Was justice served?

[onehit]

Dude... i would personally woop this cops ass for doing this. pathedic.
Reason why I hate cops who think they have authority to do anything they want.

"YOU DON'T BRING A GUN TO A SNOWBALL FIGHT!"


As quoted from the WASHINGTON POST:

Snowball fight!

People squealed as they hurled balls of snow across the largely deserted road. Then, a snowball or two slammed into a Hummer. The driver, a plainclothes detective whom D.C. police refused to identify, got out, drew his gun and exchanged angry words with revelers, according to video footage and witnesses.

Police said initially that the detective had not flashed his weapon. On Sunday, the officer was placed on desk duty after Twitter, blogs and YouTube appeared to show otherwise.

If the final investigation shows the officer pulled his weapon after being pelted with snowballs, D.C. Assistant Chief Pete Newsham, head of the investigative services bureau, said that "would not be a situation in which a member [of the force] would be justified."

"We have to see what the entire circumstance was," Newsham said Sunday. "But just a snowball fight, not in my mind. That doesn't seem a situation where we would pull out a service weapon."

Some cars passing by rolled down their windows to taunt the warriors -- and were consequently pelted with snow. Gas-guzzling Hummers became a particular target, Grishkoff said, because of the crowd's political leanings. (A few people, witnesses said, brought an antiwar sign, although the snowball fight was not a political protest.)

Police, at least initially, were tolerant, witnesses said. By some accounts, a D.C. officer asked the revelers to disperse, but when they didn't, he didn't raise a fuss. At one point, witnesses said, the snowball fighters helped push a police car out of the snow.

"You can criticize it for being immature . . . but it was pretty safe," said Matthew Bradley, 28, an amateur photographer who showed up to shoot pictures. "It seemed like everything was what you'd expect."

Then a maroon Hummer pulled up and was hit by snowballs. A man in plainclothes got out with a gun in his left hand.

According to witnesses, the man did not identify himself, and at least one reveler threw a snowball at him. Most witnesses said the man kept the gun at his side. But some witnesses said the detective holstered the gun and then charged into the crowd, pushing at least one snowball fighter with his finger and threatening to haul others to jail.

"There was this general mood of everything's a good time, and then he pulls out a gun, and everybody's just fearful," said Peter Witte, 30. "It was a little bit surreal to see somebody get out of the car with a gun."

Soon other officers arrived, including one who also approached with a gun drawn at his side, police and witnesses said. Police said that officer knew only that witnesses had reported a man with a gun, and when he learned that the man was a detective, he quickly holstered his weapon.

But the confrontation continued. The snowball fighters, some chanting, "You don't bring a gun to a snowfall fight," demanded the detective's name, and he admitted to them that he had pulled his gun after being struck by snowballs, according to video footage and witnesses. Then, as the detective was walking back to his Hummer, witnesses said, he was struck again by a snowball and ran back into the crowd to grab the man he thought was the culprit.

The man was eventually released, witnesses said, and the revelers were sent on their way.

But some remain unsatisfied.

"It was actually kind of just fun and games until all of this happened," said Lacy MacAuley, 31, who came to the snowball fight from Adams Morgan. "I feel that this is just an example of people asserting our basic right to have fun, and the police not being okay with that."

[No Sympathy]

these people are the reason cops have to be like this. it's very sad, that people think they can do whatever they want. yes these are just snowballs but you don't throw them at cars. it's a hazard for whoever is driving. fuckin punk ass kids who have a problem with authority. american society is hopeless, everyone is becoming stupid.


"fuck you pig!" really? grow up, i would smack the fuck out of them for saying that.

and please don't take my post as a support of police, i don't like them either. but learn some respect

[onehit]

well actually, i was checking this up online, and it was a rare day when washington DC got 8 inches of snowfall in 1 night, and it rarely snows there. When the city woke up and seen this, they organized a snowball fight for the community, even helped a cop get unstuck out of the snow and thanked them(before the cop pulled his gun), everything was fine and fun until the cop pulled out his gun and ruined the communities rare fun.

PLUS, the cop was in an UNMARKED vehicle as he was OFFDUTY and pulled a gun WITHOUT identifying himself first. He was clearly in the wrong, the right thing to do would of been to get out, indentify your self as a federal officer and try and handle the situation. What he did was get out, start waving a gun, and talking on a walkie talkie and freaked everyone out

and why would they yell "fuck you pig" you might say symp, maybe because "quote on quote"

"There was this general mood of everything's a good time, and then he pulls out a gun, and everybody's just fearful," said Peter Witte, 30. "It was a little bit surreal to see somebody get out of the car with a gun."

[No Sympathy]

rare fun? if they can't have fun there is something else seriously wrong with DC. I lived 30 minutes outside of DC for 10 years, they get 8 inches of snow every year.

you don't throw shit at cars, period. if someone threw something at my car i wouldn't hesitate to get out and beat the hell out of them

[POW]

these people are the reason cops have to be like this. it's very sad, that people think they can do whatever they want. yes these are just snowballs but you don't throw them at cars. it's a hazard for whoever is driving. fuckin punk ass kids who have a problem with authority. american society is hopeless, everyone is becoming stupid.


"fuck you pig!" really? grow up, i would smack the fuck out of them for saying that.

Now What poeple do not FUCKING understand is the fact cops are just doing there jobs. It is there job to write you a ticket for going 68 in a 65. Or Arresting dumbass's for public intox, or arresting ya for a joint in the ash trey of your car. Yes, you usually only see cops when you are doing something wrong, if that's the case then you should be punished accordingly. Now this guy was dealing with a bunch of people that were throwing snowballs at incoming traffic, that is insanely dangerous and against th law. Now when a cop is by himself with a mob of unruly people, he pulled his gun for his personal protection, and to let the mob know that he is inharge, not them.

[onehit]

did u not read this?

"People squealed as they hurled balls of snow across the largely deserted road. Then, a snowball or two slammed into a Hummer. The driver, a plainclothes detective whom D.C. police refused to identify, got out, drew his gun and exchanged angry words with revelers, according to video footage and witnesses."

the road barely had traffic and they had people on each side of the road that they were throwing the snowballs at. hence the phrase "snowball fight"

and as for the protection part, nobody intended to hurt him, as he never even INDENTIFIED himself

"Then a maroon Hummer pulled up and was hit by snowballs. A man in plainclothes got out with a gun in his left hand."

[SmurfSniper]

wtf, dumbass people! hit my car with a snowball, I will get out with a gun too! u dont have a snowball fight on a city street anyway.

[onehit]

all im saying is, you dont pull a gun on unarmed civilians like that, especially when your a trained federal officer, you should know better.

I was talking with my father about this, and he was telling me a story when he was around 12 or so with his friend and they were throwing shingles at moving vehicles ( which is the dumbest thing i ever heard btw lol) anyways, the cop seen it, went around them and pulled a gun on them. the cop took them home and explained the situation, then they explained themselves, and when his mom(my grandma) heard he had a gun pulled on him she bitched out the officer, AND the police department, and the officer was later relieved of his duties. other words fired.

[SmurfSniper]

I understand what you are saying, BUT if the detective didnt know what was going on and a well packed snowball hit his hummer... maybe he thought someone was shooting or something and that was his first reaction. from the looks of it he didnt just get out of the vehicle see a bunch of kids throwing snowballs and start waving the gun around... I think the old man was startled and didnt know what was going on, he was just doing his job. I mean watch the guys reaction when he gets around the front of the vehicle, he almost looks relieved and starts to put the gun away.

[NoogyMan]

You have to realize his car was "attacked."

There was a MOB of people and they all were angry and throwing snowballs at him. Granted yes they were snowballs but still. The guy was just protecting himself. I would have done the same thing if dozens of people were yelling and throwing shit at me.

-Noogy