Cincinnati police overreacted to Reds fan's backflip

Riley Crabtree is a Columbus Dispatch opinionN writeR and student at Miami University.

An epic flip on the field at Great American Ballpark made Reds fan William Hendon an instant legend last week.

The incredible shock that the 19-year-old sophomore at Ohio State University experienced when a Cincinnati police officer used a taser on him after halftime is unfortunately legendary and says a lot about the violence in this country.

The flip and jerk went viral, with Hendon sparking memes, T-shirts and even admiration from Municipal Judge William Mallory, who said, “Everyone thinks you landed that backflip.”

Hendon did indeed land the backflip. He was also charged with trespassing, which was later downgraded to a misdemeanor, and another misdemeanor was obstruction of public order.

Although I can only begin to imagine the mindset of a 19-year-old “boy,” I was stunned to see the look on Hendon’s face when he was shocked with a taser at the Reds’ game against the Guardians, his face twisting in pain. I wouldn’t say boys my age don’t make stupid decisions, but shocking Hendon with a taser was going too far.

A funny mistake with not so funny consequences

Hendon made a decision that he surely knew would have consequences. As Judge Mallory said, he got his 15 minutes of fame, but at what cost?

The boy – and I emphasize boy because at 19, Hendon is a teenager and his brain is not yet as fully developed as a man’s – made what I would call a funny mistake.

When you think about the “why” of Hendon’s decision to sprint across the pitch – or even to approach a player – you’d think he probably wanted to feel the thrill of the stadium and perhaps even do something risky in his youth.

Does that mean it’s necessary to be shocked with a taser, arrested, thrown in jail, falsely accused of a crime, charged with multiple criminal offenses, and banned from the stadium for life? Absolutely not. I can understand the offenses, but being charged with a crime on top of being shocked with a taser is questionable.

Why is violence so present in our minds?

Why do we always resort to violence against so-called “criminals”?

What the police should have done – something they have failed to do in similar situations in the past, such as the “Don’t Taser Me Bro” guy – is to try to manage the situation – a really safe situation at that – without resorting to violence.

The situation was strange.

Use of violence is being investigatedPolice: Fan arrested after storming Reds game

Maybe a few fans or players were a little annoyed by the unwelcome interruption, but overall the majority of fans probably found the situation funny. What damage did Hendon really do?

It was understandable that he was stopped, but not in the way the police went about it.

Police have launched an investigation into the use of the taser during Hendon’s arrest.

Why is violence so often the answer?

The situation raises another question: Are those working to protect people being too harsh in the face of a threat?

The number of people shot by police continues to rise every year. Even in prisons, inmates are treated horribly. In Ohio prisons alone, over 219 people died from 2020 to 2023, and 75.3% of them were not convicted.

All of these statistics and situations are the result of a lack of genuine concern for everyone’s safety. Where is the promised safety for a nonviolent offender? Hendon’s example, while smaller, is part of a deeper trend of security guards overstepping their duties.

I don’t condone anyone running across a professional baseball field during a game, especially considering that this is usually a criminal charge and a hefty fine. However, I think the police were too harsh on Hendon.

At some point a policeman would have caught him, whether one on the other side of the field or the one chasing him.

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