Father Utterly Terrified After Trooper Points Gun At His 7 Year Old
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 3 months ago
Suddenly, the officer rapped on the rear passenger side window with his pistol. My daughter, who was sitting inches from the barrel of his gun, jumped with fear as the officer yelled at me to roll down the front passenger window, his service weapon pointed directly at me. I knew something was terribly awry and I tried to remain calm, keeping my hands visible as I slowly fumbled for the window controls in an unfamiliar car.
My daughter rolled down her window and I explained that we were in a rental car, that we had no weapons, and I was having trouble figuring out how to roll down the front passenger window from my driver’s side door. The officer didn’t listen, and kept yelling louder and more insistently, ordering me to comply with his request as he leered at me down the barrel of his pistol. My daughter panicked and tried to get out of her booster seat to reach forward to roll down the front window, and the officer screamed her at her not to move as he pointed his pistol at her.
Then, as I had my hands in the air, he yelled, at the top of his lungs, in a voice I will never forget, as my daughter looked on in terror, “Get your hands away from your waist or I’ll blow two holes through your back right now!” My hands were high in the air as he said this, and I was not in any way reaching for my waist. I was utterly terrified. I’ve heard stories of police yelling out false things like this before they unjustifiably attack someone as a way to justify the attack, and I thought this was what was happening to me. I braced for bullets to hit me and all I could think of was my daughter having to watch it happen and being left alone on the side of the highway with an insane, violent cop.
I would be terrified for my child too. The report says that the officer thought it was a stolen car. Whatever. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. None.
With a child in the car, the officer should have immediately reassessed the situation and concluded that his information was likely incorrect. It often is, witness so many wrong-home SWAT raids. Furthermore, inability to figure out how a window works when under duress isn’t equivalent to being noncompliant with the officer’s commands. The officer doesn’t know everything about the situation, and he shouldn’t have drawn his service weapon.
Finally, men like this give gun owners like me a bad name. His trigger discipline and muzzle discipline are non-existent. Even if it was a stolen vehicle like he thought, the presence of a child in the automobile should have made him stop and conclude that it wasn’t worth the risk of injury to the child, even if the driver drove away. The driver will never actually get away. He knows that.
Honestly, from my vantage point, I don’t worry so much about crime or assault. My biggest worry is goobers like this who believe they are Mr. tactical, when their thinking more matches Barney Fife. And I would bet every penny I had that if a negligent discharge occurred, killing the innocent man or injuring the child, the PD would have hired “experts” who testified that he did everything right. He would have gotten away with it.
On August 17, 2016 at 8:49 am, Fred said:
“The department is standing by the trooper’s actions, including his threat to shoot Walton
during the traffic stop, said Capt. Damon Cecil…This case is a prime example of how things should be done.” – Gang mentality.
The first thing a man wants to do when in the presence of a little girl keep her safe even at the loss of their own life. This animal should be fired immediately. He is no man.
On August 17, 2016 at 10:16 am, Douglas Mortimer said:
This guy has no business being a law enforcement officer. This is horrible. Fred is right.
On August 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm, EN said:
More likely and ND would have led to all the witnesses in the car being slaughtered.
On August 22, 2016 at 2:29 am, molly mosher said:
PDs are hiring lower IQ yes men and conditioning them to believe that the American people are terrorists, the very people who pay their salaries.
They are incrementally being federalized/nationalized in order to merge local law enforcement under the United Nations banner and its strong cities network.
What we are witnessing in the USA is the takeover and overthrow of the Constitution and the American people.
On August 17, 2016 at 3:01 pm, George said:
For quite some time there has been the lowering of standards in the hiring and training process.
Add into the mix a lack of common sense and we see the tragic stupidity in action.
On August 17, 2016 at 4:47 pm, Phil Ossiferz Stone said:
The comments section at WaPo is horrifying. One thumbs up for the cop, one down for the dummy… and boy, he must be embellishing a LOT!11!!!!1!
I’m not sure how much of it derives from compassion fatigue brought on by BLM/Milwaukee/Ferguson, how much is smug blue-staters happy that the White Man got victimized for a change, and how much is misplaced (in this case) pro-cop bias. But it’s still horrifying.
On August 17, 2016 at 4:59 pm, Billy Mullins said:
Crap like this is why I am convinced “only Ones” (as David Codrea calls LEOs) should be held to a higher standard than us lowly peed-ons. THEY’RE the ones with all the training. THEY’RE the ones with all the experience. So they can reasonably be held to a higher standard. Specifically, I am saying that in any use of force beyond voice, any justification which would be a defense for “civilians” (as they – often sneeringly – refer to us non LEOs) should be an “affirmative defense”. When someone offers a defense, the burden of proof falls upon the prosecution whose job is to negate that defense beyond reasonable doubt. In an affirmative defense, the burden of proof falls upon the defendant to prove by preponderance of evidence that the defense they offered is applicable.
Example: If you or I wound up shooting someone, our defense would be that the use of deadly force was justified under (here in Texas) some section or sub-section of Chapter 9 of the Penal Code. The prosecution would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the cited section of the Penal Code did NOT apply. In the case of a LEO, the burden of proof would be upon the defendant (the LEO) to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the cited section of of the Penal Code DID apply. In either case, if the jury didn’t buy the defense, bye bye defendant.
Oh, and there should be NO presumption of truthfulness on the part of the LEO; nor should there be any benefit of the doubt. Here is an interesting article, titled “Why Police Lie Under Oath”. Fascinating reading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/why-police-officers-lie-under-oath.html?_r=0
On August 23, 2016 at 12:16 pm, Wayne Duncan said:
It only took 5 paragraphs to get to the answer why cops lie, “Because they can.”
On August 17, 2016 at 5:28 pm, SunwolfNC said:
Sue em. Child endangerment. No counting the number of bleeding heart lawyer types would jump at that.
On August 18, 2016 at 1:19 am, guest said:
I see your “child endangerment” and raise you a “sovereign immunity.”
Governments only allow themselves to be sued when it’s PC. This guy is white, so he will get laughed out of court.
On August 18, 2016 at 12:58 pm, Archer said:
Prosecutors and judges get “sovereign immunity”. Beat cops get “qualified immunity”, which is a somewhat lesser standard.
The actions of the cop in this example are sufficiently egregious that “qualified immunity” might not cover it. He’s clearly not qualified enough.
On August 21, 2016 at 11:27 pm, vytiense_1 said:
Correct!
On August 18, 2016 at 1:17 am, guest said:
They protected and served the hell out of that guy.
He’s lucky Officer Triggerhappy didn’t kill him in front of his kid.
On August 18, 2016 at 8:03 pm, Robo said:
Hope this cop ends up on the wrong end himself.
On August 19, 2016 at 12:03 pm, Jack Crabb said:
NWA had it right back in the early ’80s.
On August 20, 2016 at 3:13 am, Josh said:
Pearl Jam’s song, W.M.A., written in 1994, could hardly be more relevant. The possible exception would be the focus on the “brother,” as these days the police don’t discriminate with their violence like they used to.
Partial Lyrics:
He won the lottery when he was born
Took his mothers white breast to his tongue
Trained like dogs color and smell
Walks by me to get to him
Police man
He won the lottery by being born
Big hand slapped a white male American
Do no wrong so clean cut
Dirty his hands it comes right off
Police man
Police stopped my brother again
Police man
Jesus greets me, looks just like me
Do no wrong so clean cut
Dirty his hands, it comes right off
Police man
Police stopped my brother again
Police man
On August 20, 2016 at 3:48 am, Daniel Barger said:
This is exactly what you get when you hire bullys and sociopaths. Those in charge don’t want people to ‘protect and serve’. They want criminals pinned to a badge who will KEEP THE SHEEPLE IN LINE. And if that means murdering an innocent sheep now and then so what.
On August 20, 2016 at 6:07 pm, LetsTryLibertyAgain said:
Some police departments issue intelligence tests to prospective police officers and have not hired applicants who scored too high on the intelligence test. I know that sounds insane and can’t be true but it absolutely is true. Applicants have sued for not being hired because they were determined to be to intelligent, and the courts have repeatedly sided with the police departments, apparently under the premise that past employee experience has shown that police officers who are “too intelligent” are unhappy and leave the department. Search online if this sounds too implausible and you’ll find the cases. So, the question is, why do some departments deliberately select for lower intelligence police applicants?
On August 20, 2016 at 6:10 pm, GenEarly said:
They want you to be happy in your job, doing your “work”. Everything looks like a nail to a hammer. Discernment and IQ are not required or wanted in police work.
On August 20, 2016 at 6:28 pm, UNCLEELMO said:
Good one.
In this particular instance, everything looks like a nail to a hammerhead.
On August 20, 2016 at 7:11 pm, Fred said:
Fact. Confirmed when I asked a retired deputy sheriff. But it’s worse than that – when I asked him if the standards had been lowered to ensure compliance with orders given, he didn’t blink, one word was his answer; “Yes”.
On August 22, 2016 at 11:43 pm, Gwynn Ap Nudd said:
Right outta A Clockwork Orange. Alex’s droogs are made into cops during his stay in prison. Or in Europe, Muslims are assaulting women in public pools. So there’s a planned program to make them lifeguards!
On October 14, 2016 at 9:40 am, Matt Wavle said:
Because those “too intelligent” won’t blindly follow the immoral order of evil men.
On August 20, 2016 at 8:38 pm, Dan Morgan said:
This is not the last we will hear of this trooper, he will kill someone, because he wants to.
On August 21, 2016 at 8:23 am, GenEarly said:
Lessons learned. As the Gov. Elites depart from Constitutional Law, and Government by the people it will only get worse. The police increasingly have loyalty only to their bosses and masters in Gov. Those police that are Liberty minded depart. As societal norms devolve there is less self restraint, more criminality, top to bottom, hence Gov needs more authoritarian police and “legal” systems, prosecutors/judges/prisons become corrupt. Think Mexico, plan and prepare for a Mexican society in the New USSA.
On August 21, 2016 at 5:44 pm, Dan Morgan said:
I agree, with one exception. We are more likely to resemble the former Yugoslavia.
On August 21, 2016 at 7:35 pm, GenEarly said:
You are being “optimistic” that there will be significant push back against the Ferals and their assorted Brown Shirt goon organizations. While Mexico represents an implosion and acquiescence to Gov corruption/tyranny. Throw in a Venezuelan economic collapse, stir and bring all 3 to a boil. I just suspect the Ferals are way ahead of the Patriots in planning and resources, but WTF; I cannot abide the Feral’s always increasing tyranny.
All the best.
On August 22, 2016 at 8:29 am, Dan Morgan said:
Not really optimistic, I just look at the average intelligence of the populations involved, and the cultural differences.
Those who have never known freedom, may thirst for it, but lack the courage, discipline, and IQ,
required to achieve it.
You can take everything from such an individual, and they will accept their fate.
Americans are a different animal, and I think TPTB will receive push back from unexpected directions.
On August 22, 2016 at 12:02 pm, GenEarly said:
LOL, “optimistic” is even a bit grim, but I hope you are correct, the “medicine” can be a bitter pill to swallow, but necessary. I’m prepped and just observing to see how it shakes out. Doesn’t look like we’ll have much longer to abide, elections do have consequences, especially if the progreSSives continue to rule. cya.
On August 27, 2016 at 10:20 pm, Billy Mullins said:
“that little girl will never trust another cop.”
These days she shouldn’t. Let us hope she NEVER trusts a cop again. The continuing degradation of law enforcement and other societal systems is merely an example of entropy in action in living systems. Sooner or later EVERYthing turns to shit.
On August 20, 2016 at 8:44 pm, FaCubeItches said:
Have you seen the damage a My Little Pony can wreak in the hands of a determined 7 year old? This hero, nay, this god-amongst-men, should be commended for his restraint!
On August 20, 2016 at 11:39 pm, Paul X said:
We don’t need cops. We were better off without ’em.
On August 21, 2016 at 8:30 am, GenEarly said:
50/50 imo, but worthy of debate. Police “work” has turned into “Revenue Enhancement” for Govs from local to Feral, with traffic revenue tickets to asset forfeiture and bureaucratic fines on businesses. Many large donor political donations are just paying “protection money” to the Pol/Gov Mafia.
On August 21, 2016 at 10:54 am, UNCLEELMO said:
Exactly right, General.
My local talk show guy, Phil Cowan in Sacramento, points out often how civil asset forfeiture has become a part of the budget of many local departments. It’s money they’ve come to count on to fund themselves every year.
On August 21, 2016 at 3:33 pm, GenEarly said:
I suppose it’s preaching to the choir on this site, but sometimes I have to pinch myself that this sht is going on, not so much right around me at the moment, but it’s coming everywhere eventually. just still hard to believe here in the USSA!
http://alt-market.com/articles/2988-how-the-globalists-will-attempt-to-control-populations-post-collapse
Just be ready for it and resist as you can, All the best to you in Sacramento and everywhere.
On August 21, 2016 at 4:04 pm, UNCLEELMO said:
It may be preaching to the choir, but it sure is stress relieving to stand at the pulpit, even if it’s only for a moment. At least somebody’s listening.
And oh my! Look at all those Officer Friendlies (photo in the alt-market article) with their ARs (none of which will be legal soon here in the Sunshine State. Meanwhile, Fish and Game has new AR10’s).
On August 21, 2016 at 5:26 am, elizibeth morrison said:
This is a tyranny folks and they are becoming more aggressive and hostile towards the American people from all aspects of government and LE.
On August 23, 2016 at 5:41 pm, Wayne Duncan said:
Tree of Liberty is getting thirsty. Just sayin’
On August 25, 2016 at 8:58 am, Renov8 said:
And they want to federalize the police forces around the country….no thanks. What we have now is fixable, just need to get started,rather than talking about it.