Massive snowball fight at 14th and U, much fun being had. So what’s the reasonable way to react to your Hummer taking a hit from a snowball? Well, if you’re a veteran DC detective, you get out and start waving your gun around:
According to an eyewitness, a D.C. Police detective (pictured above w/ gun) went nuts after kids pelted his Hummer with snowballs at 14th and U Streets NW this afternoon. The veteran detective got out of his car and eventually grabbed for his gun, displaying it to the crowd. He did not immediately identify himself as a police officer. He calmed down once his fellow uniformed cop arrived. Apparently, someone called 911 to report a man with gun.
With police judgment like this, it’s no wonder that DC ends up paying out millions and millions in settlements related to police overreaction. For more detail (including pictures of the detective – you’ll want to be sure you never say boo to him, I’m sure, for fear of getting shot), check out the link above.
Update: And here are some fantastic photos of NYC pulling off what we couldn’t, it seems. Do click.
Phil Chroniger
You know, I usually give cops a bit of a break given the nature of their job and the fact that they have to remain “on alert” at all times.
However, unless a big part of this story is missing, there is no possible way to justify this.
LFS
Wow! The residents of DC aren’t smart enough to know that they shouldn’t PLAY IN TRAFFIC!
BTW, I don’t know about DC law, but in Virginia hitting a moving vehicle with a snowball is a felony. The cops were right to break this up. These idiots should have been having their snowball fight in one of the many DC parks or green spaces… not in the middle of a busy intersection.
And given all the pants shitting hysterics about a “man with a gun”, there sure seemed to be a lot of people standing around taunting the cop. They were not acting like people afraid of some random thug with a gun.
MB
Mike, what did I do to deserve the halfwit rantings of this humorless dick? If I promised to stop mocking Falls Church on Facebook, will you take him back?
Sasha
It’s appalling, of course. But also kind of funny. “That’s like bringing a gun to a snowball fight.”
Warren
The news this morning said that the detective in question called for backup.