Officer Cosby said he smelled burning marijuana, ordered Anders out of the car and told him to spit out something he had in his mouth.
Cosby then put one, then both hands around Anders' neck and squeezed in attempt to keep he from swallowing drugs in a technique called "vascular restraint."
Now... remove breakable items from the vicinity: It's "not choking", you see...it's "vascular restraint".
The Cop choked him FOR HIS OWN GOOD!
Here's the video:
Cosby: "This is for your own safety sir."
Anders: "You're gonna choking me."
Cosby: "I'm gonna choke you so you can't swallow anything else. That way it's gonna prevent you from having some kind of [overdose]."
What a great public servant.
People who think like this should not be allowed to wear a badge and have a gun!
When I say people who buy into marijuana propaganda are dumb to do so, let this guy be the new posterboy.
Because of the bullshit emotionality that accompanies reefer madness this cop, and many folks who will make a feeble attempt to rationalize or apologize for his insane conduct, feels JUSTIFIED in this level of rights abuses:
*in physically assaulting a person during an otherwise routine traffic stop. Calling it some stupid name doesn't make it any better.
*grossly violating his 4th amendment rights. A police officer choking you because he THINKS something is in your mouth is probably NOT going to pass constitutional muster, unless Scalia writes the majority opinion.
*thinking that somehow swallowing "pot" could lead to "an overdose". Pure unsubstantiated, ignorance-based hysteria.
This last point is grossly inexcusable. It's not possible. It's bullshit. It's false information based on propaganda. It borders on a delusion.
But...it's just a pothead so the Officer gets the obligatory slap on the wrist:
Anders was arrested for simple possession of marijuana, resisting arrest and tampering with evidence.
After reviewing the tape, the district attorney dropped charges and handed the tape over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Cosby was given a written reprimand for the incident for unbecoming conduct during a traffic stop.
He is still on the force.
Anders charges were dropped due to the officers assault.
The remainder of the WARN article details, in a rather journalism-like manner, that this screw up of a public servant potential city liability had been at other police agencies in the past and has a pattern of aggressive conduct and false arrest (arresting somebody for something that was not true), but he doesn't smoke pot, so he's OK to keep his job.
