Video posted to Facebook by Fort Worth woman Laquisha Cummings shows a Mississippi State Police trooper drawing a gun on a man, and trying to cuff him, without giving him any reason.
Without being given a reason for being stopped, the man, who was driving, does not consent to being handcuffed or detained.
During the video, the officer does say he pulled the man over for speeding.
But that’s only after the man questions why he’s being stopped, which the trooper admits he never did.
The trooper interprets the man’s questions about his reasoning for the stop as resisting.
And that prompts him to eventually draw his gun and point it at the man.
During the interaction, the officer continues telling the man to give him his hands then to get on the ground.
Cummings, who apparently recorded the incident, points out the officers commands are confusing since he’s saying both to get on the ground and to give him his hands.
“Give me your fucking hands!” the officer says.
“Unless you want to get tased, you better get on the fucking ground,” he threatens and accuses him of resisting.
The man repeats questions about why he’s under arrest.
“Why are you arresting me?”
“Give me your hands before you catch more charges,” the officer says.
“How? You haven’t told me what the first one was.”
“You were speeding at a 101 MPH, in a 65 MPH, then you would not give me your driver’s license, which is failure to identify. So you best give me your hands.”
“Really? You asked for my license before you even told me what you were pulling me over for.”
“Straight up,” the man says calmly, trying to communicate his side of things while the officer keeps a grip in his shirt from behind.
“You did,” Cummings says. “Don’t you have to tell us what you’re pulling us over for anyway.”
“No, I don’t have to.”
“Yes you do.”
“No I don’t,” the officer insists again.
“It’s the law, bro.,” the man says to the officer.
“No it’s not, my friend,” the officer says, apparently oblivious to the basic requirement for a traffic stop.
Cummings and the man try to explain to the cop things would have been less confusing if the officer would have given them the reason from the beginning of the stop.
“What’s wrong with us asking you?”
“You’re making it worse,” the trooper says.
“I’m just saying, why do you have my like this?” the man asks, as the cop presses him against the car.
“I pulled you over for speeding at 101, I had him at 90, I was trying to pull both of you over.”
The man explains all he ever wanted was a reason why he was being pulled over, and points out he remained calm.
The officer instructs him to put his hands behind his back then complains the man pulls away every time he tries to put him in handcuffs he pulls away.
“Right now, you’re being detained.”
“For what? That’s what I’m trying to get the understanding of.”
“Put your hands behind your back,” the man says.
“For what? I’m not getting arrested.”
“You are getting arrested.”
The man continues to refuse to give him his hands when the trooper draws his gun.
Eventually, another trooper shows up and he is wrestled to the ground.
It’s not clear exactly which charges the man was booked on. But to be resisting arrest, one would have to be under arrest in the first place.
If the man’s only crime was speeding, then it might have been much easier to just cite him and send him on his way.
The trooper wanted to put the man in cuffs, which indicated he was being investigated for a crime.
If all he intended to do was cite him for speeding, he could have specifically said told the driver, which may have made the man more comfortable with identifying himself.
Both videos posted to Cummings Facebook page contain some of the same footage.
