After a viral video of a Virginia police officer pepper-spraying an African American U.S. Army second lieutenant received national attention last week, some African American military veterans in local leadership positions are voicing their concerns.
Prince William County Supervisor Victor Angry; Prince William NAACP President Cozy Bailey; and Shantelle Rock, who leads the county’s new Racial and Social Justice Commission, expressed both shock and disbelief in response to the incident. Tim Parrish, chairman of the Prince William County Republican Committee, cautioned against a rush to judgment.
The incident occurred in the Town of Windsor in Isle of Wight County on Dec. 5. The video, released last week, shows two Windsor police officers drawing their guns and pointing them at U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario, 27, who is Black and Latino and was in uniform, during a traffic stop.
An officer then pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times while he was still in the vehicle.
Following the release of the video, Gov. Ralph Northam on Sunday directed state police to investigate. The Town of Windsor announced shortly thereafter that one of the officers involved in the incident was fired after an internal investigation.
The Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the Prince William County NAACP
Bailey, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, called the incident “appalling.”
“The implication is, to me, that they saw a Black man, not necessarily a uniformed United States military officer,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he was especially shocked by the moment in which body camera video showed an officer demanding Nazario to get out of his car while pointing a gun at him. Nazario, with both hands outside the window, said he was “honestly afraid” to get out of the vehicle. The officer responded: “Yeah, you should be.”
“The aggressiveness and some of the statements made by [the officers] is just inexplicable to me,” Bailey said.
In response to the incident, Bailey called for the immediate abolition of qualified immunity, which shields government officials, including police officers, from being held personally liable for constitutional violations. He said he also believes civilian review boards should also be mandated in every Virginia locality.
“We continue to get more and more evidence that qualified immunity results unfair treatment, and I would say it has emboldened certain law-enforcement officers,” Bailey said.
“It’s unbelievable,” Rock said. “... To hear the pain in [Nazario’s] voice was heartbreaking.”
Every time a video showing police brutality against African Americans is released, Rock said, “We are retraumatized all over again.”
“It's never ending. The PTSD never ends,” Rock said.
Tim Parrish, chairman of the Prince William Republican Committee
Parrish, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and chair of the Prince William County Republican Committee, said he did not want to jump to any conclusions about the incident, however, until the Virginia State Police completes its investigation.
Parrish said it would be “irresponsible for anybody to be sharing their personal thoughts on this incident prior to an investigation being done.”
Parrish previously served as Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police officer and said several factors made the incident very complicated, including that Nazario had allegedly driven for nearly a mile at a low speed before pulling over at a gas station.
“Police officers have been shot by military members … Just because someone is in uniform does not mean they can't be a danger to that law enforcement officer,” Parrish said.
Supervisor Victor Angry, D-Neabsco
Angry, D-Neabsco, a retired command sergeant major of the U.S. National Guard, said he could not believe someone serving their country would have to deal with the kind of treatment Nazario experienced from the Windsor police.
“This guy was in uniform. He was minding his business. He didn't do anything wrong. And this is the result you get for serving your country,” Angry said. “... I don’t know when this nonsense, this madness, ends.”
Angry added the incident could fuel the fire for more protests, like last summer when people took to the streets to protest police brutality after the police killing of George Floyd. There were numerous protests in Manassas and Prince William County in May and June of 2020.
“We're still trying to relieve the pressure and cool it down,” Angry said. “This is what we don’t need.”
Angry has publicly shared his own story of an incident in which he believes he was racially profiled by a Prince William County police officer.
Angry, while serving in a high-ranking position with the U.S. National Guard, said he was walking from his home in Dale City to a nearby OmniRide bus stop in the early hours of the morning to go to work when he was stopped and questioned by a police officer.
But Angry said the stop led to a conversation and did not escalate.
Nazario has filed a lawsuit against the Windsor police officers seeking $1 million in compensatory damages. The lawsuit and accompanying body camera footage were first reported by The Virginian-Pilot, a daily newspaper in the Hampton Roads area.
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'The PTSD never ends:' Local African American leaders, veterans react to Army officer's violent arrest - Prince William Times
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