The Long Beach, Calif., police are justifying the severe beating of a man, saying there's more to the story than meets the eye. But after watching this YouTube torture for five minutes, most would click off the video after less than a minute of this sadistic bludgeoning.

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Police incessantly and unmercifully beating a man with batons and shocking him with tasers as he lays supine on a street pavement in Long Beach, Calif., is shocking and repulsive. Sundry video versions of this incident, posted on YouTube -- have gone viral. It's the most infamous and nefarious example of police brutality so far this year in the United States - when this violent act was captured in early September of 2013 by digital dice and snake-eyed focus.

In the video, a man wearing only a tan pair of short pants is repeatedly bludgeoned by batons and tased by three policemen. Another cop joins in this torture session, wielding a very long, nasty-looking nightstick. Two other officers jump in while their mates slip on blue plastic gloves, not wanting to get any blood on their hands (nobody wants a blood-borne disease these days, after all). And after a bit, others in blue (including at least one woman police officer), join the circle of terror. Towards the end of the video, all the police are on their knees, doing something to this poor victim, and I hardly think it's trying to help the writhing guy.

It looks like a true exercise in torture. The coming of the police state and a poor victim was picked out with the name Porfirio Santos-Lopez.

Excessive force? Police brutality? You be the judge -

And if you want to see an entire collection of this brutal scene, go to YouTube.com and type into the search bar "Long Beach police brutality," or "Santos-Lopez police beating". You'll find a slew of YouTube offerings that pop up.

It's disturbing and vile. I like to think that police officers are employed to protect and serve, but after viewing this video, I really am wondering about this -- is it just a myth and a lie? Have the police become our oppressors? Are they helpful and handy or are they horrible henchmen?

If a police department wants to use a video clip of police brutality to train rookies on how not to act towards a suspect, this would be an excellent choice for such a lesson. The old cliche, "Never beat a man when he's down," is captured in all its gore and egregious terror in any of the various offerings of the two versions on YouTube's menu.

The video was captured by a security camera outside of a liquor store near the corner of Locust Avenue and South Street in Long Beach. And another video, reportedly shot by a bystander near this street corner who used a cell phone camera to grab the scene, is also available in all the brightness of the California sun. Both versions show about the same thing: It looks a lot like a shark-feeding frenzy from the National Geographic Channel, or possibly, a pride of lions' kill. Only the actors are human, the prey is practically naked, and the aggressors are wearing blue uniforms and badges.

It's hard not to see this as anything but abject police brutality and abuse of power - a shocking and repulsive display of violence inflicted by authority. And to call it anything less would be phony and absurd. It's an atrocious, startling and evil scene. One of the bystanders exclaims that Porfirio Santos-Lopez's teeth were knocked out by a strike of a nightstick. Another witness cries out that she's shaking with fear and can't believe what she's seeing. Hearing this eyewitness commentary is commentary enough. Actually, the voices on this video say it all. Nothing else really needs to be said. . . .

What I find laughable and repulsive is that the Long Beach Police Dept. is defending this blatant police brutality. They claim Santos-Lopez allegedly got into an argument with two other men outside the liquor store and heaved objects at them, then got into a fist fight. Someone called 911, and when police arrived, Santos-Lopez reportedly asked the cops to kill him, then he began throwing a few punches their way and kicked at cops as he laid with his back to the asphalt. Some commentaries by the local press even justify the actions by the cops because the suspect was behaving badly before his electrocution and beating.

A woman cutting hair in a beauty salon close by said it looked like the officers and Santos-Lopez were arguing and at one point, Santos-Lopez yelled "Shoot me!"

"It looked like they were trying to arrest him but he didn't want them to," hairdresser Maria Ruiz said. "He tried to kick and punch one of the officers and that's when they took him down." (See:This latimes.com article) But Long Beach Police Chief James McDonnell says it's too early to make any judgments about the incident. Since police said Santos-Lopez was combative and attacked another man beforehand, did McDonnell's minions have a right to beat Porfirio and electrocute him in such a way? Evidently, McDonnell believes so, and although the chief admitted the video could be seen as "disturbing," there's more to the story. Huh? What's this? There's more to the story? What story? I saw a video stream for nearly five minutes of a man who looked like he was being beaten, smashed and shocked to death!

Chief McDonnell also said that there will be a full investigation into this matter. And I'm sure it will be objective and fair if a police organization conducts this study, particularly if it's done in house, by the Long Beach, Calif., Police Dept.

It seems the chief is asserting this voracious violence by his officers is justified because the victim and suspect was behaving rudely and antisocially before the thrashing and shocking started. According to KNBC, Santos-Lopez admitted to police that he was drunk and high on methamphetamine at the time. The chief said he kicked at officers, but if you view the video, these kicks were more likely just leg reflexes from Santos-Lopez being slammed on the knees, thighs and shins by billy clubs.

Santos-Lopez's wife, Lee Ann Hernandez, told the Los Angeles Times that her husband displayed traits of mental illness before this occurrence, admitting Santos-Lopez recently had acted "paranoid" and "out-of-sorts".

"When those types of incidents happen it never looks good," Long Beach Sgt. Aaron Eaton told local TV news teams. "It never looks good from that perspective."

Well Sgt. Eaton, what it actually looks like in this video is that an entire police department - your department - ganged up on a man lying on the ground and repeatedly and incessantly struck him with nightsticks and shocked him with tasers. Your cops look guilty as sin. They're using excessive force and seem to relish in the misery they're dishing out to a helpless, unarmed victim.

Why didn't the Long Beach police roll Santos-Lopez over on his stomach, handcuff him and take him to jail? Don't you think that this was what was needed, Sgt. Eaton? Why all this savagery and cruelty? How is this little slice of Long Beach history going to look good to a judge and jury? It looks like something out of a sadistic slasher film to me!

"That individual seemed to be irrational. He was combative," Sgt. Eaton said. "In the video that is on YouTube, he can be seen kicking at the officers."

Well, I watched the video about six times and what I saw was a man in pain and-- pardon the fact that he has reflexes -- those kicks sure looked like a reaction to being beaten around the legs. Santos-Lopez wasn't kicking at anything. No, the only time he moved his legs was after police hit him at least six times with hard strikes of their clubs.

Santos-Lopz's attorney, Brian Dunn, said his client suffered a broken leg and broken arm after the beating. He also had a nasty gash on his head "consistent with a baton blow" above his hair line, according to the Los Angeles Times. In addition, the beating victim also had a collapsed lung after the incident.

As Santos-Lopez was recovering from surgery in a hospital, his family members said they plan to sue the Long Beach Police Department, according to Santos-Lopez's wife, Lee Ann Hernandez.

"They broke two of his bones in his right arm around his elbow. They broke it so bad that he needed surgery," Hernandez said.

And police training experts who reviewed the video weren't certain whether excessive force was used. If they would have killed the poor man, would this evaluation be the same? How much force is excessive? There looked to be a baker's dozen of cops around poor Porfirio, and the monster with the crew cut with his back turned to the camera throughout most of the video is big enough to play on the line for the Oakland Raiders!

"It is too early to make any judgments. The YouTube video is certainly disturbing," Chief McDonnell said to the press. "Any time you see someone hit with the baton, there is a level of discomfort."

A level of discomfort? A group of big burly policemen beating a man lying on a sidewalk with thick, hard, forceful blows of billy clubs? A level of discomfort? Is this meant as cop humor? Dark blue humor, as in bruises and blood clots? Chief McConnell, it looks like a scene out of a concentration camp! There's no discomfort here, sir, no none at all! Using words like "abject fear and loathing," "police brutality," and "with cops like this, who needs felonious criminals?" would be more apropos.

According to innumerable news items about the incident, it's not certain what Santos-Lopez was even charged with -- or if he was cited for anything whatsoever. Although one news article said he was hit with four charges, "they were unclear" one report suggested. I suppose the Long Beach Police Department had to put something down on paper. It just won't look good in any upcoming civil and criminal proceedings that the entire police department did their damnedest at trying to beat and shock a 46-year-old man to death.

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This is the first article of a series on police brutality. Check into OpEdNews in the coming days to read more on the subject.

(Article changed on June 23, 2014 at 18:39)

Authors Bio:

Samuel Vargo worked as a full-time reporter and editor for more than 20 years at a number of daily newspapers and business journals. He was also an adjunct English professor at colleges and universities in Ohio, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida for about a decade. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in English (both degrees were awarded by Youngstown State University).