An officer on the front lines of the Minneapolis protests has been put on two weeks paid leave after he failed to fire pepper balls at a local news crew. The Internal Affairs Committee for the Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that Percy Cutor had decided not to fire on reporters even though they had identified themselves as press and were wearing safety vests.
Cutor has since claimed that his pepper ball gun jammed — and that he “absolutely” meant to fire on reporters and violate their First Amendment rights.
“Look, I understand why they benched me,” he said. “Clearly I was out of line by not making sure my equipment was ready to harass and suppress those who would threaten our unchecked authority. Not a second goes by where I don’t think about how many fundamental human rights I could’ve stolen from them. I can only hope that one day I can successfully do so with something as simple as my knee.”
Although reporters were still shot by five other officers, beaten to the ground and taken into custody, this was evidently not enough. Taking to Twitter to condemn Cutor’s actions, MPD commissioner Ray Cist had this to say:
Reactions from these comments have been mixed, with supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement calling Ray “the fattest pig on the farm” to Blue Lives Matter supporters calling him “a true beacon of American ideals.”
Somehow, both groups managed to hit the nail right on the head.
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