Anonymous wrote:As is so often the case with these videos we don't know the full context. What we see in the video is a felony stop where the police officers are approaching the suspect with guns drawn and order the suspect to exit the vehicle. This is not the default approach to a routine traffic stop, which tells us something has transpired before the arrival of the officer wearing the body cam that we have video of.

The suspect is non-compliant and argues at length with the officers that he doesn't have to follow their directives, refuses to leave his vehicle, tells the police to "keep their hands off me," resists arrest, etc.

That the suspect is in the military and in uniform has nothing to do with anything.

Being in uniform doesn't change a thing when you are interacting with the police. Tons of service members get arrested off base for all manner of things in uniform and out. (and yes, largely for traffic violations, drunk driving, etc)

Characterizing this as "white cops harass and pepper spray black Army lieutenant," is characteristic of just how screwed up our society is on race relations right now.

Why insert race into this? Are white cops allowed to enforce the law? Are black army lieutenants obligated to follow the law and obey lawful directives when interacting with the police?

What if the police are -gasp- white, does a black army lieutenant still need to obey their commands at a traffic stop?

There is no evidence that race played a role in this interaction evident in the video.

Finally, he was not "attacked." He refused to comply with the police at length during a traffic stop. He was eventually pepper sprayed, which seemed to prompt him to at least get out of the car, after which point he refused to cooperate further and resisted arrest, before finally being taken into custody. The one officer should be counseled on his language, but this is hardly a case of police brutality.

All the suspect had to do was get out of the car and cooperate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor guy is afraid to move.

Really? He is too afraid to obey the police? Why do I suspect the Army might be the wrong career for him?

All he had to do was obey their directions and there would have been ample time to discuss whatever they had pulled him over for.

When you get pulled over you don't get to dictate to the police whether you will or won't obey their commands. Courts have ruled over and over and over again that the police are legally allowed to order you to get out of the vehicle at their discretion. This is to protect the safety of the police, for whom traffic stops can be very dangerous.

The police don't know who they are interacting with, what that person's state of mind is, whether they are armed, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As is so often the case with these videos we don't know the full context. What we see in the video is a felony stop where the police officers are approaching the suspect with guns drawn and order the suspect to exit the vehicle. This is not the default approach to a routine traffic stop, which tells us something has transpired before the arrival of the officer wearing the body cam that we have video of.

The suspect is non-compliant and argues at length with the officers that he doesn't have to follow their directives, refuses to leave his vehicle, tells the police to "keep their hands off me," resists arrest, etc.

That the suspect is in the military and in uniform has nothing to do with anything.

Being in uniform doesn't change a thing when you are interacting with the police. Tons of service members get arrested off base for all manner of things in uniform and out. (and yes, largely for traffic violations, drunk driving, etc)

Characterizing this as "white cops harass and pepper spray black Army lieutenant," is characteristic of just how screwed up our society is on race relations right now.

Why insert race into this? Are white cops allowed to enforce the law? Are black army lieutenants obligated to follow the law and obey lawful directives when interacting with the police?

What if the police are -gasp- white, does a black army lieutenant still need to obey their commands at a traffic stop?

There is no evidence that race played a role in this interaction evident in the video.

Finally, he was not "attacked." He refused to comply with the police at length during a traffic stop. He was eventually pepper sprayed, which seemed to prompt him to at least get out of the car, after which point he refused to cooperate further and resisted arrest, before finally being taken into custody. The one officer should be counseled on his language, but this is hardly a case of police brutality.

All the suspect had to do was get out of the car and cooperate.

Did you read the article?

Anonymous wrote:Poor guy is afraid to move.

Anonymous wrote:As is so often the case with these videos we don't know the full context. What we see in the video is a felony stop where the police officers are approaching the suspect with guns drawn and order the suspect to exit the vehicle. This is not the default approach to a routine traffic stop, which tells us something has transpired before the arrival of the officer wearing the body cam that we have video of.

The suspect is non-compliant and argues at length with the officers that he doesn't have to follow their directives, refuses to leave his vehicle, tells the police to "keep their hands off me," resists arrest, etc.

That the suspect is in the military and in uniform has nothing to do with anything.

Being in uniform doesn't change a thing when you are interacting with the police. Tons of service members get arrested off base for all manner of things in uniform and out. (and yes, largely for traffic violations, drunk driving, etc)

Characterizing this as "white cops harass and pepper spray black Army lieutenant," is characteristic of just how screwed up our society is on race relations right now.

Why insert race into this? Are white cops allowed to enforce the law? Are black army lieutenants obligated to follow the law and obey lawful directives when interacting with the police?

What if the police are -gasp- white, does a black army lieutenant still need to obey their commands at a traffic stop?

There is no evidence that race played a role in this interaction evident in the video.

Finally, he was not "attacked." He refused to comply with the police at length during a traffic stop. He was eventually pepper sprayed, which seemed to prompt him to at least get out of the car, after which point he refused to cooperate further and resisted arrest, before finally being taken into custody. The one officer should be counseled on his language, but this is hardly a case of police brutality.

All the suspect had to do was get out of the car and cooperate.

All the suspect had to do was get out of the car and cooperate.

Anonymous wrote:As is so often the case with these videos we don't know the full context. What we see in the video is a felony stop where the police officers are approaching the suspect with guns drawn and order the suspect to exit the vehicle. This is not the default approach to a routine traffic stop, which tells us something has transpired before the arrival of the officer wearing the body cam that we have video of.

The suspect is non-compliant and argues at length with the officers that he doesn't have to follow their directives, refuses to leave his vehicle, tells the police to "keep their hands off me," resists arrest, etc.

That the suspect is in the military and in uniform has nothing to do with anything.

Being in uniform doesn't change a thing when you are interacting with the police. Tons of service members get arrested off base for all manner of things in uniform and out. (and yes, largely for traffic violations, drunk driving, etc)

Characterizing this as "white cops harass and pepper spray black Army lieutenant," is characteristic of just how screwed up our society is on race relations right now.

Why insert race into this? Are white cops allowed to enforce the law? Are black army lieutenants obligated to follow the law and obey lawful directives when interacting with the police?

What if the police are -gasp- white, does a black army lieutenant still need to obey their commands at a traffic stop?

There is no evidence that race played a role in this interaction evident in the video.

Finally, he was not "attacked." He refused to comply with the police at length during a traffic stop. He was eventually pepper sprayed, which seemed to prompt him to at least get out of the car, after which point he refused to cooperate further and resisted arrest, before finally being taken into custody. The one officer should be counseled on his language, but this is hardly a case of police brutality.

All the suspect had to do was get out of the car and cooperate.

Anonymous wrote:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A second lieutenant in the U.S. Army is suing two Virginia police officers over a traffic stop last December during which the officers drew their guns, pointed them at him and used a slang term to suggest he was facing execution before pepper-spraying him and knocking him to the ground.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-virginia-police-officers-threatened-man-stop-76982103

I'm really curious as to what the motivation is to treating a military officer in uniform like this. Why the nasty tone and language and threatening gestures? Is a black man not deserving of respect no matter what his station in life is?

Anonymous wrote:Poor guy is afraid to move.