Acorns fired
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Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
My recent newsfeed has been flooded with memes regarding the police, and acorns. After the third meme, I did an internet search to see what had triggered these memes.
Body cam footage from two Okaloosa County (Florida) Sheriff’s deputies was recently released from an officer-involved shooting that occurred last November in Fort Walton Beach.
The deputies responded to a disturbance call made by the girlfriend of Marquis Jackson, alleging that Marquis had refused to return her car and had sent threatening text messages. She also alleged that Marquis was possibly (legally) armed.
Deputies Javier Reyna, Deja Riley, Jesse Hernandez, and Sgt. Beth Roberts responded to the call, took Jackson into custody, frisked him, handcuffed behind his back, and strapped him down by seat belts in the back seat of a patrol vehicle.
After interviewing the girlfriend, Deputy Hernandez returned to the patrol vehicle, when an acorn fell from an overhanging oak tree limb. The acorn struck the rooftop of the vehicle and made a popping sound that Hernandez assumed to be a gunshot. Hernandez also claimed that his legs went numb, whereupon he assumed that he had been hit.
Hernandez then rolled around to the rear of the vehicle, completely dumping all 18 rounds from his magazine into the back of the patrol vehicle occupied by Marquis Jackson, as he sat there handcuffed, behind his back. As Hernandez dumped his magazine, Sgt. Roberts heard the gunfire and Hernandez’s screams, and began firing into the car, as well, firing, by my count, at least eight rounds.
Miraculously, despite turning the patrol car into Swiss cheese, Marquis Jackson was not injured during the November 12 shooting, and although traumatized, he was later released without charges. Deputy Hernandez, who initiated the shooting, rightfully resigned. Roberts was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
While the actual event happened three months ago, in our sister state to the south, it highlights the need for better vetting of potential law enforcement applicants and better training of new and veteran officers everywhere. Especially since Alabama is a “Constitutional Carry” State where it is 100% legal for an adult to possess the firearm of their choice, openly or concealed. And just because someone made an allegation that a person had possibly committed a crime, does not necessarily make them guilty of a crime.
I imagine that if he already hasn’t done so, that Marquis Jackson will file a hefty lawsuit against Okaloosa County for excessive use of force and reckless endangerment, which in the end will be paid for by the taxpayers of that county.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said he couldn’t comment on the incident because of possible litigation. He did, however, release a video statement saying “we’re actually going to use this particular case as training for the rest of our staff as a potential thing that we need to watch out for to make sure that we never put someone’s life in jeopardy again,” …which leads me to my second point, that perhaps all of us who choose to exercise our Second Amendment civil right to keep and bear arms, that we, too, can learn from this incident.
If you carry a firearm for personal protection: Always assume that everyone else is armed, as well. Always assume that every gun is loaded, until you personally verify that it is not. Never wave a gun around to threaten others (assume that everyone else is armed.). Never aim your gun at anything, or anyone, unless you intend on destroying what you are aiming at. Always be conscious of your surroundings, and if you are unsure of what made a “pop,” take a second to evaluate the circumstances. “If” you ascertain that you have actually been fired at, or are in actual danger, then use judicious aim, and fire only enough to eliminate the threat, but always be aware of what is beyond your target.