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The homeowner called because the agent knocked on the door and asked for the gun owner. Instead of opening the door, the homeowner called the police, told the police that Burke was a federal agent and gave the dispatcher Burk's badge number, which Burk had given her.
Burk committed no crime and the information given to the dispatcher did not describe a crime. The role of the police would simply be to assess the situation and then take further action as needed.
You do not assess the situation with your guns drawn and ordering a person, who you have no reason to suspect has committed a crime, who in fact has been reported to be a federal agent, to lie on the ground and get cuffed.
Columbus taxpayer dollars are going to be spent. The case will eventually settle in the 6 figures.
You do realize that people lie to police all the time, right? They responded to a scene about a gun... what the hell are they supposed to do? I didn't watch any of the video, but I'm with the crowd that says the federal guy should have known the rules. Get mad later. Maybe even get even later... but do what you're told. I expect were the tables turned, the ATF dude would have done the same thing.
I don't like all of the heavy hand policing today, but the ATF agent was 100% responsible for the police officers initial response to him.
The ATF agent felt that he deserved "special treatment" from the police because he is also an LEO. Because he felt he deserved special treatment, he refused to obey their directions, like any other person has to. All the ATF agent had to do was comply immediately, and when they pulled his ID, the police woulde have learned he was a government agent executing a job. At that point, he probably would have gotten the special treatment he was looking for.
I never saw the ATF guy get tazed. Is the title a lie or did I just miss him being tazed in the video? I never saw it.
Last edited by Igor Blevin; 08-02-2022 at 07:27 AM..
You can see how the ATF agent has been used to being at the top of his food chain for so long that he thinks he can call the shots against local police instead of just mildly complying and then sorting things out after the fact. Had he immediately and humbly complied from the start, this would have gone very well for him and the misunderstanting would have been cleared up in minutes.
The ATF agent is just used to having all the power in every interaction he has. You can see he has no ability to yield to the local officers temporarily. This is what happens when somebody is able to exercise too much power for too long. It goes to their head and they think they are omnipotent.
Unrestrained power is a bad thing.
I wouldn't blame anybody for saying the local police are in the same boat. They are so used to being at the top of their food chain, they refuse to listen to the guy repeatedly saying he is an ATF agent and to check his credentials.
The ATF agent is mostly responsible for his treatment, but if cops weren't power mad themselves, then maybe they would have the ability to listen to a cuffed guy on the ground who is absolutely no risk to them anymore. Instead, the cops share blame once the guy is cuffed on the ground. Everything after that is really as much on the cops as it is on the ATF agent.
This is a low level form of corruption, this defensiveness on the part of LEO to throw their weight around "just because they can". Both parties are guilty of it in this video.
I think the cops were totally in the wrong. They acted like thugs ordering the guy around to the point where he didn't know what to do and then they tazed him in the spine? This scene looked like George Floyd all over again.
The only defense the cops have is that in today's mess of a society we live in they never know how fast a routine call can turn ugly and deadly. Still if they are that on edge maybe they shouldn't be on the street.
They are very lucky the ATF guy wasn't tinted or this would be a much bigger story.
The homeowner called because the agent knocked on the door and asked for the gun owner. Instead of opening the door, the homeowner called the police, told the police that Burke was a federal agent and gave the dispatcher Burk's badge number, which Burk had given her.
Burk committed no crime and the information given to the dispatcher did not describe a crime. The role of the police would simply be to assess the situation and then take further action as needed.
You do not assess the situation with your guns drawn and ordering a person, who you have no reason to suspect has committed a crime, who in fact has been reported to be a federal agent, to lie on the ground and get cuffed.
Columbus taxpayer dollars are going to be spent. The case will eventually settle in the 6 figures.
Doubtful CPD would have approached drawn if the agent’s identity had been verified. Besides he could have simply complied with the order to get on the ground. His refusal could have caused him or or a bystander to be shot. No tax money should be awarded.
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