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An unnamed Boston police sergeant was caught on a colleague's bodycam delightedly bragging about hitting BLM protesters with his car earlier this year.
"Dude, dude, dude, I f'kin'—I drove down Tremont. There was an unmarked state police cruiser they were all f'kin' gathered around."
"So then I had a f'ker keep coming, f'king running, I'm f'king hitting people with the car."
"Did you hear me? I was like, 'get the f**k-."
Here's a Boston cop bragging & laughing about hitting protesters with his car before he realizes the cop he's bragg… https://t.co/89y8a7VBAF— jordan (@jordan) 1608347114.0
After the officer whose bodycam was on realized what the sergeant was saying, they quickly turned away and told the sergeant about the camera.
He was quick to change his story at that point.
"Oh, no—no—no. I know."
"What I'm saying is, though, ... I didn't hit anybody, like, just driving."
"My windows were closed, the sh*t was coming in."
Rather than chastising the sergeant for bragging about harming protesters, the officer whose bodycam captured the incident seemed downright apologetic.
Regarding the bodycam, he told the sergeant:
"This thing just f'king went on automatically."
Twitter users had plenty to say about the sergeant's conduct, as well as the reactions of his fellow officers.
@TheRealBono @JordanUhl Yeah I was gonna say, they didn't do nothing, they both actively tried to protect their fri… https://t.co/dIoazoQ3ol— Caeruleo (@Caeruleo) 1608355087.0
@leftjerkstore @JordanUhl The "few bad apples" are running the whole joint!— Superteach (@Superteach) 1608349281.0
@michaelvares @JordanUhl People who say "it's just a bad apple or two" clearly don't know the entire expression.— Ben Stephens (@Ben Stephens) 1608370705.0
@dallydoodles/Twitter
Several people called for changes to bodycam regulations.
@smithtyge @JordanUhl Officers should not have the ability to turn them off. It allows them to be selective. They s… https://t.co/PZdj36wYX0— Me (@Me) 1608382955.0
@JordanUhl @soledadobrien This is why all law enforcement should have body cams. The fact the officer whose body ca… https://t.co/OudMOrrYOk— Mike - Stay Vigilant (@Mike - Stay Vigilant) 1608348059.0
The footage of this incident is just one small part of the 66 hours of video that was released on December 18 by The Appeal, as part of an extensive exposé of police conduct during the June protests against the police killing of George Floyd.
The footage was sent to The Appeal by Carl Williams, an attorney who is representing some of the protesters.
Williams described the behavior of Boston police during the protests as having a "mob mentality."
"It's this mob mentality. And I use 'mob' as a sort of a double entendre—mob like the mafia and mob like a group of a pack of wild people roaming the streets looking to attack people."
When reached by the Daily Dot for comment, Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross said the incident was currently under investigation by the Bureau of Professional Standards.
The sergeant in the video was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation's findings.
"I will take any additional action as necessary at the conclusion of the investigation. I want to encourage people to bring these matters to our attention so that we can investigate them appropriately."
Many cases of police brutality and misconduct have been brought to light in 2020.
More than a few were only pursued because of video evidence.
One can only hope this case will be handled appropriately.