Officer who confronted Black Army medic fired

A police officer in Virginia who confronted a uniformed Black Army medic at gunpoint and doused him with pepper spray during a traffic stop, an exchange captured on video, has been fired, officials said Sunday.

The officer, Joe Gutierrez, was terminated for his role in the Dec. 5 encounter involving Caron Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, the town of Windsor, Virginia, said in a statement posted on its website.

Officials said an internal investigation had determined that Gutierrez’s actions were not consistent with the department’s policies. They did not provide further details on when Gutierrez had been fired.

Body camera footage of the encounter has drawn widespread attention and criticism of Gutierrez, as well as another officer who was also involved in the traffic stop. Both officers were sued April 2 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk by Nazario, who has accused the officers of using excessive force and violating his constitutional rights.

Windsor, a rural town of about 2,700 people that is about 30 miles west of Norfolk, said in the statement Sunday that it had requested an investigation into the traffic stop by the Virginia State Police.

There was no lawyer listed for Gutierrez in court records, and efforts to reach him Sunday night were not immediately successful.

Earlier Sunday, Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, a Democrat, said on social media that he had begun an outside review of the encounter.

A lawyer for Nazario, Jonathan Arthur, said in a statement on Monday that his client was “gratified by the outpouring of support” he had received.

The medic was driving to Petersburg, Virginia, from a drill weekend the night of Dec. 5 when he saw police lights flashing behind him.

According to the lawsuit and video footage of the encounter, Nazario, who is Black and Latino, drove about a mile to a gas station because he had been nervous about stopping on a darkened road.

“Get out of the car,” one officer can be heard yelling as Nazario, remaining seated, repeatedly asks why he has been stopped and why the officers have drawn their guns. He positions his empty hands outside the window.

“I’m honestly afraid to get out of the car,” Nazario says.

“Yeah,” says Gutierrez, according to footage from his body camera. “You should be.”

Nazario was wearing his Army uniform at the time.

“I’m serving this country and this is how I’m treated?” he said. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is you’re fixing to ride the lightning, son,” Gutierrez yells.

After he was sprayed, Nazario began crying and cursing. The police officers did not arrest Nazario and did not file charges.