Excessive force and police brutality of this nature should start with the immediate dismissal of the guilty officer and result in criminal charges.
Office Robert McDonald was fired today after a disgusting video emerged yesterday of him kicking a handcuffed man on the ground during a highway stop. The Gwinnett County Police Department held a press conference today to announce the dismissal. ABC News provides us the details on today’s events.
The Gwinnett County Police Department in Lawrenceville has fired the officer in question, identified as Robert McDonald, who was hired in August 2013. “This officer and his actions do not represent the men and women of this police department who put their lives on the line,” Gwinnett County Police Chief Butch Ayers said in a press conference Thursday afternoon, a few hours after McDonald was fired. Ayers said McDonald apologized for what occurred and for embarrassing the department. “It shouldn’t have happened,” Ayers said McDonald told him. The Gwinnett Police Department said in a press release that it has launched a criminal investigation that will be handed over to the District Attorney’s Office.
“What happened yesterday was clearly outside of state law and department policy,” the police department said. “We do not tolerate actions that are not consistent with our core values or state law.” Police said the incident happened April 12 around 4 p.m. local time. McDonald was responding as a backup officer to assist a supervisor with a traffic stop at the busy intersection of Sugarloaf Parkway at Lawrenceville Suwanee Road.
There’s no “allegedly” required in this scenario. The victim was handcuffed on the ground, presenting no threat and was then stomped in the face from a charging officer who was offering backup. A firing should be the baseline for when events such as these occur. Here are the details according to the officers as to why the victim in this crime, 21-year-old Demetrius Hollins, was stopped.
According to the police incident report obtained by ABC News, Hollins was driving in a red Acura Integra that did not have a license plate and whose passenger side brake light was out. Hollins also changed lanes three times without a signal. The officer who pulled him over, identified in the incident report as Bongiovanni, said Hollins “began to act strange” and started yelling, “I need to call my mom” and “You have to let me go.” The officer also said he smelled marijuana.
Bongiovanni said he then realized he had arrested Hollins in August 2016 for having marijuana and a loaded gun in the car. The officer said Hollins exhibited “strange behavior” during that time and he also screamed about his mother and physically resisted arrest. That’s when Bongiovanni requested a backup unit, according to the incident report.
Officer Bongiovanni later says “Hollins turned away from me and I feared he would reach for a weapon or try to start the vehicle and drive off”. Even in the face of danger police officers have a duty to subdue the suspect and arrest him in an appropriate fashion. Far too often is the case that a young black male is viewed as a threat and violent before any real threat has been made apparent. For the “How Hard is it to follow Police Directions” crowd. It’s been proven time and time again that there are two America’s when interacting with law enforcement. That’s something a 2 liter of Pepsi won’t fix.
Check out the video below of the Police Department’s Press Conference, the disgusting incident and comments from the lawyer of the victim.