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:
"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."
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.

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?
 
I'm not sure that I can answer these questions without further details. Many have already made up their minds but I think I'm being reasonable to suspend judgement until more details are made known.

First, the officers reported that they were pulling over Lieutenant Nazario for not having his tag properly displayed. I read some reports that state that the tags could be seen on the body cams of one of the officers. But just because the body cam captured it, does that mean the officer sees it?

Second, how long can a person drive before they have to pull over? From experience, I know you don't have to pull over immediately after seeing the sirens because sometimes it is unsafe and you want to get to a safe spot. Lieutenant Nazario drove a minute and 40 seconds without pulling over. Is that wrong?

It would seem that the 2nd question matters more when it comes to the use of force that these officers displayed. They claimed to use that force because they thought the driver was eluding them.

Ideally, I'd like to see responses to these points from both sides, from those investigating and the officers being investigated, before I draw any definite conclusions.
 
Last edited: