Officer who pointed gun at protesters suspended

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Officer who pointed gun at protesters suspended
| August 20, 2014 | Updated: August 20, 2014 6:06pm

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A police officer who was part of the effort to keep peace during protests in Ferguson has been suspended for pointing a semi-automatic assault rifle at demonstrators, then cursing and threatening to kill one of them, police said Wednesday.

A protester captured the exchange on video that has been posted to YouTube and several websites. It happened Tuesday night during the latest of several protests that have followed the Aug. 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.

On the video, a man is heard saying, "Oh my God! Gun raised!" as the officer approaches. The identity of the man who shot the video is not known.

"My hands are up, bro! My hands are up!" the man said.

The officer walks near the man with his gun pointed and appears to say, "I will (expletive) kill you."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Officer-who-pointed-gun-at-protesters-suspended-5701426.php

[secondwind]

1. something good... finally

[L0oniX]

2. He'll probably get a job on the city council... like this pig did...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/20/1323240/-Former-Ferguson-police-officer-accused-of-brutality-is-now-on-the-City-Council?detail=facebook

[brooklynite]

15. Depends on whether Blacks decide to vote

[sendero]

24. Exactly..

.... there is one simple solution to this cesspool of a PD, and that is to get the right mayor and city council and REPLACE THE LOT OF THEM.

Protesting is fine, get your ass to the ballot box.

[freshwest]

3. And that had better go on his record, too. Better yet, charge him with abuse of authority. I'd say

'Fire him' but he'd likely get a job somewhere else where official intimidation is encouraged. Good thing he was caught on video!

[NYC_SKP]

8. ~~~"They had to destroy Furguson in order to save it"~~~

.

A famous quote from the Vietnam War was a statement attributed to an unnamed U.S. officer by AP correspondent Peter Arnett in his writing about Bến Tre city on 7 February 1968:

'It became necessary to destroy the town to save it', a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%E1%BA%BFn_Tre

There's scarcely a difference between this and Viet Nam, except that they're being recorded and doing their level best to remove or control the media.



This needs to be their Waterloo. Every classic hateful police act is happening in Ferguson

...

[Cha]

4. Got caught on tape, did he! mahalo Judi Lynn

[Judi Lynn]

14. Mahalo, Cha! They need to get caught every time they get vicious. n/t

[951-Riverside]

5. He will be back on duty in no time The Chief is defending his actions...

Source: https://twitter.com/CaseyNolen/status/502234229082947585/

Subject: RE: KSDK phone call

Last night, during one of the many recent
conflicts in Ferguson, a St. Ann officer had
bottles of urine and water thrown on him.

The officer then raised his weapon after seeing a
gun in the crowd, he continued to scan the
area trying to assess the scene. While
assessing the scene he asked several people
including a member of the media to move.

The media person refused to cooperate and in
an attempt to keep the public safe, my officer
used profanity with the public and told the
media person that he was going to kill him if
he didn't move.

We certainly do not condone the verbiage that
was used and the officer will be counseled on
his choice of words.

The officer is suspended without pay until further investigation.

The St. Ann Police Department regrets this
unfortunate situation and hopes for a peaceful
resolution in Ferguson.

Chief Aaron Jimenez
St. Ann Police Department

[Ino]

10. What a load of hogwash...

1. Why mention bottles of water & urine if that's not the reason he raised his weapon? Were there bottles of water & urine thrown? Is this the only verifiable piece of info in this whole statement, so he threw it in as some small justification for the cop's overreaction?

2. If he raised his weapon because he saw a gun in the crowd... why did he just stop looking for this gun and walk on after the other officer pulled him away.

3. "in an attempt to keep the public safe" he pointed his gun at them and threatened to kill them.

4. He's going to be counseled on his choice of words, but not pointing weapons at people.

[zeemike]

13. Why the urine?

Because that is what worked in 1968 in Chicago police riot...it is the excuse they used for beating the shit out of the protesters.
When you invent reasons make them as disgusting as possible.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Thanks for this post. It does illuminate. n/t

[malthaussen]

18. And they couldn't beat the piss out of them...

... since they'd already used that up.

IIRC, didn't the Guard claim the Kent State protesters threw baggies filled with excrement at them?

-- Mal

[zeemike]

26. Don't know about Kent State, but would not be surprised.

But I do remember Chicago...it is a aversion response that is often used by the right wing.
It is like rat bastard, the bastard is not enough but whey you say rat, that most people have an aversion to, they respond emotionally to it.
Words can be used to manipulate people.

[bobthedrummer]

20. There is a probability that this came from Dept. of Corrections officers as window dressing for show

trial, imo. I have extended family WI DoC administrators that regularly told racist jokes-and detailed accounts of what happened to inmates that did throw body wastes in lock-ups.
K&R

[herding cats]

23. I'm calling BS.

In the video it's apparent the other officer who came up deal with Officer Gofuk Yerself kept pushing his gun barrel down away from the crowd. He knew the cop going off on the crowd had lost it and needed to be gotten the hell out of there ASAP. If they were searching for a person wielding a gun in the crowd there would have been officers there helping him look, not escorting him out of there.

[RobertEarl]

6. "... part of the effort to keep peace..."

Good job, brownie!

[NYC_SKP]

7. Thanks goodness. I could scarcely bear to watch their negligent handling of weapons.

They should all be fired, aiming rifles and shotguns, using their scopes fixed to loaded rifles to look over the crowds, it's just so dangerous and so wrong.

Even a qualified hunter wouldn't point a loaded gun at an animal lest the gun discharge and injure the poor thing.

Clearly, they are treating citizens with less care than a wild turkey, elk, deer, etc.

Fucking fuck them.

[PSPS]

9. Translation: "Suspended" = paid vacation

They're always suspended "with pay."

[malthaussen]

19. Uh, the release explicitly says "without pay."

First thing I looked for.

-- Mal

[Blue Idaho]

11. Fired, he should be fired.

On the spot - fired. Officer "Go Fuck Yourself" should be shown the door and not be allowed to have a gun at any time for any reason. He's emotionally unstable.

[brooklynite]

17. So, you don't support Union rights?

There's always an agreed-upon process for determining appropriateness of termination.

[Blue Idaho]

22. You're probably right...

As a former tenured professor - I do believe in due process but when a cop aims an automatic or semi-automatic weapon at a citizen at point blank range and tells them they are going to kill them - that is assault and that may be a reason for immediate dismissal for cause. But... I may be overreacting!

[951-Riverside]

25. No I don't

...for Police officers.

I guarantee you if a Union bus driver shoved a gun in some passenger's face and said "I'm going to fucking kill you" and it was all captured on camera, not only would he be under arrest but he would be fired that same day, lose his pension and his union would not represent him in any way.

Police Unions on the other hand are a different animal. They support, defend and encourage horrendous behavior against citizens. These police fraternities calling themselves "Unions" are not your average Teamster/IFPTE unions.

[Kablooie]

12. Sounds like they are beginning to realize that the world is watching.

But it feels like they are just playing to the camera.
Once the cameras leave it may return to business as usual.

[lunatica]

21. Social Media has changed everything

If someone captures the crimes on video (and actions get video taped a lot now) the public can see it the way it happens and that makes all the difference. This incident would have just been swept under the rug and it would never see the light of day, no matter how many witnesses of the wrong color said otherwise. Social Media has become the great equalizer. And not a minute too soon.