A police department in Indiana has launched an internal investigation after a firefighter said he was thrown to the ground and threatened with a Taser for waving at several officers, who thought he was flipping them off.Evansville firefighter George Madison Jr. told the Evansville Courier & Press that he filed a formal complaint over the incident that happened on Tuesday. Madison, who also serves as a youth pastor at at Memorial Baptist Church, said that he was riding his bicycle on South Weinbach Avenue when he waved at several officers in a patrol car.
The next thing he knew, the officers had pulled him over.
so much for officer friendly new mantra bad police.
“The officer jumped out and says, ‘What are you doing throwing your hands up at us?’” Madison recalled. “He is talking to me as he is coming toward me. I tried to explain, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”Madison said that he knew Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin from community events, so he took out his cellphone to call him for help calming the situation. But the officer told him to put the phone down. And when he hesitated, the Taser came out.“It was literally maybe inches from my face,” the father of four said. “I immediately threw my hands in the air. What he asked me to do I was more than willing to do. I said ‘Please don’t hurt me.’ The next thing I know I’m laying down the ground and they cuffed me.”“I remember looking down the barrel of a Taser, because [the officer] was gritting his teeth and saying, ‘Don’t make me pull this trigger.’
if his story is accurate the moment that cop saw his hand go up he immediately thought he was getting what we see now as what he deserved no respect as a cop
After the officers asked him where he worked, their attitudes changed, Madison said.In a Facebook post, Madison said that he didn’t think the fact that he was black and the officers were white had anything to do with the incident, according to WFIE. But he does think they should be held accountable.“I don’t want this man to lose his job or weeks of pay, but I have to look at it from the standpoint of I have a family to think about. I shouldn’t feel bad for standing up for my own rights,” he remarked. “The fact that I am a firefighter or preacher doesn’t make a difference. All anybody wants is to be treated like a human being.”
i disagree, so that means he profiled him as a stereotypical ner-do-well and auto assumed the worst and a perceived target. i also think given his position he did not want to be seen as playing the "card", he didn't they did, so did he really stand up for his rights or just went along to get along and keep a good relationship with the chief, not a put down but maybe more of a reality check.
