A U.S. Army officer who was held at gunpoint and sprayed with pepper spray after a traffic stop in Virginia has now charged two police officers for alleged racial profiling, according to reports.
Lt. Caron Nazario, a member of the US Army Medical Corps, was wearing his military equipment when he was detained in Windsor on December 5 for allegedly driving his new Chevy Tahoe without a license plate.
A temporary paper license plate was stuck to the rear window.
Bodycam video shows officers pulling their weapons and ordering him to get out of the vehicle.
The incident soon escalated when Nazario, described as Black and Latino, refused to obey, saying he was afraid to get out of the vehicle.
“Yes, you should be,” one of the officers replied. Nazario was sprayed with pepper spray, removed from the SUV, and handcuffed as he laid the ground.
“This is f-ked up,” Nazario can be heard in the video. He also reportedly captured video of the incident on his own cell phone.
Nazario filed a lawsuit on April 2 against officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker alleging that his rights had been violated under the First and Fourth Amendments.
“He’s a sworn member of the United States Army. He vows to support an oath to defend the United States Constitution from all foreign and domestic enemies – and the way these officers behaved implies the oath he is taking, ”said Jonathan Arthur, a lawyer for Nazario, according to Vice. com.
Arthur added that he hopes the lawsuit will send a message to law enforcement officials “that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”