On December 5, 2020, Army Lieutenant Caron Nazario was pulled over at a gas station. According to the police officers, the lieutenant did not pull over immediately and instead drove a 1 minute and 40 seconds (this according to CNN reporting) from the time the sirens were activated before pulling over. The officers claimed that they put on their sirens because the army Lieutenant's license plate was not visible. A few months later, the lieutenant filed a federal lawsuit and now this story is receiving attention. I want to debate on these details of the lawsuit as reported by CNN:
A full video of the encounter can be seen here:
Sources for the story:
For Debate:
1. Was excessive force used here?
2. Does this police encounter show racism or racial bias?
NOw although, the officers are accused of several things here, but I'm mainly concerned about their use of force, like pepper spraying the victim, approaching him with guns drawn, removing him from his vehicle and handcuffing him, etc. I'm also wanting to know if the stop was justified to begin with."These cameras captured footage of behavior 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, (including issuing unreasonable comply-or-die commands,) ignore the clearly established mandates of the Constitution of these United States and the state and local laws, and usurp the roles of legislator, judge, jury, and executioner; substituting the rule of law for their arbitrary and illegal conduct," the lawsuit said."
A full video of the encounter can be seen here:
Sources for the story:
Virginia officer accused of force in stop of Black Army officer fired
One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a Black Army officer during a traffic stop has since been fired, a Virginia town announced late Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation into the case.
www.foxnews.com
2 Virginia police officers used excessive force, threatened Army officer during traffic stop, lawsuit says
A US Army officer is suing two Virginia police officers after they pointed guns at him, pepper sprayed him and pushed him to the ground during a traffic stop last December for what the officers believed was a missing license plate on his new SUV.
www.cnn.com
For Debate:
1. Was excessive force used here?
2. Does this police encounter show racism or racial bias?