Arkansas Man Held At Gunpoint By Police Says Not Complying Saved His Life

Ed Truitt, a young black man from Elaine, Arkansas, faced a life-altering decision last Sunday when police arrived at a local gas station around 3 a.m. Truitt decided to record the incident, most importantly, the part where an officer held him at gunpoint as he attempted to leave the parking lot. He told local news outlet WREG at that moment his only two options were to comply and get killed or disobey and survive.

The cop, identified as West Helena Arkansas Police officer Terry “Trey” Daugherty, is the officer seen in the viral video of the confrontation instructing Truitt to turn off his vehicle while pointing a weapon in Truitt’s face. The officer also yells to other law enforcement that Truitt had a gun in his car. The video then shows Truitt being arrested for loitering and disregarding an official order. 

Truitt told WREG, “He was like, ‘That’s a failure to comply’ but if I would have complied, I would have got killed […] What I did saved my life. That’s why I’m here talking to y’all. If not, y’all would be covering a story about how I got shot.”

In the video, Truitt can be heard telling the officer the firearm he saw in his vehicle is registered in his name and during his discussion with the news outlet, Truitt says the gun wasn’t even within his reach at the time of the confrontation. Police Chief James Smith said, “The officer had seen a weapon inside the vehicle…there was an assault rifle inside the vehicle.”

In regards to Daugherty’s actions, Smith said the department is investigating to ensure his officer followed proper procedure. Smith said, “We want to know the facts. What was the officer thinking, why did he pull his weapon, did he feel imminent danger? We don’t want this to be a racial thing. We want to make sure this officer did the right thing and that he is accountable for his actions.”

 

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What did he do wrong?

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