Just before midnight last night, an officer in Ferguson (who, evidently, isn't aware of things like social media) pointed his assault rifle at a group of unarmed protestors, and it was captured on video.
The person with the camera was with an African American friend, identified as Josiah. The officer pointed his weapon as Josiah and said, "I will fucking kill you, get back!" When asked by the cameraman for his name, the officer ignored him and said "go fuck yourself!" The cameraman then makes fun of the officer, saying, "Your name's Go Fuck Yourself? All right, Go Fuck Yourself. Hello Officer Go Fuck Yourself!" which has now spawned the hashtag, #OfficerGoFuckYourself, and parody Twitter accounts.
My wife hasn't had sex w/ me in years bc she doesn't "find sociopaths attractive". Whatever. I'M FAMOUS NOW, SHIRLEY! #Ferguson
— Ofc. Gofuckyourself (@ofcgofuckurself) August 20, 2014
I DIDN'T SAY I'D KILL HIM! I said I would PROTECT him. The words sound a lot a like. I know I get them confused *all the time*. #Ferguson
— Ofc. Gofuckyourself (@ofcgofuckurself) August 20, 2014
Forget the sarcasm for a moment and let's consider that the officer is aware of things like social media and YouTube, and knows that one of the dozens of people there with a camera could upload a video of what he's doing: how terrifying is it that he—to use a word he's fond of—just doesn't give a fuck that he's being recorded while saying this? Not to mention that his weapon is pointed so that it's only a flick of a finger away from following through with what he's threatening? Yes, the protests have been going on for more than a week, and officers must be exhausted, annoyed, whatever have you. But that's no excuse to turn to killing protestors just because they're protesting. Talk about not diffusing the situation.
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Hacker group Anonymous identified the officer as St. Ann Police Cpl. Ray Albers. To see a better quality version of the video, click here.
UPDATE: Albers was relieved from duty today after the ACLU pressured the department.
