Bill Maher says police victims should have #MeToo movement: 'Stop saying most cops are good

During HBO's "Real Time" Friday, host Bill Maher called for a #MeToo moment for those who have been victims of police and police brutality.

What did he say?

In his "New Rule" show segment, Maher went off in a rant against police brutality and rallied the troops to converge and create a #MeToo movement specifically tailored to those who have reportedly experienced police brutality, as well as those people who defend such purported actions.

During his nearly seven-minute monologue, Maher pointed to several cases in which police have appeared to use excessive force against citizens.

Maher said that police officers often “do a Riverdance on your skull and then when they’re putting you in the car they say ‘Watch your head.’”

“We need to stop saying most cops are good like we know that to be true,” Maher said. “I hope it’s true, but I need some evidence, unlike cops.”

Maher qualified his previous statement by saying, “The bad ones, not the good ones. Problem is we don’t really know what that percentage is. That’s the question I’m asking tonight – if so many cops are good, why are there so many videos of them being bad?”

What cases was he talking about?

One such case Maher pointed to was the arrest of 20-year-old Emily Weinman, who was punched on a Wildwood, New Jersey, beach after resisting arrest when police approached her on suspicion of having an open alcohol container on the beach.

“Seems to me, we need a #MeToo movement for police," Maher said of the incident. "Perhaps we should decide what should happen when two men pin a woman down in the sand and punch her in the face.”

Maher did not note that Weinman had reportedly assaulted police officers in addition to resisting arrest and had been charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at/on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction, and minor in possession of alcohol.

He also invoked several other viral stories, including the early June beating of a homeless man who repeatedly said, "I am not resisting."

“Just in the last month we’ve seen ‘just a few bad ones’ beating the suntan lotion off a skinny girl in a bikini, ‘completely atypical officers’ mercilessly wailing on a homeless guy in Oregon, and ‘totally non-representative policemen’ beating a black man in Arizona,” Maher said. “That’s a lot of videos of guys who barely exist doing s**t that hardly ever happens.”

Except he didn't mention that the homeless man that the cops "mercilessly" wailed on had been armed with a knife and had been continuously interfering with police during a search-and-rescue mission, according to USA Today.

Maher also went on to note that the "thin blue line" created an environment in which "coward" cops allowed brutality to occur and would often cover it up.

What about more screening for officers?

He added that law enforcement officials should spend more time vetting potential police officers prior to hire.

“We need better psychological screening to weed out the people who become cops as payback for high school,” Maher said. “The police attract bullies like the priesthood attracts pedophiles.”

(Content warning: Rough language):