It sounded almost uncannily like a replay of the brutal episode in Los Angeles that stirred national outrage, only this time the scene was Philadelphia - and this time the victim is dead.
Michael Grant, a 35-year-old black man, died within a half-hour after he was stopped by two white police officers for a traffic violation at a West Philadelphia intersection early Thursday morning. Four witnesses have said they saw Mr. Grant dragged from his car and given a savage, unprovoked beating.
But there is no videotape, and police have given a different version. Police Commissioner Willie Williams has said that Mr. Grant died after struggling violently with the two officers. Mr. Grant was reportedly sprayed with Mace to no effect - and there is evidence that the cause of death was a cocaine overdose.
Another difference between the Philadelphia and Los Angeles incidents is that Commissioner Williams, unlike Los Angeles police chief Daryl F. Gates, has made no attempt to minimize the episode. To his credit, Mr. Williams had publicly warned his force in the aftermath of the Los Angeles beating to refrain from the use of excessive force. And he has promised an investigation in which "nothing's going to be hidden."
At this point we will take him at his word. There is no need for a rush to judgment.
