RICHMOND, Virginia: One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a Black Army officer during a traffic stop has since been fired, a Virginia town announced late Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation into the case.
The town of Windsor said in a statement that it joined calls from election officials, including Gov. Ralph Northam, in requesting an investigation by Virginia State Police into the December 2020 encounter in which two Windsor officers were accused of drawing their guns, pointing them at US Army second lieutenant Caron Nazario and using a slang term to suggest he was facing execution.
Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was also pepper-sprayed and knocked to the ground by the officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, according to the lawsuit he filed earlier this month against them.
The two sides in the case dispute what happened, but Crocker wrote in a report that he believed Nazario was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop.” Attorney Jonathan Arthur told The Associated Press that Nazario wasn’t trying to elude the officer, but was trying to stop in a well-lit area.
In the statement Sunday, Windsor officials said an internal investigation opened at the time into the use of force determined that department policy wasn’t followed. Officials said disciplinary action was taken and Gutierrez has since been fired.
Officials added that departmentwide requirements for additional training were also implemented beginning in January.
“The Town of Windsor prides itself in its small-town charm and the community-wide respect of its Police Department,” the statement said. “Due to this, we are saddened for events like this to cast our community in a negative light. Rather than deflect criticism, we have addressed these matters with our personnel administratively, we are reaching out to community stakeholders to engage in dialogue, and commit ourselves to additional discussions in the future.”
Northam called the December 2020 encounter “disturbing” in a tweet Sunday, adding that he directed State Police to review what happened.
“Our Commonwealth has done important work on police reform, but we must keep working to ensure Virginians are safe during interactions with police, the enforcement of laws is fair and equitable, and people are held accountable,” Northam said in his statement calling for a review of the actions.
The Windsor police chief didn’t respond to messages sent through the police department’s Facebook page over the weekend.
Windsor is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Richmond.
US cop accused of force against Black Army officer fired
https://arab.news/rhv9h
US cop accused of force against Black Army officer fired
- Police officer caught on camera pepper-spraying army officer
- Caron Nazario says he was also threatened with execution
Russia-ally Touadera seeks third term in Central African Republic
- Such a result would likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds
BANGUI: Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera is seeking a third term in an election on Sunday, campaigning on security gains after signing deals with rebel groups and enlisting support from Russian mercenaries and Rwandan forces.
He faces six opposition candidates including Anicet-Georges Dologuele, a former prime minister and runner-up in the 2020 election, but is likely to win in part due to his control over state institutions, analysts say.
Such a result would likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds. Touadera is also offering access to the country’s lithium and uranium reserves to anyone interested.
The 68-year-old mathematician took power in 2016 after the worst crisis in the chronically unstable country’s history, when three years of intercommunal strife forced a fifth of the population to flee their homes, either internally or abroad.
Touadera has signed peace deals this year with several rebel groups, while others have been weakened in the face of Russian mercenaries and troops from Rwanda deployed to shore up Touadera’s government as well as UN peacekeepers.
“During the 10 years that we have been working together, you yourselves have seen that peace is beginning to return, starting from all our borders and reaching the capital,” Touadera told a rally at a stadium in the capital Bangui this month.
His opponents, meanwhile, have denounced a constitutional referendum in 2023 that scrapped the presidential term limit, saying it was proof Touadera wants to be president for life.
They have also accused him of failing to make significant progress toward lifting the 5.5 million population out of poverty.
“The administrative infrastructure has been destroyed and, as you know, the roads are in a very poor state of repair,” Dologuele told a recent press conference.
“In short, the Central African economy is in ruins.”
SECURITY THREATS REMAIN DESPITE PEACE DEALS
The presidential contest is taking place alongside legislative, regional and municipal elections, with provisional results expected to be announced by January 5.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a presidential runoff will take place on February 15, while legislative runoffs will take place on April 5.
A smooth voting process could reinforce Touadera’s claim that stability is returning, which was buttressed last year with the UN Security Council’s lifting of an arms embargo and the lifting of a separate embargo on diamond exports.
“The fact that these measures were lifted, it shows that we’re gradually getting back to normal. Or at least that’s the narrative,” said Romain Esmenjaud, associate researcher at the Institut Francais de Geopolitique.
The peace deals are credited with a decline in violence in some areas and an expected boost in economic growth projections to 3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. US President Donald Trump’s administration has said the UN should hand security back to the government soon.
But serious security threats remain. Rebels have not fully disarmed, reintegration is incomplete, and incursions by combatants from neighboring Sudan fuel insecurity in the east.
Pangea-Risk, a consultancy, wrote in a note to clients that the risk of unrest after the election was high as opponents were likely to challenge Touadera’s expected victory.
“The election will take place in an atmosphere marked by heightened grievances over political marginalization, increasing repression, and allegations of electoral fraud,” said chief executive Robert Besseling.
Dologuele alleged fraud after he was recorded as winning 21.6 percent of the vote in 2020, when rebel groups still threatened the capital and prevented voting at 800 polling stations across the country, or 14 percent of the total. A court upheld Touadera’s win.
Paul-Crescent Beninga, a political analyst, said voters will be closely scrutinizing the voting and counting processes.
“If they do not go well, it gives those who promote violence an excuse to mobilize violence and sow panic among the population of the Central African Republic. So that is why we must ensure that the elections take place in relatively acceptable conditions,” he said.
