CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Outgoing Canberra Raiders star Jack Wighton and his cousin Latrell Mitchell have been cleared of all charges levelled against them by the ACT cops, after it was revealed the most senior police officer involved in the duo’s arrest – Sgt David Power – admitted to giving false evidence.
This is not the first time the Canberra Raiders have seen their players unfairly targeted by the thin blue line.
In 2020, the then 22-year-old Raiders debutant Tom Starling was brutalised by NSW Police officers during an incident on the Central Coast at Christmas – before charged with five counts of assaulting an officer in the execution of duty, affray and resisting arrest.
The police battering of Starling came not even 3 months after his team mate Curtis Scott was found not guilty of the same charges, after he too was brutalised by police officers in Sydney.
Scott was arrested on Australia Day when police found him lying unconscious in Centennial Park, where he had pulled up to take a nap after a big day on the squirt – before being assaulted, tasered, unlawfully handcuffed and pepper sprayed, while unconscious.
Curtis Scott was hit with five charges, including assaulting a female police officer.
This particular example of unbridled police brutality, which took place in the centre of Sydney, to an elite sportsman, has really given the general public quite good insight into they keep accidentally killing innocent Indigenous people who never get a headline.
Both players in these instances were cleared off all charges and paid out by the NSW cops.
Closer to home and the ACT cops seem to have found themselves in a similar circumstances, although it is not yet know if Wighton and Latrell will pursue them for damages as well.
Speaking to the media today, Raiders CEO Don Furner says these recurring incidents of overzealous police brutality towards his players, and the most recent example of full blown lying in an effort to criminalise two young men, has resulted in a bold decision by the board to sacrifice all major jersey sponsors next year.
“We want to send a message to not just the cops, but to all the bootlickers who think this shit doesn’t happen when the body camera gets turned off” said Funer.
“It’s happened too many times for me to believe this ‘a few bad apples’ bullshit. This rot is cultural. It’s institutional”
“There will be no Toyota or Milk on the chest this year”
“Four letters. A. C. A. B. We’ll run at a loss to let the world know that All Cops Are Bastards”
