Police Chief In Mississippi Defends His Officers Drawn Weapons

By Tom Knighton

A police chief in Mississippi is defending the officers in his department for drawing their weapons after stopping a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle felt he was racially profiled because he was black, but the chief says otherwise.

A Mississippi police chief is disputing parts of the account of an African-American man who says officers swarmed his family’s vehicle and pointed guns at him, his wife and four children after a neighbor mistook them for burglars.

Gulfport Chief Leonard Papania posted a video Wednesday on Facebook responding to the allegations by Kelvin Fairley, whose sport utility vehicle was stopped by police Sunday night.

Papania said officers drew their weapons because the SUV had tinted windows and they couldn’t see inside it. He said officers used “proper law enforcement tactics” to have Fairley and the front-seat passenger — Fairley’s wife, Natasha Krikorian — step out of the SUV. Each was handcuffed and taken to a police car.

The chief said officers put their guns away when they saw children were in the vehicle.

“Perceiving no immediate threat, the officers holstered their handguns and instructed the four remaining family members to exit the vehicle,” Papania said. “None of the children were …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms