Video: The obligatory “D.C. cop pulls gun out during snowball fight” clip
posted at 4:10 pm on December 21, 2009 by Allahpundit
Alternate headline: “Hey, who’s up for a thousand-comment thread on appropriate use of force by police?” All the ingredients for a classic HA brawl are here — except, oddly, for the taser. Imagine the site traffic today had Officer Itchyfinger fished out a stun gun and zapped the kid in the mask into a snow bank. Imagine it.
Reminds me of Connery’s speech in The Untouchables. They pull a knife, you pull a snowball. They pull a snowball…
Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she had watched video clips from the weekend confrontation and has no doubt that the off-duty officer pulled his gun after snowballs hit his personal vehicle during Saturday’s record snowfall.
“Let me be very clear in stating that I believe the actions of the officer were totally inappropriate!” Lanier said in a statement. “In no way should he have handled the situation in this manner.”…
Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham told reporters Monday that the detective has been placed on desk duty and his badge and weapon have been withdrawn. He did not identify the officer but described him as a veteran detective with more than 25 years of experience.
“He has a very good reputation,” he said.
The uniformed cop pulls his piece too but presumably that’s because he didn’t know when he got there that the plainclothes detective was a cop. Althouse notes that there is a case for arrests since they weren’t just tossing ‘balls at each other, they were tossing them at passing cars. But even so, what was the plan once the guy had his gun out? Warning shot fired into the sky? Snowballs shot out of the throwers’ hands? If the point was simply to intimidate the crowd into stopping, Quick Draw could have pulled his badge instead.
Blowback
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That dude should be out of a job. If I were a CCW and did that, I’d be in hand cuffs.
liquidflorian on December 21, 2009 at 4:55 PM
What’s hilarious is the people who call Obama a fascist, are the same people who defend law enforcement officials, no matter how egregious their conduct.
That’s fine and all, but don’t claim to be “limited government” conservatives who favor “constitutional protections”. You’d be fine with a freakin police state if it had low taxes.
crr6 on December 21, 2009 at 4:55 PM
We are talking about the DC Area, so natch.
PappaMac on December 21, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Guility till proven inoccent????
I am just saying that I can see how someone might feel threatened by a large aggressive crowd screaming at him.
The crowd acted stupidly in throwing snowballs at the cop. They should have been arrested for assualt. I can see both sides.
sonofdy on December 21, 2009 at 4:56 PM
A police officer approaching a suspicious vehicle is expecting danger, hence the pistol being drawn. Cops are taught to expect danger until they’ve ascertained to the best of their senses that there is none. It still means that police don’t draw unless they feel that a threat is possible. Danger could be at hand during a routine traffic stop, but an officer usually, at most, keeps their hand on their holstered weapon.
None of that excuses the horrible conduct this punk cop showed.
MadisonConservative on December 21, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Oh please.
sonofdy on December 21, 2009 at 4:57 PM
Here’s an idea: The off duty cop should have gotten out of the car and threw snowballs back. When he becomes overwhelmed go get some friends for backup until you push the aggressors back. Where I’m from it’s called a snowball fight. Stop taking yourselves so seriously and have a little fun. This world will surely pass
wiseprince on December 21, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Which hippie are you???
PappaMac on December 21, 2009 at 4:58 PM
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 4:59 PM
When you outlaw guns, only outlaws have got guns.
Johan Klaus on December 21, 2009 at 4:59 PM
A few observations:
-Throwing anything at a moving vehicle can cause a lot of damage. I was driving on an icy road when the drivers side window was hit by a snowball. I flinched and lost control of the car and went into oncoming traffic but got control just before I hit a minivan.
-He might have pulled a gun but he was not out of control in the way he dealt with a crowd of snotty teenagers?/college students?/punks. The officers who should up later had the patience of Job.
-I am totally against excessive force and police officers who are caught on camera using it should be punished severely or fired. Also, police should get used to the fact that civilians are allowed to video tape their actions and they should be punished if they hamper the video taping.
-There is nothing in this video that shows me that the cops were in the wrong. Pulling a gun might offend the sensibilities of these spoiled idiots but he might have had a legitimate reason given he was alone confronting a crowd of unruly adults.
Bill C on December 21, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Nope. Sarah Palin has nothing to do with this story.
KeepOhioRed on December 21, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Again, we were not there, it is possiable there is more going on than in the video.
I see the issue with a gun vs snow balls, but there are senerios I can see leading up to the gun being drawn that could have justified it.
Lets not throw him under the bus untill we know the entire story.
sonofdy on December 21, 2009 at 5:00 PM
There has to be a tape of what happened prior to the undercover cop stopping. Some one may have called in a civil disturbance or an unruly crowd. If the cop stopped just because his car was hit with a snowball and drew his weapon it was stupid but if he was monitoring the police channels in his vehicle and thought there was more than a snow ball fight he may have been justified to pull out his weapon.
fourdeucer on December 21, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I don’t know where your fingers have been. I said “tends to support” – not that he is guilty as charged – merely that it tends to support the one idea over the other.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:01 PM
Just wait, voxpoopieye will be along and tie it together somehow.
thomasaur on December 21, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Very good sonofdy. Very good.
crr6 on December 21, 2009 at 5:04 PM
So am I, but I’ve never assumed that cops have to follow the same rules as armed civilians.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 5:04 PM
My last word, I can see senerios where the cop is justified, and senerios where he is not. I don’t see enough evidence either way.
I can also see it from the kids side.
I blame global warming personaly. Sonofdy out.
sonofdy on December 21, 2009 at 5:04 PM
crr6, clearly you missed my entire point.
Sonofdy really out this time.
sonofdy on December 21, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Great, dueling douche-bags in the street.
He shouldn’t have pulled his piece, they shouldn’t have taunted.
Then again, a city with the highest violent crime rate in the nation + a bunch of self righteous know-it-all’s wielding video cameras amd throwing packed snow (IE Ice) at passing vehicles = perfect storm for shit that doesn’t matter.
RobertInLexington on December 21, 2009 at 5:05 PM
I realized after posting my earlier link that it was an old story. Here’s a link to an update on that story. Looks like the suspect is due to be sentenced tomorrow.
Man who killed boy over snowball fight convicted of manslaughter.
Dukeboy01 on December 21, 2009 at 5:05 PM
OT – to anybody that knows… were my comments inset a second time because I neglected to put a / before the second blockquote tag when I typed it… or have I misunderstood my mistake?
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Errr… yes. Your original statement didn’t include the word “prepared”. Your revised statement with the additional word is more agreeable.
I’m not defending his drawing the gun, I wouldn’t have, but I think people are overreacting.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 5:09 PM
Talk about the no fun police. My 6yo son got a citation and detention for throwing a snowball the other day during recess. When the wife told me I said WTF you can’t even throw snow balls anymore.
RobD on December 21, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Wielding video cameras? Wielding video cameras? Wielding video cameras? As if there were some sort of threat or violence committed against a person being filmed carrying out lawful duties in a public location?
It seems to me that cameras are only going to get cheaper and more wide spread. Even children have fairly extensive access to film now. (I would have killed for that sort of toy as a child.) Perhaps it’s time to stop thinking of cameras as something which you wield? Like a sword or a gun.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:10 PM
If you want to have a snow-ball fight, go to a park, not a busy intersection.
sleepy-beans on December 21, 2009 at 5:11 PM
So, instead of calling for a marked unit, and had a uniformed officer -remind- the exuberant crowd out playing (yes, even grown ups play) in an unexpected and massive snowstorm that throwing snowballs at moving cars is rude, Johnny “I’m the baddest mofo around” gets out and incites the crowd even further.
Yeah, that’s the kinda cops we need in this country.
If cars were handed out based on IQ and personality, this guy would have a Yugo wrapped in Nerf foam, not a Hummer.
Police Chief made the right call desking him.
oh, btw, anyone recall that some of the more egregious activities noted in the Iraqi AOR were attributed to Guardsmen/Reservists who’s ‘day jobs’ were as cops? And how the professional, active duty types were appalled at the callous, cavalier attitudes?
We’ve got rampant attitude problems with our front line LEOs in this country, folks. Lot of good cops out there. And a lot of jerkwads, too. This one just happened to make candid camera.
Wind Rider on December 21, 2009 at 5:11 PM
Ahahah. Yes. That’s why I corrected myself without hesitation. Sorry for the delay. My wonderful ESL skills usually mean I end up refining my words like an archer shooting ever closer to the center. Please don’t hesitate to correct or ask me if you suspect I’m off target.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Oh, and if anyone wants an example of civilian cops/activated soldiers doing stupid sh*t in the AOR, two words – Abu Ghraib. Any questions?
Happy googling.
Wind Rider on December 21, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Eh, bunch of idiots against one guy, i’d pull a gun too. As usual in these type videos, the idiot behind the camera talking is the most annoying thing.
clearbluesky on December 21, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Absolutely.
Spirit of 1776 on December 21, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Thank you for not inflaming a reasonable chat. =)
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:15 PM
I agree all the way. IMO, pulling a gun was a show of force. It did calm the people down. There was a couple of taunts, but the cops was level headed. Kudos to the cops!
-
TwilightStruggler on December 21, 2009 at 5:16 PM
That’s what AP pays me for, fieudonne! ;)
Wind Rider on December 21, 2009 at 5:18 PM
oops, typo’d the handle, my bad :O
Wind Rider on December 21, 2009 at 5:19 PM
This cop and these punk college kids deserve each other.
RobCon on December 21, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Claims of racism begin in 4,3,2,…..
RobCon on December 21, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Hitting the guys Hummer started this bizarre episode. Why pull the firearm? Show the badge and wait for uniformed backup. Explain the problems of hitting vehicles and distracting drivers. Detective lost his cool.
d1carter on December 21, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Hey, Obambi….how about a kegger summit?
RobCon on December 21, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Snowballs, baseballs, golf balls, basketballs, what the hell. He was facing an unruly crowd of halfwits who where harassing motorists.
I guess he could have pulled a bigger snowball on these idiots but, since they laughed at his gun, don’t think it would have done the trick.
He should have hunkered down in the Hummer and called for backup snowball cops.
It’s D.C. right?
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:21 PM
No worries. But you did everything you could to ensure that your larger point was lost or rejected. I’m always sorry to see that happen.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:24 PM
It’s the Stupid Troll, making no sense again as it spews out lame insults. You’re only here because the cop is Black and you’ve appointed yourself the Defender of the Race
Janos Hunyadi on December 21, 2009 at 5:25 PM
This “story” disgusts me.
It should be a non-issue.
From what I see in the video, there was a crowd of anywhere from 50 to 100-plus people throwing things and what, 2-3 cops? Fearing for their safety and pulling their weapon(s) was totally justified.
“But it was only ‘snowballs’.”
I direct your attention to Chargers equipment manager, 60-yr old Sid Brooks, December 24, 1995.
He was hit with a ‘snowball’ following a game in New York, knocked unconscious, hospitalized.
And it escalated after that.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/1995/12/24/1995-12-24_giants_get_snowballed_fans_s.html
So, no, the cops did not “over-react”, in fact, they showed incredible restraint in the face of what could have turned very very ugly.
Let. It. Go.
mrt721 on December 21, 2009 at 5:26 PM
I was only disagreeing with dieudonne’s original statement back on page 1, not his revised one, but I think some people are overreacting to this incident as much as the cop did.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 5:26 PM
*yawn*
spmat on December 21, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Well it ain’t Kent State.
Otis B on December 21, 2009 at 5:28 PM
LEO’S just doin’ his job. Front line defense for the state has gotta be tough.
MadDogF on December 21, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Yes. Those of use that have lived around snow know that it can be dangerous. That’s why children (and adults) that play with snow and don’t pack them into ice balls. And you don’t use wet snow pack either. You use light, fluffy, powder like snow such as there was this weekend. While there was a chance there could have been a medical problem it was roughly the same chance as a snowball in hell.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Clearly this is racially motivated and the cop acted stupidly.
With all these, what look to be, college kids and the cop . . . this calls for Superman to have a White House kegger.
- The Cat
MirCat on December 21, 2009 at 5:30 PM
That sums up my feelings on the matter.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 5:30 PM
I’ve noticed that. It’s what separates libertarians from conservatives. Libertarians are suspicious of almost all inappropriate expansions of government power. Conservatives are fine with inappropriate expansions of government power as long as they have a badge. Or are done in the name of Jesus.
Enrique on December 21, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Frosty! Frosty! Noooooooooooo!
The Race Card on December 21, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Broad brush Enrique. How did you manage to lift it?
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Ahahaha. Thanks for the smiles. I think I know what I’m painting for my Christmas cards next year.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Not all conservatives. Some of them. I myself am Highly suspicious of ANY govt employee that carries a badge and a gun. Cops are some of the biggest liars and jerks out there.
MadDogF on December 21, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Those sorts of distinctions can only be made with broad brushes. We can probably all live with it as long as policy isn’t being painted with that brush.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Open the quote tag
Paste quote
Hit Close tags
Space
type your comment
phineas on December 21, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Can’t always sink the three pointer. . .
Wind Rider on December 21, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Since they come from the general population, that’s understandable.
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Somehow I doubt that Sharpton and Jackson are going to say a single thing about this;-)
DethMetalCookieMonst on December 21, 2009 at 5:45 PM
So, the guy, an average Joe, like you and me, works a hard day, busting drugged and drunken Kennedys slippin’ and slidin’ around the streets of D.C. in their BMWs, only to see them released. He probably had to give them a ride home.
He finally gets to clock out, and on the way home his vehicle is pummeled with snow balls.
I would have shot them all.
Minus the doggie.
justltl on December 21, 2009 at 5:46 PM
This reminds me of the first episode of John Adams and the events known the Boston Massacre…, though I somehow doubt this group were like the Bostonians of then. This crowd looks unruly for the sake of being unruly.
JoeBrooks on December 21, 2009 at 5:47 PM
crr6 on December 21, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Which hippie are you???
PappaMac on December 21, 2009 at 4:58 PM
He’s the one that ate the brown acid at Woodstock.
nothus on December 21, 2009 at 5:49 PM
If those kids hadn’t acted like the spoiled silver spoon in their mouth elitist college kids that they are, I’d have sided with them without a second though… Given their behavior, I have to wonder what happened BEFORE the video as always… And also note that the cop was alone. Did it appear to him that the crowd was becoming hostile and surrounding him? They were many feet off the curb. Also, not that this justifies showing a gun, but this is incredibly dangerous behavior that kids should learn before they’re 10 – you don’t throw stuff at cars.
RightWinged on December 21, 2009 at 5:49 PM
How can a 40-ish police detective afford a Hummer?
Answer: not on his detective’s salary.
notagool on December 21, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Money quote.
It’d be fine, if it weren’t for the fact that they constantly act as if they’e immune from charges of fascism. They constantly call liberals fascist, and then when the favor is returned, they retreat behind the “limited government” meme. “Oh, no! How could we be fascists, we’re for limited government!”. Uhhh, no you’re not.
crr6 on December 21, 2009 at 5:52 PM
You can also just paste the text, select it and hit the quote button. That’s my preference. It’s much easier to nest quotes that way, too, like this:
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 5:52 PM
The taxpayers own it?
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:53 PM
I thought the difference was that Libertarians wish to live like baboons, displaying their genitals and flinging snow at passersby; whereas Conservatives understand that Libertarians probably can’t be beaten to death in public without undermining the economy, so we settle for hired guns with badges herding them out of sight.
I can see how this might seem unAmerican. Perhaps a breed of mastiff could be bred to confound the Libertarian? Nothing unAmerican about work dogs.
Chris_Balsz on December 21, 2009 at 5:53 PM
If you want to pull out a gun go find some real crime to fight, if you want to stop petty vandalism keep your gun in your pants. Drawing a weapon where foot traction is nearly nonexistant is really stupid over something like this. More than likely if he would have slipped he would have probably hit somebody not even involved in this nonsense. Just a real stupid move.
LevStrauss on December 21, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Why does this keep coming up? Maybe he saved the money. Or maybe his wife has very well paying job. Or maybe mama left him money after she died. Or maybe he made the money running a secret opium den with drugs grown and harvested in a secret garden behind the church he burnt down. Maybe he is crooked – maybe he isn’t. What does that have to do with pulling a gun in a snowball fight?
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:54 PM
I have to say I’m torn on this one.
Although I really don’t think this police officer acted appropriately, I also don’t believe it should be illegal to shoot hipsters.
Proud Rino on December 21, 2009 at 5:55 PM
If you outlaw snowballs, only outlaws will have snowballs…
Wyznowski on December 21, 2009 at 5:55 PM
There ya go.
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:56 PM
Sweet! Can you do the same with the other tags?
phineas on December 21, 2009 at 5:58 PM
This hurts.
I agree.
donh525 on December 21, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Absolutely unacceptable. It’s clearly illegal to hunt hipsters for sport after spring break is over. We do this so that they can carry the resulting pregnancies to term and ensure that there will be a next generation. Laws like this exist for a reason.
dieudonne on December 21, 2009 at 5:59 PM
In a manner of speaking, yes.
Like you can select an entire sentence and specify “emphasis” for italics and then bold a single word within that sentence and cross out another
boldword.I just select the word, hit bold, it handles both the open and closed tags with one click, then reselect the word again to add another tag.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 6:02 PM
well, I do not see any justification on firing or even punishing the cop. I do see, justification on finding the guys throwing snow balls at a man in the street, for assault and battery. Even after they knew he was a cop they did it again. They had cameras hoping to get a reaction – The cop pulled his gun… SO WHAT HE DID NOT USE IT. Obviously even after he pulled his gun they still threw snowballs at him, if he did not pull his gun then they prob would of had all 30 kids throw snowballs at him and injure him. Regardless, I would of loved to see a tazer instead of a gun. And about 30 arrest.
Donut on December 21, 2009 at 6:07 PM
This clip seems really odd –
1. When you first cut to the cop, he’s staring down, the gun is in his left hand (which I’m assuming is his non-shooting hand) pointed to the ground, and he’s fumbling around to get his radio. You see him again turn away from the crowd, talk into the radio, and then he holsters the gun.
2. Then, for the duration of the encounter, you don’t see the gun again.
I’m wondering if the guy didn’t drop the gun while he was getting out of his car. I know that sounds insane, but he really isn’t using the gun in a threatening manner… It just seemed really, really odd.
His biggest infraction here was inflaming the situation. You yell at the kids, tell them to find something else to do, and get back in the car. He started shouting at them and at one point shoved a few of them. Cops can’t let their emotions get the better of them!!
Outlander on December 21, 2009 at 6:10 PM
The drawing of his gun was a needless provocation IMHO. The situation escalated as a direct result of that move.
GnuBreed on December 21, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Proof positive that gummint has gone over the cliff. I would trust any number of gang-bangers to show more restraint and appropriate behavior than this so-called detective. Now we see the real reason DC gummint doesn’t want to let citizens have guns–their cops are mortal enemies of the populace. Guess he’s one of the millions of gummint employees who also got that pay raise recently, since he’s happily driving a hummer while most private citizens in DC can barely pay for heating oil. Wrong on so many levels.
Ay Uaxe on December 21, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Thank You, my friend. This really helps with composition.
phineas on December 21, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Let’s get this straight…a cop may have over reacted, after being pelted by snowballs from a crowd that was forming and escalating…no one was hurt, the crowd was dispensed. He had his badge removed and removed from his detective position.
Let’s move along…Christmas is just around the corner…
right2bright on December 21, 2009 at 6:25 PM
Your welcome.
By the way, it seems that you can nest the tags as mentioned before, but trying to overlap them doesn’t work so well.
FloatingRock on December 21, 2009 at 6:36 PM
So a gang of adults in a crowd are throwing snowballs at people and get a piece pulled on them. Smirk worthy but hardly evidence of government fascism. If 20 or so people were throwing things at me and the Mrs. and looked like they were getting out of control they’d get drawn down on too. But I suppose I’m a fascist too.
The cop is probably a dick, but so’s the guy who who kicks the loud mouthed douchebag’s ass in a bar. So what? You have a crowd here that hit a guy in the face with a snowball after he pulled a gun on them. Darwinism should have ensued.
Hardly innocent victims. In fact they were victims of their own stupidity for thinking that they had the right to assault people (and laugh if you want but if it was your car you’d all be crying foul) without repercussions. That crowd reminds me of all the guys I saw getting shoved around in a bars in my drinking days – totally unaware that some people may not be in the mood to accept their extended adolescence.
The fact that these are spoiled lefty brats (the White kid yelling Fuck you pig is no doubt on DU right now stroking himself) may make me less than sympathetic but how is this crowd different from any other group of scum who gather in numbers to harass and intimidate people?
Rob Taylor on December 21, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Three years at a local collage students were throwing snow balls at passing cars.One man stop because he thought one had done damage to his car.His 6 year old son got out also and was hit in the eye with a ice hard snow ball.He lost his eye and had brain damage.When you are throwing things i don,t care what and a police officer tells you to stop and you don,t you are stupid at least and maybe dead.
thmcbb on December 21, 2009 at 6:46 PM
A lot of DC cops make good money on overtime and (more often) working as security guards during their time off.
I was a little bitter that I missed the snowball fight. Apparently I’m not as linked in as I thought.
The real, and only, story here is that the cop lost his cool and let a bunch of happy drunk hipsters and yuppies get under his skin.
DC cops, black and white, live outside the city and hate yuppies. That’s why the cop overreacted: he couldn’t stand the idea of a bunch of pointy-headed hipsters laughing at his a$$.
Bleeds Blue on December 21, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Tough call. Is it illegal for someone to be holding a gun in a public place? For an off duty police officer? He didn’t actually point the weapon at anyone, at least not that the video showed. At the very least desk duty seems appropriate for a guy whose temper would cause him to pull a gun.
I do, however, wish the guy who kept shouting ‘f*ck you pig’ got hit by a bus on his walk home. What a prick.
BadgerHawk on December 21, 2009 at 7:04 PM
What’s with the retard who thinks that falling snow is exactly the same as snow that’s been compacted into an icy sphere?
BadgerHawk on December 21, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Obama saying the cop acted stupidly in 5…4…3…2…wait. He won’t say it because the cop is black? uh, nevermind…
mizflame98 on December 21, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Not, now that I watch the video, that the hipsters can’t be annoying as all heck, too.
Bleeds Blue on December 21, 2009 at 7:09 PM
Yeah. I’m not sure if what the off duty cop did was illegal (certainly not behavior you want exhibited from an officer at any rate), but I kind of wish a bus would have lost control and hit those kids.
If I was a parent who saw my kid acting like that the college money would be cut off instantly.
BadgerHawk on December 21, 2009 at 7:13 PM
The crowd was composed of a bunch of OK people, many of whom turned into childish jackasses.
I can agree the detective didn’t handle it perfectly, but I just wish everyone would give everyone else a break.
Who knows, maybe it was the last straw in a bad day for the detective to get a snowball(s?) slamming into his windshield or window when he’s sitting behind the wheel hoping he can get where he’s going without sliding into something or being hit by another car. And until he can get out where he can see and hear the crowd’s motivations, he has no idea whether he’ll need the gun or not, so it’s safer to have it out.
He has a good reputation, and I hope this doesn’t hurt it. Good luck to him.
alice on December 21, 2009 at 7:31 PM
So, a bunch of white boys hit a black cop’s APC with a snowball. The cop has an anger management problem. The only thing he did right was keep his fire arm pointed toward the ground. His ass should be fired.
BottomLine5 on December 21, 2009 at 7:32 PM
Not surprisingly I’m a little more supportive of random, twitter-organized snowball fights on the day of the best snowstorm in may years than you. On the other hand, getting all “can I get your badge number” after you hit an off-duty cop is pretty lame.
If you’re going to temporarily suspend “the rules,” no fair invoking the rules when it suits you purpose.
Twats.
And that corner was far hipper when I used to hang there.
Bleeds Blue on December 21, 2009 at 7:32 PM
I can’t believe you guys. I read a whole page of comments and only once did I find someone even mention that these trashy students actually threw a snowball and hit the cop right in the face. That happened aboout 26 seconds into the tape. That is assault. You might think it’s funny and “oh, it’s just a snowball.” But a cop is always on duty. Especially a veteran. These kids don’t know the kind of day he’s had, or week, or month. I’d like to see one of these candy-ass students walk in his shoes for a week and see if they can stomach it. I couldn’t believe the vile language these kids were using around this guy. Whatever happened to respect for people who are there to protect you. They’re also there to protect others from you when you’re being stupid. Okay, the cop drawing his gun is a bit much (though I never saw him actually point it at anyone.) I showed this to my 11 year old son and he knew better not to talk the way these filthy mouthed kids did to an officer and he also knew that throwing snowballs at cars could be dangerous. How on earth does he know this stuff and yet these young adults standing on a street corner are clueless idiots. And believe me, I don’t think I had any incredibly long intellectual lectures with my son about the dangers of snowballs or how one shouldn’t disrespect a cop. He has some simple common sense instilled in his being. Yet here we have 20-30 youthful idiots standing on a street corner behaving like street thugs. These kids parents should be ashamed and embarrassed for raising them to behave like this. Especially the parents of that girl who couldn’t even spell the detectives last name. Let me help her out. HEY MORON, IT’S BAYLOR. B-A-Y-L-O-R. And if I did spell it wrong I’m sure the guys at the police station can figure out who you’re talking about if you mention you participated in the snowball fight on the street corner with a bunch of college idiots. By the way, these same idiots would be crying out for help from the police if they got mugged on that street corner or got in a car accident because some idiot on a different block threw a snowball at their car and it distracted them on a slippery street with a lot of traffic.
ranzofola on December 21, 2009 at 7:44 PM
If he was any kind of a cop at all he would have opened up on them and planted his “throw down” on one of them . No wonder DC doesn’t want its citizens to have guns . Guns don’t kill people , cops and snowballs kill people .
borntoraisehogs on December 21, 2009 at 7:58 PM
We never see him draw the gun. The video starts and he is on the radio with the gun in his left hand already. There are good odds that he grabed the gun from the glove compartment, got in between the vehicle and the crowd and was in the process of calling in the “incident.” If that is the case he should have holstered the piece before getting out of the car and showed the badge when getting on the radio. While calling in for uniformed officers he is hit a few more times. He then starts to loose his cool. Mistake #2. Still not a firing offense.
There is an edit in the video and we see him get hit in the head. Another edit in the video. After the first edit the gun is already holstered. Most of the crown begins to back off as marked cars arrive. “Adult,” he is over 18 probably mid 20s, then tries to turn it into a protest about bringing a gun to a snowball fight. Remember the gun is already holstered and he is still got hit at least once that we saw in the edited video. Glasses boy protest leader’s friends, holding a drum and a “get the US out of…” plastic protest shield are by this point trying to goad the cops into a reaction. He pushes the kid with the mask and shield onto the curb after telling him to “throw another snoball” and “get back on the curb.” Once again we have no idea what happened in the edit. But the one snowball we see hit him was not thrown by the masked “adult.” So we then have to wonder what happened during the edit. Before the edit the detective was the only cop. After the edit there are three or four cars and the cops are attempting to control the crowd.
We do not have all the facts. Just an edited video provided by a group of professional protesters who were trying to goad the cops into overreacting. Maybe he did, but we still do not know all of the facts. There is not enough info in this edited video to get all of the facts of the case.
cobrakai99 on December 21, 2009 at 7:59 PM
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