In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To ‘Mistake’ Guns For Tasers

On April 11, 2021, a police officer fatally shot a 20-year-old African American man, Daunte Wright. According to Chief Tim Gannon of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, it all began when officers pulled Mr. Wright over for a traffic violation related to expired registration tags. Officers then discovered that he had a warrant for his arrest.

As the police tried to detain Mr. Wright, he stepped back into his car, prompting a brief struggle with officers. Graphic body camera footage revealed one officer was pointing a handgun at Mr. Wright and shouting “Taser.” After the car pulled away, the officer said, “I just shot him.”

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: nytimes

After the car traveled several blocks, it struck another vehicle. The police and medical workers pronounced Mr. Wright dead at the scene.

“It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Chief Gannon said. Later, the Hennepin County medical examiner confirmed that Mr. Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

In the wake of these events, a video reaction went viral on TikTok, showing another police officer demonstrating how it’s impossible for an experienced cop to mistake their gun for their taser.

“I don’t understand how we can mistake a taser for a gun or a gun for a taser. 99% of our job is communication. You don’t gotta be quick to pull out a gun or a taser. Not everybody’s a threat. Try talking to them, get to know them people.” — 12 year Veteran Police Officer Brian B pic.twitter.com/feOIUBH2tu
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. قاسم رشید (@QasimRashid) April 17, 2021

The officer behind the video identifies himself as Brian B. In the recording, he readies his belt and shows the positioning of his ‘dominant’ and ‘not so dominant’ weapons.

He then stresses the weight difference between the two and shares his thoughts on the deadly shot, saying that anybody who can such a mistake, even in the heat of the moment, doesn’t deserve to be on the force.

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: QasimRashid

Brian B’s video was recently shared on Twitter by human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid, and that’s when it became really blew up.

But Rashid didn’t find the TikTok. It found him. “Someone sent it to me. I shared it because the officer was correct, and because it’s important for people to see that police officers are working to stop the injustices,” he told Bored Panda. “It is important we elevate those voices against injustice.”

Officer Brian B was really firm in his video, saying “It makes no sense. Ninety-nine percent of our job is communication. You don’t have to be quick to pull out a gun or a taser on somebody and think everybody’s a threat. Not everybody’s a threat. Try talking to them; get to know these people.”

Shortly after, as the recording was getting more and more popular, a heated debate erupted under his post and Brian’s TikTok account disappeared. But just after that, The Independent reported the video had garnered about 6 million views and 1.4 million likes.

“People recognize we must do and demand better, and the responses indicate that,” Rashid said. “We still have a long way to go.” The lawyer said in a Facebook post that every bit of this murder is reckless and inexcusable.

“More than police reform, we need to reimagine our entire understanding of public safety,” Rashid added. You can learn more about what he means by these words here.

So far, it’s still unclear where Brian is from, which police department he serves under, or why he removed his TikTok account.

Following Rashid’s report on Twitter, users expressed the need for more attention to this demonstration made by Brian. “Wait! This is the first time I’ve heard a police officer actually say what we’re saying,” David Bishop said. “We need more of this conversation. A lot more. This is exactly what’s missing in all the police communication: calling out bad behavior and focusing on communication over violence.”

While it is rare for police officers to mistake their sidearms for their stun guns, it is even rarer for charges to be brought against them in such cases. A New York Times review of 15 other cases of the so-called “weapon confusion” over the past 20 years showed that only 5 of the officers were indicted. Only 3, including the only 2 cases in which people were killed, were eventually found guilty.

People praised Brian B and his attitude

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: BishopUniverse

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: RebeccaDante

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: alt_uscbp

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: DrIbram

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: GoodBuddyKIRK

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: NellieBly666

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: Imtiaz_9

In This Viral Thread, This Policeman Calls Out Lazy Cops Who Pretend To 'Mistake' Guns For Tasers

Image credits: vwgtiman

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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What do you think ?

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Mi Shield 3 years ago

I was thinking about what Rashida4Prez said, "Where TF are THESE cops at?" I think I know. I think that these kinds of cops are the ones who don't make the headlines because they didn't mistake a gun for a taser or something. These cops are here, we just can't tell because they do their job so well, nobody recognizes them for it.

62points

Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago

Exactly. Same thing with Muslims, whose sole press is the extremists in the Middle East, or Christians, the hateful discriminatory variety of which gets the most press. The bad apples affect the perception of the whole.

34points

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Bender Bending Rodríguez 3 years ago

Good cops don't last long on force. This Officer will be the target of his "Brothers in Blue" for breaking their code about "taking care of each other", reason you don't see more "good apples" coming forward or stopping "bad apples", like those three "good cops" who stood on side lines while Chauvin murdered. Either he will leave, be fired or worse.

11points

AzKhaleesi 3 years ago

You are absolutely correct. Good Law Enforcement officers are out here but we don't get recognized. Or worse we get treated so badly we eventually quit because we are sick of the politics.

6points

CatWoman312 3 years ago

The majority of cops are like this, but the media doesn’t like to print good news or good cop stories for whatever reason

5points

Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 3 years ago

How do you mistake a cellphone for a gun? How do you mistake a sleeping couple for assailants? How do you mistake a black man for a pair of white boys? How do mistake a jogger minding his own for an attacker? How do you mistake a shoplifter for a hardened criminal? But the real question is, how do you assholes keep getting away with these "mistakes"

35points

Leo Domitrix 3 years ago

Becasuse they WANT to. I suspect we should not, in the US, allow ANY former military personnel into our police forces. The last place a PTSD sufferer should be is in a high-stress job with bullets. IMHO.

16points

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Logic and Reason 3 years ago (edited)

They also managed to mistake a pack of skittles for a gun. Although, that was a neighborhood watch captain.

4points

Allen Lavine 3 years ago

How do you mistake a kid playing in the park as a killer that hurt Me so much I have to kids and my 17 year old is really big and strong with a deep voice I'm scared every time he leaves the house cause if he have any interaction with the police they will look at him as a threat it he's not he's a good student plays Tennis and might get a scholarship

0points

ℜ𝔬𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔱 ℭ𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢 3 years ago

Stop shaming people.

-3points

WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago

The US police force are trained as a para-military organization. They know how to use guns and tasers, they don't know how to communicate and de-escalate a situation. Their sense of authority is enormous; "I'm a cop and I'm the law. Whatever I say happens. " But that doesn't work when you're dealing with person who is in a psychosis. Add their insufficient training, the systemic racism and the fact that you can't join the police force when you're too smart, to this cocktail and you know why these incidents keep happening. On the very same moment one cop was found guilty of murder, 2 cops killed another unarmed black man.

21points

Leo Domitrix 3 years ago

Actually, it was a teen girl armed with a knife. yeah. A teenager with a knife. So they shot her to death in Columbus, Ohio. WTF? Oh, wait. Was there another one? B/c I wouldn't be surprised. I have met a few good cops, but they're usually ones who left b/c they couldn't deal with the "protect the bad guys if htey have badges" mentality.

10points

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Beans 3 years ago

I was going to comment but you said it better than I could. Great comment

1point

Jack Fulton 3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

0points

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Mi Shield 3 years ago

62points

Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago

34points

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Bender Bending Rodríguez 3 years ago

11points

AzKhaleesi 3 years ago

You are absolutely correct. Good Law Enforcement officers are out here but we don't get recognized. Or worse we get treated so badly we eventually quit because we are sick of the politics.

6points