Constitutional Law, Criminal law

Ferguson Officer Suspended After Captured On Video Pointing Weapon At Protesters and Threatening To Kill Them

1408576057271_wps_9_UPDATE_The_St_Ann_Police_The St. Louis County Police Department has announced the suspension of an officer who was seen pointing a semi-automatic assault rifle at a Ferguson, Missouri, protester and threatening to kill him. The confrontation occurred during the protests and looting following the shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. [Warning: foul language]

The confrontation was caught on video, as shown below. The officer can be seen walking around with his assault rifle raised and pointing the weapon at protesters while saying “I’m going to fucking kill you. Get back. Get back.” When asked for his name, the officer is heard to say “Go fuck yourself.” He was later led away by another officer who appeared to get him to lower his weapon.

The police issued a statement that”The unified command strongly feel these actions are inappropriate, and not indicative of the officers who have worked daily to keep the peace.”

He has been “relieved of duty and suspended indefinitely”

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/20/us/missouri-police-officer-suspended/index.html?hpt=ju_c1

292 thoughts on “Ferguson Officer Suspended After Captured On Video Pointing Weapon At Protesters and Threatening To Kill Them”

  4. John Oliver,
    I chose that version because it not only has the words… it has the words attached to a real cultural history that many still live in fear of. Remember, Dred Scott is buried there in ST. Louis just miles away from BOTH scenes of these fatal shootings this last week and a half. It is in the cultural blood of BOTH the white and black communities. Much healing is left to be done…
    Dred Scott Gravesite Calvary Cemetery St Louis MO

    1. Calvary Cemetery is a beautiful peaceful place surrounded by tall wrought iron fence that was right across the street from Walnut Park on West Florissant or part of it anyway and another part was off Broadway by the MIssissippi. It was by Grandpa’s house and we would walk in it when I was little and my Family is buried there. I won’t be. I will be buried in Bloomfield Military with my Husband who was a Navy Seal in the Vietnam War.

      Thank you for understanding my feelings and sharing that piece with me. I have never heard it before. There are a lot of arrogant pseudo intellectuals on here. I don’t get it because Mr. Turley writes some of the most brilliant articles and is so brilliant himself. Oh well.

  5. Annie,
    I hope the officer that said, “Bring it you f_*kin’ animals” is also targeted for review…

  6. John Oliver
    NPR has a good run down about the legacy of the song.
    The Strange Story Of The Man Behind ‘Strange Fruit’
    http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/158933012/the-strange-story-of-the-man-behind-strange-fruit

    In 1999, Time magazine named “Strange Fruit” the “song of the century.” The Library of Congress put it in the National Recording Registry. It’s been recorded dozens of times. Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller did an instrumental version, with Miller evoking the poem on his mournful bass clarinet.

    Miller says he was surprised to learn the song was written by a white Jewish guy from the Bronx. “Strange Fruit,” he says, took extraordinary courage both for Meeropol to write and for Holiday to sing.

    “The ’60s hadn’t happened yet,” he says. “Things like that weren’t talked about. They certainly weren’t sung about.”
    (continued w/ interview and original Billie Holiday recording)

    Evolution Of A Song: ‘Strange Fruit’
    http://www.npr.org/2009/06/22/105699329/evolution-of-a-song-strange-fruit
    (continued with various recordings)

  7. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more officers suspended or terminated to demonstrate they are serious about cleaning up the department and improving the image with the community. Unfortunately I don’t believe that will be enough to guarantee this officer will receive equal justice under the law. If this blog can’t agree on what defines justice then how likely will anything short of imprisonment be accepted by this community or the nation?

  9. Max-1,
    That video is a very powerful message on how far we have come as a society. We have more work to do and of course that won’t happen as a divided nation. Thank you for making that point.

  10. It figures that the cop is from Saint Ann. One never names a woman named Ann a saint. It all goes downhill from there. The guy needs to get a new job. Perhaps in Iraq. Right now he is in between an Iraq and a hard place. You don’t aim the gun around like that unless you are in Afghanistan. Was he in the military service? Too fat as well.

  12. Squeeky, I understood everything you wrote, and I agree. Some people are so over-socialized, they’re afraid to go over the fence.

  15. Karen, For a few people here, making an intellectually honest assessment of Hitler, even though you call him evil, is admiring Hitler. Propaganda 101. They could have worked for Pravda.

  16. Here is my review and opinion as to what I interpret here.

    The officer was exceptionally out of line here. It could potentially be a career-limiting move but I don’t know what his background issues might have been in previous issues with the department, so I won’t speculate on what will be done. I agree with the indefinite administrative leave and the relief of duty. That was appropriate based upon the sole actions presented in the video.

    What precipitated what happened before the video began I don’t know. If there was an actual deadly force threat to this officer, which my gut feeling doubts, he should, or actually must, focus solely with the firearm on the threat and clear the backdrop of other persons. You would not draw down on other bystanders under any circumstances unless they also posed a threat to the officer in the sense that weapons were threatened against him or there was someone or others bum rushing him to take away his rifle of assault him. I saw no evidence that this was the case. Even in the former there was no backdrop and he should have called out for backup if he was actually threatened and there were readily other officers available. Again, I don’t see evidence he was threatened on the video.

    As for the threats the officer made to kill others. In a true deadly force situation or armed standoff with a person that is not actually presently attacking the officer, that is the classic situation where a person is being drawn down and told the immediately cease his threat; the classic case being the person is holding a firearm in a dangerous situation and is told to put the gun down. You RARELY and I do mean Rarely, threaten to kill the suspect. The reason for this is the suspect might fear the threat being carried out and might then attack. You are specific in what is needed, such as put the gun down, release the hostage etc. Not ambiguous such as I am going to kill you.

    The sweeping of the crowd and pointing the rifle at other, non-involved persons is completely unacceptable from a tactical, safety, legal, and moral point of view.

    As for the manner in which he held the rifle he clearly often times was pointing it at individuals in a shoot configuration. That violated so many safety and department policy guidelines that they are too numerous to mention as it is self evident that any would have been violated.

    The officer, whether acting out of fear, anger or both, made him a complete liability for the above reasons. The other officer(s) who removed him from the scene were absolutely necessary and justified in doing so. The situation had the potential to turn into a losses of life and many injuries due to even a small provocation could have escalated to disaster. The officer was clearly not in the frame of mind to risk having in the situation. Whatever the excuse he should have been removed and now.

    From what I have seen I conclude the officer’s actions were unjustified and dangerous, likely by his own lack of both self control and that of the scene. Removing him from duty was the best course of action in the short term. In my view he must attend a psych evaluation and more judging by what had happened.

  17. Jill said:
    “Authorities from local, state, federal and war contracting companies appear unable to use their minds when responding to civilian situations. They are pretty much a one trick pony-violence, more violence, moving to ultra violence.

    A smart policing force de-escalates situations. Instead we see these forces moving to exacerbate the situation. I think this is the new face of paramilitary forces inside the US. They are trained to do it. They are equipped by the federal govt. to do it. It is the old face of contractors and military units in other parts of the world and these vicious tactics are coming home to roost.”

    ===========================================

    This was the broad brush I was referencing. Thanks for the clarity.

  18. @karens

    Thank you! I am glad somebody else understood what I was trying to say. I was watching Bill Ayres on Megyn’s show, and he said something like, “Yes, we may have been making bombs, but there was this really big war we were trying to stop.”

    There are sooo many people like that, who believe, “Yeah, what I am doing can’t be wrong, because it is for a really good cause!” and that is where you will find your next Hitler, not down at the cemetery at midnight on Halloween. All they need is a governmental structure that permits them to do their thing unchecked.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

  19. Squeeky:

    You’re absolutely right. If Hitler was not a good orator, or sounded like a lunatic from the beginning, he would have been relegated to some street corner. He came across as an ordinary man speaking for the people, and then insidiously filtered in a truly evil agenda.

    Germany had lost a war, and were paying for it. He preyed on their wounded national pride.

    If we think evil ended once Hitler committed suicide, then we allow it to happen again. There are always more psychopaths ready to fill their shoes.

    On another note, I see that people have not learned their lesson. After having jumped to astonishing conclusions on the Brown shooting, I’ve read statements declaring this out of control cop was definitely racist, too.

    Me, I’ll wait to hear the facts before I call anyone racist.

  20. John Oliver, in my post above I wrote: ” It takes a strong mind and a good heart to walk into a situation where one is scared and try to diffuse it. There are those kind of police and soldiers. They are to be admired and commended, IMO.”

    Next you write: “There are honorable law enforcement officers and you have chosen to paint the entire force with the same broad brush. I simply reject that characterization.”

    I think you are not understanding what I wrote!

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