A off-duty police officer with the St. Joseph Police Department has been suspended, pending an investigation, for essentially acting like a jackass to a man who was involved in an accident with him:
THE HILL – An off-duty police officer in Missouri has been removed from his official duties and placed on administrative duty pending an investigation after he was seen in a viral video threatening a man following a car accident.
The St. Joseph Police Department said in a statement that the agency has reviewed portions of the video and that an investigation will be conducted.
“Police Officers are the most conspicuous representatives of government and, to the majority of people; they are a symbol of stability and authority upon which they can rely,” the release states. “Unbecoming conduct on the part of police officers adversely affects the operations of the department and ultimately destroys public confidence in it. All matters involving officer misconduct allegations are and will be investigated by the department.”
Officer Brandon Harrison can be seen in a viral social media video that was uploaded to TikTok over the weekend.
The clip received more than 2.5 million views on the app and an additional 1.2 million views when another user shared it on Twitter.
Meet off duty police officer Brandon Harrison of St. Joseph, Missouri.
He was in a car accident with the other man you see in this video. And this is how he responded.
And yes he is wearing a Trump hat.
— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) June 22, 2020
Everyone is making a big deal about this officer wearing a Trump hat. So what? It’s not the Trump hat that is offensive, it’s the way he acts against this man with whom he was involved in the accident.
According to The Hill, Harrison has been with the St. Joseph PD since 2019.
Now this video is pretty short so it's entirely possible this officer wasn't as out of line as it looks. Maybe the other guy was acting like an a-hole before the video started. I'm sure that's why the St. Joseph PD is conducting an investigation.
Because the video has gone viral, there are now protesters:
Local outlet News-Press Now reported that activists gathered outside the St. Joseph Police Department over the video and that more protests are planned.
Area activists Nolan and Eliot O’Callaghan told the outlet that the uniformed officer seen in the video also needs to be held accountable.
“What I found to be disgusting is the female officer sat there and did nothing. I think she is the example of how good cops don’t stop bad cops,” Eliot O’Callaghan said.
I’m honestly surprised that there are any protesters over this because the victim in this case is a white man. That almost never happens.
I guarantee you, however, that if the victim had been a black man in this viral video, the protests would be a lot larger and everyone would be claiming this officer is racist. But this video, if nothing else, demonstrates that a few officers, like this one, aren’t racist at all. They are just a-holes in general (assuming it wasn’t justified).