I’m surprised I kept this one to myself when the video surfaced last year. Here’s the story, a man claimed to have been harassed by the police at his home so he would photograph or video them when he could. He was hooking up a boat trailer in front of his house and the police officer came by, three times IIRC so he began to film the officer. Eventually the officer became irritated he was being filmed and exited the police SUV and engaged the homeowner. He ordered the homeowner to remove his hand from his pocket and pulled his pistol on him.

Let’s stop the story there. Pulling a pistol and pointing it at someone is a show of deadly force. Putting your hand on a fiream, opening a retaining strap, even unholstering and holding it by your side is not a sign of deadly force, but pointing a firearm at someone means you intend to shoot and kill them. I remember watching the video last fall thinking how lucky the officer was he had not engaged me because I might have shot him for his actions. I know that would mean jail time unless a jury saw it my way, but the video would have shown I only exercised my right to deadly force when deadly force was my only option based on the officer’s actions. Leeway is often given to officers in the course of duty, but a guy hooking up a boat and taking your picture or filming the encounter does not call for deadly force!

So the officer was placed on leave and eventually cleared of wrongdoing. Let’s just call BS now because if nothing else the guy should have been sent for retraining, or even better, fired. The homeowner has filed a Federal lawsuit against the officer and the city for violating his civil rights and I have no idea if that will bear fruit, but I’m gonna grab the popcorn and stay tuned.