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[Enzom21]

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A former police lieutenant forced out of his department after he pointed a semiautomatic rifle at protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and threatened to kill them testified this week that his life was “ruined” during the subsequent fight to keep his law enforcement license.


Ray Albers' attorney argued that the former lieutenant “showed great restraint” while policing demonstrations in August 2014 following the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.

Albers was a lieutenant in the city of St. Ann, a city near Ferguson best known for an infamous and lucrative speed trap. On Aug. 19, 2014, Albers was part of a disorganized police response to protesters, one that involved officers from a number of agencies. During that confrontation, he pointed his weapon at people in a crowd and said "I will fucking kill you" and "Go fuck yourselves" when they asked for his name.

Another officer from the St. Louis County Police Department had to come over and calm Albers down and lower his weapon. Later, when a Huffington Post reporter took photos of Albers from the sidewalk, he said "Get that camera out of my fucking face.” Videos of Albers’ threats spread online, and his career in St. Ann quickly came to an end.

Despite widespread police misconduct in Ferguson in August 2014, Albers is the only officer known to have faced any formal discipline as a result of his or her behavior on the ground. (Dan Page, a veteran officer in the St. Louis County Police Department, was suspended in August 2014 over inflammatory comments he'd made months before, which only came to light after Page pushed a CNN anchor during a live broadcast in Ferguson. Page retired a few days later.)

Albers and his lawyer, Brandi Barth, offered several different defenses for his actions that night. Barth argued it was “unfair” to make Albers “the poster child” for bad policing during the Ferguson protests, and showed off photos of a number of other officers pointing rifles at protesters. Indeed, St. Louis County officers stationed on top of armored vehicles even pointed their sniper rifles at crowds of peaceful protesters in broad daylight a few days after Brown’s death, a tactic that drew widespread condemnation.

Video of Officer "Go fuck yourselves"
I love the "Other cops got away with it, so should I." argument being made.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

As it should be.

 

[BronsonLee]

Yeah, that tends to be what happens when you threaten to kill someone on live TV

 

[The Technomancer]

Albers and his lawyer, Brandi Barth, offered several different defenses for his actions that night. Barth argued it was “unfair” to make Albers “the poster child” for bad policing during the Ferguson protests, and showed off photos of a number of other officers pointing rifles at protesters.

That...is not a great defense

 

[EdibleKnife]

My tears for him are flowing like a river.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

 

[spindashing]

The defense is seriously the equivalent of "well everyone else was doing something bad so why focus on me."

 

[Siegcram]

 

[Lambtron]

Aww, poor little muffin.

 

[cameron]

Everyone has a sob story.

his life was “ruined” during the subsequent fight to keep his law enforcement license.

McDonald's is always hiring.

“There’s selective enforcement against Mr. Albers, in a situation where we have now seen at least a dozen officers in the selected photos having their rifles raised,” Barth said. “This situation of 30 seconds in a 20-year career has literally ruined his life.”

Dense. Get fucked.

 

[ColdPizza]

I'm actually surprised anything came of this.

This is why cameras are important.

 

[Damaniel]

Boo hoo.

 

[Kettch]

His real name wasn't Officer GoFuckYourselves? That's so disappointing.

 

[The Kree]

 

[Krappadizzle]

He can go fuck himself. Actually....He did. Name fits.

 

[Sai-kun]

Wahhhhhh poor baby

 

[aygomyownroad]

That...is not a great defense

Actually I can see how can be a good defence. One rule for one, one rule for the rest.

I think all of them should be hauled over the coals and put on courses to show how they should be using firearms.
No one should have a gun pointed at them.

 

[John Kowalski]

Can't he just get another job? I don't know, working at the tire factory or something. Or distribution.

 

[HazySaiyan]

http://youtu.be/2ET63prmWK4

 

[Tagyhag]

Barth argued it was “unfair” to make Albers “the poster child” for bad policing during the Ferguson protests, and showed off photos of a number of other officers pointing rifles at protesters.

Yes it was a 20 second moment in a 20 year career, but those 20 seconds could have ended up killing an innocent person.

 

[BobTheFork]

Did those other officers with guns raised also threaten to murder innocent civilians who wanted to express their constitutional rights?

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

The defense is seriously the equivalent of "well everyone else was doing something bad so why focus on me."

I agree with that logic, but only under the condition that the whole department should've been razed over the shitshow that was going during those protests, not just Officer Go Fuck Yourself.

 

[HeySeuss]

Zero accountability for his own actions. Pathetic.

 

[PopeReal]

Wait, so it is all cops then. That is their defense.

 

[Armaros]

Wait, so it is all cops then. That is their defense.

its all cops when one cop gets abandoned by the blue wall to deal with horrible and inexcusable PR.

He now gets to feel like other civilians that get shut out by the blue wall.

 

[Dai101]

That...is not a great defense

He should have used some affluenza type deffense.

 

[Walter White Walker]

I don't feel bad for him.

 

[Tesseract]

it's not fair . hathaway

 

[RunTheBrules]

Justice is being served, sucka.

 

[Bay Maximus]

Aw man. That's so unfortunate. After all his buddies got away with it too.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

That...is not a great defense

 

[norm9]

Always sucks to lose your job...

...but when you lost it by telling people you were you going to shoot them, I don't feel so bad.

 

[Red]

That's my feel good story of the day.

 

[Tripon]

He didn't just lose his job because of this one incident, he likely lost it because he wasn't performing anyway and his bosses used this incident to push him out.


And the comparison to the Snipper unit is dumb too. That unit likely had orders to point their guns on the protesters. I don't like it, but to compare that to a half cocked officer who clearly couldn't handle the situation and went rouge is a bit much.

 

[super-famicom]

It's his own fault.

 

[RibMan]

Barth argued it was “unfair” to make Albers “the poster child” for bad policing during the Ferguson protests, and showed off photos of a number of other officers pointing rifles at protesters.

Ah, excellent argument! It reminds me of one of the defenses from the Nuremberg trials.

You're on the right path in life when you and war criminals share things in common!

 

[Kathian]

Did he apologies?

 

[ThisGuy]

Did somebody call them? Someone should call them. We need the wahbulance.

 

[Altazor]

let me play you a sad song on the world's smallest violin

 

[Mortemis]

Dude sounds like a whining child, "but mom, they did it too!"

Get fucked.

 

[liquidtmd]

Can a cop not even threaten to fucking kill people anymore?

 

[SliceSabre]

I have zero sympathy for him or his family. Cops need to pay for actions just like the rest of us.

 

[Hale-XF11]

You guys hear that?

There's birds chirping outside. The sun is out and the clouds are parting. There must be one less asshole cop on duty somewhere.

 

[Codeblue]

Hope those other cops in the photos are investigated.

 

[Sushi Nao]

The free market of ideas, working correctly

 

[Alex Stroud]

Bummer he felt the need to forfeit his career because of a lapse in judgment. Hope he sees the error of his ways and lands another job soon. Being unemployed this time of year can't be good for one.

 

[Stinkles]

Bummer he felt the need to forfeit his career because of a lapse in judgment. Hope he sees the error of his ways and lands another job soon. Being unemployed this time of year can't be good for one.

Dude was running a bullshit speed trap before this. We have no reason to believe this was a "lapse" in judgement as opposed to his everyday judgment.

 

[Enzom21]

Bummer he felt the need to forfeit his career because of a lapse in judgment. Hope he sees the error of his ways and lands another job soon. Being unemployed this time of year can't be good for one.

He clearly doesn't and he wants to still be a cop. I am pretty sure a civilian would be arrested for pointing a rifle at someone and threatening to kill them. Officer "Go fuck yourselves" got off easy.

 

[internetwolf]

Nice to see this scum paying for his mistakes

 

[7DollarHagane]

The guy should never be in an authority or police role again but no one deserves to have their life ruined permanently for past errors.

Idk though maybe he doesn't think he did anything wrong. In that case fuck him.