A police officer in Windsor, Va., has lost his job after footage of him pepper-spraying a uniformed U.S. Army lieutenant went viral. Caron Nazario, who is black, was pulled over in December 2020 by officer Daniel Crocker on the pretext that his new SUV, with dealer tags in the rear window, had no license plate. Another officer, Joe Gutierrez, turned up shortly thereafter waving his gun around sideways like a b-movie gangster. Nazario was sprayed while seated in his vehicle with both hands in the air. The footage contradicted the cops' version of events and supported Nazario's, but Gutierrez was only fired after it went viral months later.
The Windsor, Virginia, officers pointed guns at, pepper sprayed, and pushed a Black US Army officer to the ground during the traffic stop last December. During the stop, the police officers believed the Army officer was missing a license plate on his new SUV. Second Lt. Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, is suing over the incident, claiming the two officers violated his rights guaranteed under the First and Fourth Amendments. One of the officers, Joe Gutierrez, has been fired, Town Manager William Saunders confirmed to CNN late Sunday evening.
Beside showing the plain fact of police misconduct, footage of cops gleefully humiliating a uniformed soldier tickles the fears of people who couldn't care less if cops are racist. The dominance hierarchy shown isn't what they expected, so they no longer know where they stand.
