A Black food delivery driver caught the moment a Tennessee police officer fired a stun gun at him during a traffic stop, ABC News reports.
Attorney Ryan Wheeler released the footage during a March 18 news conference, which caught the tense encounter between his client Delane Gordon and a white Collegedale police officer on March 10. Wheeler claims Gordon was close to his delivery destination when the cop pulled him over. The delivery driver says he started recording the traffic stop because he felt unsafe.
The minute-long video starts with the cop pointing a Taser gun at Gordon and shouting getting "Get out" multiple times as the driver is holding his license.
"He said he pulled me over for a traffic stop and now he's going to tase me. You can't do that officer because I called for your supervisor," Gordon is heard saying.
"You refused to give me your information. I told you to get out of the car, now you're resisting," the officer says. There's a back-and-forth between the two before things start escalating.
"Sir, I feel uncomfortable, please get your supervisor," Gordon asks again.
"I don't give a s*** what you feel like, I said get out," the cop yells before starting to grab and pull on the Black driver. As Gordon keeps telling the officer to stop, the cop backs away and shoots him with the Taser.
"Oh my god, that's not lawful, sir! That's not lawful," Gordon says before the video ends.
Gordon was booked for speeding, resisting arrest, and other charges before he bonded out of jail, according to Wheeler.
The Hamilton County District Attorney's Office announced that they asked the sheriff's office to investigate the traffic stop. The Collegedale Police Department says they will cooperate with the probe and conduct their internal affairs investigation. Because of these probes, they have not released the officer's "complete" bodycam footage.
The officer involved hasn't been identified, nor has he been put on administrative leave, according to reporters.
Wheeler is hoping to get Delane, who has no criminal record, cleared of the charges and bring awareness to the issue.
"Simply asking, ‘Hey, can you explain to me why I'm being pulled over?' or any exchange of that nature shouldn't be met with immediate escalation, shouldn't be met with, I guess, an officer interpreting that exchange as a challenge to his authority," Wheeler says. "That speaks to the temperament and mentality of an officer."
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