A Police Officer Resigns after Threatening to Shoot a Motorist
On August 18, 2017, a police officer in Columbus, Mississippi, resigned after a video of him threatening to shoot a man went public. The officer allegedly pulled 20-year-old African American Joshua Hibbler over for speeding. Body camera footage shows their 13-minute exchange, during which Hibbler is compliant and respectful and the officer is allegedly verbally threatening. At one point, the officer can be heard giving the warning that he could empty his weapon in the vehicle. After the verbal exchange, Hibbler was given a warning and no ticket.
On Thursday, September 14, a Citizen Overview Committee for the Columbus Police Department agreed unanimously to recommend that the police officer be fired. On Tuesday, the executive session of the city council was set to decide the fate of the officer. The officer’s resignation, however, was set to be effective on Monday, September 18.
During the alleged exchange between the police officer and Hibbler, the following are the types of things that can be heard on the video:
- The officer accused Hibbler of doing drugs.
- Throughout the video, Hibbler never raised his voice.
- After allegedly being threatened by the officer, Hibbler allegedly admitted to previously using marijuana.
- Hibbler said he had no history of incidents with the police and a check on his driver’s license verified that fact.
- The officer was placed on paid administrative leave last Wednesday, and Police Chief Oscar Lewis issued the officer a written reprimand but did not recommend termination or suspension.
The video of this exchange which led to this officer resigning seems to be the kind of thing that adds fuel to the fire of racial tension that allegedly occurs all too often between African Americans and law enforcement officers.
As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh