van jones, the executive director, said, "this case became a question of not letting the authorities get away with this level of wholesale disrespect and disregard for human life and for the rule of law. community witnesses, several dozen of them, all said that after aaron was down on the ground and handcuffed, the policeman was kicking him in the head with cowboy boots, and that he was identifiable because he was the only officer in plainclothes."