVB
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:01amI think if someone saw ME dance, they’d want to spray me too.
Report Post »Sloburn
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:57amOne time I had a representative from Honda in my car and we were traveling from the factory where he had inspected one of our machines to the hotel. We went over a bridge in Jax right next to the Toyota docks, when I pointed it out to him he showed his war face.
The other people in the car could not believe he could make a face like that. It was really something to see, especially from a normally very nice and shy man.
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:46amthis bs getting dam old quick…
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:59amwhen the police tell you to move, then move. Easy way not to get pepper sprayed.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:15amRangerp, Exactly right! Move! Dance over there Hula Boy!
Report Post »Black Eagle
Posted on October 25, 2011 at 4:51pmThose who have such unqualified support for the cops should consider why it is that they can’t find the heroin dealers, but your 14 year old kid or neighbor can do so in 5 minutes. Some cops are good, some are bad, and it may be as much as 50% in some regions. Mayor Lindsey in NYC had a special commission which found that not ONE NYC cop could be found who refused a bribe to ignore small violations. Remember Serpico. Cops help bring in drugs to the inner city, and help illegals across the border, with tons of drugs. Florida had it so bad that up to a third of the Dade County force had been indicted, suspended or fired for involvement in the drug trade. The Los Angeles cops had a murder-for-hire ring going, and don’t even get me started on the Chicago cops. And too many honest cops also have take up the “omerta” code of silence like the Mafia, to never inform on their fellow cops. I wish it were otherwise, but it aint. Given enough bribery, they will go over to support the OWS mobs, and we will then have a new communist state, with paid enforcers and a new American Red Army. Dangerous times. Keep your powder dry.
Report Post »standuppeople
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:46amPolice officers do not know the intent of anyone. Any situation can go bad at anytime.
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:39amOoooogh, the forbidden dance.
Report Post »robert
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:51am“Union fan Jason Kelly said the way police reacted was an embarrassment to the community of Roosevelt.’
The real embarass ment was the way these primitives acted, grimacing, grunting, growling, etc., while they blocked the exit and refuse to disperse.
I’m not positive, but I think this is a pre-fight ritual their tribe has performed prior to battle. If that’s true, they were probably trying to skew up their courage before getting violent.
I’m sick to death of reading about how these third world hordes misbehave, then allotted victim status by the radical leftists in the press.
Report Post »PingPongPing
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:35amthey make their faces ugly to intimidate as part of the dance performance. After they were pepper sprayed, nobody could tell the difference…. LOL
Report Post »Tickdog
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:34amlol
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:30amI think they’re both at fault. The police reacted as if it was an Occupy Wall Street demonstration. The dancers should have picked a different place to dance. I personally think the dance is great. They do it to intimidate their opponents, so the uglier the face, the better.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:23amHow were the police supposed to know what they were doing? How many Utah cops have seen a polynesian war dance? They didn’t get sprayed for dancing anyway, they got sprayed for forcibly blocking the exit. I’m guessing the cops had no idea what they were doing, I sure wouldn’t have.
Report Post »NewLife56
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:22amBlocking Exits? If I wanted to exit, I’d just kick some balls, they would move
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:34amHeh heh heh….. true that.
Report Post »cyclops
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 1:35pmHahahahahahaha……Excellent one…….
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:18am.
Looks like a disgruntled union member. Sometimes the cops are the problem………..
Just because you get to carry your weiner on your hip. Don’t mean you have to use it…….
Report Post »Boblabla
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:38amSaid like someone that has a lil one.
Report Post »bigfatslob
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:13amNO BLOCKING EXITS FROM PUBLIC EVENTS ! What if these fools were blocking the exits when someone ill need to leave or worse ? If they want to “Dance” go to some onscure corner and do it and NOT on the sideline exit ! The arrogance of holding people “hostage” to their performance is absolutely irresponsible.
Report Post »crusaderinsc
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:11amObviously, if you’d like to dance, you should call your local PD and apply for the appropriate licenses and permits, pay the appropriate fees, and jump through the appropriate hoops.
cheerleaders should be regularly peppersprayed as well. who knows when one of those dangerous pyramid things comes crashing down, resulting in deaths and injurys, and i believe joe biden will back me up here, rapes and murderss!
and dont get me started on outlawing batons! its for the children!
pitiful.
Report Post »lastoftheamericans
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:59amYour a friggin MORON! They used thier mob to block the ONLY exit as everyone was leaving, turned to the police and made agressive actions!! If they were “cheerleaders” then why not move 10 feet over to the side so the exiting patrons could see them as they exited? BECAUSE THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ORDER AND CIVILITY!! DAMN EVERYONE ELSE WE ARE GOING TO DO WHAT WE WANT!?!? THEY WANTED TO INTIMIDATE AND THEY DID IT! Then they had to pay a price. The same lame excuse of,, I ran, resisted, and cussed out the officer then claim police brutality.
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:11amFire the incompetent morons.
Report Post »lastoftheamericans
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:00amThe dancers? They were the only morons there!
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 9:47amYou know nothing about Polynesian/Hawaiian rituals. As far as I could tell from the video the kids were not blocking or intimidating anyone.
Report Post »By the way Hawaiians are Americans too and good ones.
Ookspay
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 3:34pmNo one knows what it’s like to be hated,
Report Post »to be fated,
to telling only lies… BEHIND BLUE EYES
grudgywoof
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:05amWhy do people not listen anymore. Go do your dance….I love it but not when an officer asks you to move then MOVE. They are lucky they didn’t get arrested for obstructing. Lack of respect for the police officer IMO. It’s just pepper spray it washes off.
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:15amThat‘s one of the stupidest comments I’ve read in a long time.
Report Post »SingerGuy
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:39amHave you ever performed a haka? I have, many times. They are LOUD, and they require intense concentration. If I was with a large group performing a haka, and a single police officer was asking us to move, I doubt I’d hear it. Also, the haka is only about 45 seconds long. Those of you commenting here who think the group was somehow blocking people don‘t know what you’re talking about. The logistics at this stadium are such that there wasn’t really any other place for the group to do this. Haka’s are not uncommon at sporting events in Utah due to the large Polynesian population here. The police were being buttheads and should be reprimanded. There’s no way this called for pepper spraying the crowd.
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:39amdam ignorant comment
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:47amIt’s just pepper spray. It can get in the hole at the end of ya tallywaker and makes ya break some new moves. I like mustard gas myself.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:18am“It’s just pepper spray it washes off.”
Great, let’s douse you in some and then say “Hey, it’s just pepper sprays” as you scream and writhe on the ground!
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 1:48pm@singerguy. I lived in Hawaii for many years, the only Haoles doing the Haka are mahoo. 90% of Hawaiians hate all Haoles, especially mahoos. Very bigoted race of people. Did you know that the Hawaiians committed total genocide on the original occupants of the islands?
Report Post »SingerGuy
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 3:12pm@Ookspay, what does Hawaii have to do with a New Zealand haka? When I lived in New Zealand I saw lots of Pakehas learn how to do the haka and it had nothing to do with their sexual orientation.
Report Post »Ferrarello
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 7:59amWhere do you go for employment when you are a sadistic pig too stupid to go to dental school ? Yep….law enforcement.
Report Post »grudgywoof
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:07amGo back to your occupy wall street rally Commy
Report Post »honeybadger
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:19amWhere do you go when you have racked up a bunch of credit card debit, lived beyond your means, took out school loans to get a degree in something not marketable, obtained an adjustable mortgage on a home you could not afford, and instead of blaming the person in the mirror you feel the need to blame someone else. Yep, Wall St.
Report Post »pmacres
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 8:43amwere there shoes for awhile, I agree a little over top,
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on October 24, 2011 at 7:51amA bit over the top.
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