Viral police video sparks split…
The Facebook Video of an El Paso Police Officer pointing a gun at a group of children during an intense situation has sparked reaction from ABC 7 viewers.
Hundreds of comments have been left on ABC 7’s Facebook page voicing their concerns over the behavior of the kids involved.
One woman saying she has had experiences with the kids in the video, that caused her to move out of the area. She also states she wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
“Obviously these police are familiar to the area, he’s familiar to the kids so he knows what they may and may not do and now if I knew if a kid had a gun and they’re are coming up behind me I’m gonna think he’s gonna take my gun. So that’s why I commented because what are kids are doing now a days,” the woman said.
Another family shared their experiences of vandalism to their business, but declined to comment further out of fear.
A man, who also asked not to be identified, shared his experiences with the group of kids. “I’m kind of scared but you’ve got to put up with the situation and if you don’t stand up then these kids will be jumping all over you,” the man said, “These young kids they have been here for 6 months and they are nothing but trouble I’ve seen them chasing people. taken coke from the trucks, they’ve chased me one time.”
Elizabeth Flores, mother of the boys in the video and in the video herself, denies the allegations against her kids. “They didn’t catch my Andrew or my Johnathan they didn’t catch him doing anything so I don’t know why they’re trying to blame my kids, they weren’t caught red handed,” Flores said.
But the question remains: was proper use of force protocol followed by the El Paso police officer?
The Supreme Court landmark case of Graham vs Conner – established The Objective Reasonableness standard – which states the reasonableness of the use of force must by judged by a reasonable vision of an officer on the scene and not 20/20 hindsight.
The El Paso Police Department has stated that every situation is different and all aspects of the situation will be investigated.
KVIA 2018
