Police in VA Pepper Sprayed Black Army Lieutenant For......

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OneEyedDiva

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Allegedly driving without plates and having dark tinted windows so they considered it a "high risk traffic stop". Caron Nazario who is a Black Hispanic pulled over when he felt it was safe enough where it was well lit. By the time the cops approached him, they could see that he did indeed have a temporary plate taped to the back window of his new vehicle. Mr. Nazario in full uniform identified himself, politely asked why he was stopped and hesitated getting out of the van telling them that he was afraid to. To that the officer responded (sic) Well you should be. WTF?! Well yeah... guns pointed at his head for a traffic stop??!! One officer then sprayed copious amounts of pepper spray in his face. That officer was subsequently fired and a lawsuit has been initiated.
"The complaint alleges that the officers' behavior is "consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous, and sometimes deadly abuses of authority."

"Ultimately, Nazario was let go — but not before the officers "threatened Lt. Nazario's job and his commission in the United States Army if he spoke out knowing the harm criminal charges would cause him," the complaint says. That attempt to "extort" Nazario formed the basis of the complaint's argument that the officers violated Nazario's First Amendment rights."

The VA Attorney General's office of Civil Rights is now investigating the case and the department. There is a video within the article and frankly, it upset me when I watched this disgusting display by someone who is supposed to be upholding the law on World News Tonight.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/11/9862...pepper-sprayed-black-army-lieutenant-is-fired

From another article, this is what the army's top enlisted soldier had to say:
"The Army's top enlisted soldier on Monday denounced an incident last December in which two police officers in Virginia pulled their guns on a Black and Latino lieutenant and pepper-sprayed him during a traffic stop – and he tied it to the military's broader efforts to address endemic racism and extremism in its ranks.
"Like many of you, I was concerned by the video of LT Nazario's traffic stop in December," Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston wrote in a series of tweets Monday afternoon. "He represented himself and our Army well through his calm, professional response to the situation – I'm very proud of him."
 

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This occurred 4 months ago and we're now hearing about it. Body cameras video is paid for by the public and should not be held hostage by police departments. Just think of what police have gotten away with before body cameras and cell phone cameras.
 
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Again, all he had to do is comply with the demands of officers.
I guess the lieutenant could use 3 hands to comply with guns pointed at him, no less.

"I don't even want to reach for my seatbelt, can you please? ... My hands are out, can you please - look, this is really messed up," Nazario stammered upon being pepper-sprayed, his eyes clenched shut.

The officers shouted conflicting orders at Nazario, telling him to put his hands out the window while also telling him to open the door and get out, the lawsuit says."

https://abc7ny.com/virgina-police-p...black-at-gunpoint-arrested-virginia/10504779/
 
I believe that the local military authority may have the authority to put that entire town off-limits to military personnel until this gets corrected. The sudden loss of military customers is a major economic hit to a community and I have seen it done before. It gets the attention of a community in a big hurry. Doing this is a bit of a hardship on service personnel, but they do understand and they adapt far quicker that the merchants and revenue producers for the community who own this mess.
I find this kind of disgusting behavior one more example of why we need major reforms of law enforcement done by the federal government since state and city governments continue to "fart" it off.
 
And the officers acted that way because they probably did it before and got away with it or witnessed it ie culture in the department. I don't necessarily think the problem is worse but as noted cameras and intense news coverage of these incidents has helped bring bad apples like this to light.

I will say I'm from an era where one dare not question police/commands like because it was implied not even by police that this was the sort of thing that could happen. Too many cops are on a power trip.
 
I guess the lieutenant could use 3 hands to comply with guns pointed at him, no less.

"I don't even want to reach for my seatbelt, can you please? ... My hands are out, can you please - look, this is really messed up," Nazario stammered upon being pepper-sprayed, his eyes clenched shut.

The officers shouted conflicting orders at Nazario, telling him to put his hands out the window while also telling him to open the door and get out, the lawsuit says."

https://abc7ny.com/virgina-police-p...black-at-gunpoint-arrested-virginia/10504779/

What is conflicting about, put your hands out the window, and open the door ?

The door can be easily opened using the outside door handle.
 
Yep. And to think I just came from a thread stating that most of the killing done by cops are warranted since criminals refuse to follow the law. Sure. Here’s a perfect example.
Good thing rgp isn’t a cop! 🥴

Indeed, if one does not follow/obey the law , and/or refuses to follow a lawful command by the officer on scene ...... they may very well get shot by the police.

Do we really want to create an atmosphere where these folks can just ignore the police ...... and can get away with whatever they did ?
 
Once again, someone fails to follow police commands and suffers the consequences and the media blames the cops. Fortunately the police officer was black as well as the driver or all hell would have bean unleashed again.
 
It's probably no surprise that I see this differently than most people.

The two policemen attempted to stop a car with dark tinted windows and no license plate without knowing anything about the driver or the contents of the vehicle. The driver continued to drive and finally pulled into a gas station. IMO that was a sensible thing for him to do but I understand how the police would consider that an evasive tactic intended to buy the occupants time to hide things, arm themselves, etc...

If you watch the entire video as opposed to the shorter clip used on the news you can see that the two officers stayed back from the vehicle and asked repeatedly for the driver to exit the vehicle. Each time the driver refused in a calm passive-aggressive manner. IMO if the driver had complied with the initial request this situation would not have escalated the way it did.

My only real complaint/concern over what I've seen in the video is the unprofessional behavior of the older policeman. IMO when the police stop people they should not be swearing or making innuendos about what could happen, etc...

There is definitely room for improvement on both sides but IMO if the driver had complied with the initial request he could have gotten off with a warning or a ticket for the tint on the windows and been on his way.

 
This happened not too far from where I live so it's on local news all the time. It's unpleasant to watch, to say the least. One of the police seems to have a real attitude problem, especially when he asks Lt. Nazario if he's an enlisted man and finds out that he's an officer. I presume this is the police officer who was subsequently fired.

I don't quite understand the lieutenant's reasoning in being unwilling to leave the car, but I don't understand the drawn guns or the pepper spray either. And then at the end of the incident Lt. Nazario wasn't charged with anything.
 
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This happened not too far from where I live so it's on local news all the time. It's unpleasant to watch, to say the least. One of the police seems to have a real attitude problem, especially when he asks Lt. Nazario if he's an enlisted man and finds out that he's an officer. I presume this is the police officer who was subsequently fired.

I don't quite understand the lieutenant's reasoning in being unwilling to leave the car, but I don't understand the drawn guns or the pepper spray either. And then at the end of the incident Lt. Nazario wasn't charged with anything.
Yep, I'm seeing it on the local news also. If anyone is familiar with Windsor Virginia this is par for the coarse for their Police Department. I'm very familiar with the town. I've been through it hundreds of times driving an 18 wheeler when I drove years ago and have been stopped. I've watched the videos and read the report. Both cops giving conflicting orders. When you have a gun pointed in your face I can see why Lt. Nazario acted the way he did. IMHO this is excessive use of force by the police. Read the entire report that @ohioboy posted:
The Causes of Action (Counts) begin at paragraph 65: 8 in total. Praying for a Million in damages. And it is a personal capacity lawsuit, not official capacity.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20612900/1-complaint.pdf
Another town in the area to look out for is Emporia Virginia.
I believe Lt. Nazario will get more than a million for this.
Now if anyone thinks I'm anti police, I'm not. I wore a badge in the military for 23 years. ;)
The City of Chesapeake Virginia has lowered the hiring age to become a Sheriff to 18 years old. Much too young if you ask me. (n)
 
"Driving while black". The military officer did not want to stop in the dark, unknowing why he was being targeted. He drove 1 minute and 20 seconds to a lighted area to stop. That procedure is recommended by many police departments. Supposedly stopped for no visible registration and tinted windows. Why would the officers pull their weapons and order the gentleman from his car. What had he done to appear dangerous to them or the public.

He immediately followed the orders to put his hands outside the vehicle. When ordered out of the vehicle, he said he was scared to exit. Well, with no explanation as to why he'd been stopped and with two officers pointing their handguns as him, didn't he at least deserve an explanation as to why he have been stopped? The senior officer yelled at him he "should be scared" to get out of the car. That officer also used a movie line that the military officer would "ride the lightning"... be electrocuted. Still, no indication of why he was being stopped.

The senior officer proceeded to spray the military gentleman, blinding him. He was pulled from the vehicle. Then, the senior officer told the uniformed military officer not to report the incident to his superiors. They let him go on his way.

No person, black or white, should be treated like this by a police officer. No person, black or white, should be threatened by an officer for a minor traffic infraction. And... once the officers approached the vehicle, the temporary registration was clearly displayed in the vehicle's rear window. The senior officer was fired... as he should have been. The Sergeant Major of the Army, based at the Pentagon, issued a statement commending the Lieutenant for his ability to remain calm throughout the incident. He displayed demeanor that made us all proud to know he is a U.S. Army soldier, caught in a difficult situation by an out-of-control police officer.

I sincerely hope he is successful in his civil suit against the officer and the City.
 
It's probably no surprise that I see this differently than most people.

The two policemen attempted to stop a car with dark tinted windows and no license plate without knowing anything about the driver or the contents of the vehicle. The driver continued to drive and finally pulled into a gas station. IMO that was a sensible thing for him to do but I understand how the police would consider that an evasive tactic intended to buy the occupants time to hide things, arm themselves, etc...

If you watch the entire video as opposed to the shorter clip used on the news you can see that the two officers stayed back from the vehicle and asked repeatedly for the driver to exit the vehicle. Each time the driver refused in a calm passive-aggressive manner. IMO if the driver had complied with the initial request this situation would not have escalated the way it did.

My only real complaint/concern over what I've seen in the video is the unprofessional behavior of the older policeman. IMO when the police stop people they should not be swearing or making innuendos about what could happen, etc...

There is definitely room for improvement on both sides but IMO if the driver had complied with the initial request he could have gotten off with a warning or a ticket for the tint on the windows and been on his way.

Excellent response...would you like to come and work for me?
 

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