White Colorado cop resigns with $69,000 payout after pulling gun on black student picking up trash

John Smyly, a white Colorado cop who confronted Zayd Atkinson, a 26-year-old black man who was picking up trash outside of his Naropa University dorm, has officially resigned. While this confrontation was ridiculous to begin with, it was made extremely dangerous because Smyly pulled out his gun. Someone else (from inside the building) shot a video (embedded at the bottom of this post) of the cop’s wild behavior and it went viral. Since then, police body camera footage has also been released.

Smyly resigned, though, in spite of violating department policies, he’s still getting $69,000 through a combination of sick time, holiday leave, and administrative leave. Ridiculous.

Here’s how the situation went down. On March 1, Atkinson was putting trash into a bucket using a metal claw tool. Smyly approached Atkinson, and according to Smyly, wanted to know if Atkinson worked or lived there. 

Why? That’s unclear, as Smyly slants it. Many people, obviously, believe it comes down to racial profiling. Would a cop clarify a white person’s address if they were seen picking up trash outside of a building? Probably not.

Back to the incident. Atkinson confirmed that he lived there, and Smyly asked for identification that proved this was his address. Atkinson had a school ID, which doesn’t have an address (the norm for college IDs, in fact). As an alternative, he very patiently offered to let himself into the building, which would prove he has access to it.

Smyly asked for Atkinson’s birthday. The student refused to tell him, gathered his tools, and walked away. Then the situation explodes.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2JLZAfa