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Police arrest man they say was walking down a JP street with a loaded gun; one witness questions the takedown

Boston Police report arresting a Dorchester man they charge was packing an illegal, loaded gun on Boylston Street in Jamaica Plain around 7:40 p.m. on Friday.

Police say officers on patrol spotted Osagie Mastin, 24, of Dorchester, "displaying clear indications that he may be armed with a firearm" as he walked near 150 Boylston St., near Amory Street:

When the officers approached and attempted to perform a pat frisk, a violent struggle ensued. The officers were eventually able to gain control of the suspect with assistance from additional responding units at which time officers safely recovered a loaded .380 caliber Hi-Point model CF380 handgun which had fallen to the ground during the struggle.

Police charged Mastin with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. His arrest comes about two years after he was arrested on similar gun charges in Roxbury.

Simon Purdue, who says he was walking down Boylston next to the guy, blasted what he called an insane display of police brutality - in a tweet that includes video of Mastin on the ground after he was stopped:

This guy was walking down the street beside me, minding his own business when he was ambushed by two cops. They stamped on his hand repeatedly and wouldn’t give him a chance to put his hands behind his back. ...

Despite the fact that we were there from start to finish the cops didn’t want ID or testimony. Nothing was dropped and CERTAINLY not a gun like the police claimed. We were right beside him when he was first ambushed and didn’t see or hear anything fall.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

BPD routinely arrests armed and angry guys without hurting them, let alone shooting them. It's an amazing commitment to training that other departments around the country should be following. Yet our new breed of activist sees a guy simply getting subdued and screams brutality. It's pitiful and their crying wolf will make it harder to address real abuses.

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I think I’ll trust the BPD who have taken thousands of guns off dangerous criminals and not Simon Purdue who has taken exactly zero.

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Twitter, it say a lot about he’s opinion and reliability.

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Was carrying a loaded gun, I’m all for apprehending him. That puts the entire community at risk.

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what was the “witness” packin

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We have two conflicting witness accounts, one of which says he was carrying a gun, and one of which says he wasn’t.

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The stranger walking nearby has no "account" of whether the guy had a gun or not, a guy who has a history of illegal carrying. If you think Boston cops carry around loaded guns to plant on people, I don't know how to help you.

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I don’t think BPD officers make a practice of carrying drop guns, but I would bet my house that there are a few members of the department— or of any department— who do.

My point was that in this particular case we have two conflicting witness accounts.

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I don't see stomping, 'stamping', insanity, or brutality. Assuming the guy really had a gun, I don't blame the cops one bit for calling extra backup and I don't understand what Mr Purdue is complaining about.

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Bio on Simon:

Profile:

Simon Purdue is a PhD candidate in World History at Northeastern University. His research focuses on the construction of gender on the far-right and the role of women in extreme-right paramilitaries in the USA, UK, and South Africa. He also specialises in the interconnected and global nature of far-right politics and culture, framing white supremacy as a world-historical issue. Simon has previously worked on policing and racism in the United States.

This is on the website of "Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right"

Just asking the average UHuber, do you believe he could be predisposed to believe what is seen in his video is police brutality based on his worldview, or his understanding of what he was witnessing?

I'll admit I do not believe he is an impartial witness.

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But not necessarily. I would suggest that none of us are impartial.
Many of us, raised in a patriarchal society, are also going to be predisposed to assume the police were doing the right thing.

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My point is to bring up the difference between unconscious bias and outright bias. Clearly Simon is overtly biased against the police so he immediately reported this as a police assault against an innocent. Because that's just what they do. In his world.

Most of us carry unconscious bias, which I hope is what you mean in your post. We should all work to uncover those thoughts and be aware of how it impacts our reactions to situations. That is very different from how Simon reacted here though.

If you are literal in your post then I would hope you advise any judge at the start of jury duty that you are a biased individual and cannot be an impartial juror in any case because of your predisposed position of believing or not believing people based on their color, job or other factor. My fear is many people are beginning to think the way you do and the structure of our republic is in danger.

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But not necessarily. I would suggest that none of us are impartial.
Many of us, raised in a patriarchal society, are also going to be predisposed to assume the police were doing the right thing.

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Oh good, I was hoping there would be another man explaining what my role as a woman is in the world. We are so grateful he is here to explain that to us!

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I don’t believe Simon’s account and am happy the police took a loaded gun off the street. Simon’s radical (no pun intended) use for hyperboles totally ruined any credibility on his behalf. What a joke.

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Cool opinion

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dude I don't know what you witnessed but I viewing someone resisting arrest and I don't care if he was black white Latino Asian whoever is under these officers are resisting arrest plain and simple

Fuck if he can breathe he's been accused of having a gun and he's a resistant he's lucky he didn't get shot.

good job Boston police officers and I'm glad you're going home.

find a witness and arrest him for slander.

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2. The right to bear arms shall not be infringed...

4. The right to be secure in your own person.

The theory...Respond to a citizen ( Resident ) complaint and after an investigation determine if someone is enjoying life, liberty, and happiness and defend their right to do so.

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What are those. Did the Police see the gun?

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You guys are a bunch of racist assholes, he had a cell phone not a gun, funny how supposedly they found the “gun” 20 min later.
Don’t act like some police don’t shoot ppl, are racist, liars and frame ppl all day!!!

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I’m quite sure they just saw this guy walking down the street and decided to throw him to the ground. Instead of trying to make it through their shift without any trouble, I’m sure they decided to put themselves in harm’s way and put their job at risk and jump this poor, unfortunate soul who was just walking along, minding his business.

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