# Teacher pepper-sprayed while talking on the phone **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330 "2015-01-30T14:45:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/1 "2015-01-30T14:45:56Z")
I searched, but didn’t see a thread on this. [Cop Pepper-Sprays Teacher Who Was Talking On A Cell Phone](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jesse-hagopian-seattle-police-pepper-spray) – Good video. [KING 5 story](http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/01/28/jesse-hagopian-naacp-pepper-spray-seattle-police/22497723/). This is what I see: A guy is walking along, talking on his phone. A female Seattle P.D. officer is yelling ‘Get back! Get back!’ to all and sundry (i.e., not to anyone in particular) while brandishing a large container of pepper spray. She seems a bit unhinged, especially compared to the other officers. As the guy walks by, talking to his mother, the cop gives him a hefty blast of pepper spray. Based on the video, the cop seems unsuited to her position. It’s a good thing she only had pepper spray in her hand. Should she be terminated directly for her actions? Should she undergo a psychological evaluation to determine whether she should be terminated? Should she be reassigned to a position that prevents her from being a danger to the Public? Or are people who exercise their Constitutional rights fair game? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/2 "2015-01-30T15:12:15Z")
Or, maybe, people could pay attention to their surroundings. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/3 "2015-01-30T15:36:50Z")
The cop should be terminated immediately, with no references and no pension. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior, and it’s obvious that she isn’t capable of dealing with her job in a competent manner. A public apology from the mayor, chief of police and others also need to be done. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/4 "2015-01-30T15:53:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Or, maybe, people could pay attention to their surroundings. While I agree in general, there is no reasonable expectation that a law-abiding citizen be on the constant general alert for sudden pepper-spray to the face. Pepper spray is designed to be used to temporarily incapacitate a violent person, not someone who’s walking quietly and not engaging or addressing anyone else (besides Momma on the phone) or directly disobeying an LEO. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/5 "2015-01-30T15:53:36Z")
“Teacher and activist Jesse Hagopian said he was leaving a peaceful Martin Luther King Jr. Day protest” Protest? MLK Day protest? This is a thing? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/6 "2015-01-30T15:55:19Z")
To me, her reactions seem so bad and irresponsible I have to wonder if it was staged. I had to check if this was from The Onion. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/7 "2015-01-30T15:59:02Z")
Also it does not look like she was targeting the cell phone user, but started with a broad sweep of the crowd. It appeared like she didn’t differentiate between passers by and protestors. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/8 "2015-01-30T16:09:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Or, maybe, people could pay attention to their surroundings. Do you honestly, sincerely believe that this guy was in any way at fault? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/9 "2015-01-30T16:10:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Or, maybe, people could pay attention to their surroundings. Sorry, are you talking about the police officer or the pedestrian? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/10 "2015-01-30T16:12:04Z")
Nothing new here. I got maced in the 70s by a cop who couldn’t reach the guy haranguing him so he turned the spray on us standing closer and just watching. She should lose her job, and be charged with assault, but probably nothing much will happen to her, and she might sue the PD for the emotional distress of having to pepper spray people as part of her job. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/11 "2015-01-30T17:14:23Z")
Cops, like the rest of us, are going to do the wrong thing from time to time. I’m all for their making mistakes like this with pepper spray rather than bullets. A cop who shoots and kills an unarmed person should, IMHO, lose their job and be out of law enforcement permanently. A cop who pepper sprays the wrong person? Reprimanded, sure. A short leave without pay, perhaps, depending on how overtly wrong it was. But fired? Hell, no. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/12 "2015-01-30T17:16:12Z")
Geez, everyone gets pissed off about unjustified police shootings. So they try to step it down and settle for unjustified pepper sprayings, and you still get pissed off? The poor police can’t win! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/13 "2015-01-30T17:16:48Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Do you honestly, sincerely believe that this guy was in any way at fault? Walking through the middle of a protest area, in a town where protests are frequently disrupted by violent anarchists, feet away from a police officer giving a stern command to get back? Yes. This is what happens when you pay more attention to your precious cell phone than to the world around you. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/14 "2015-01-30T17:23:08Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Cops, like the rest of us, are going to do the wrong thing from time to time. > > I’m all for their making mistakes like this with pepper spray rather than bullets. > > A cop who shoots and kills an unarmed person should, IMHO, lose their job and be out of law enforcement permanently. > > A cop who pepper sprays the wrong person? Reprimanded, sure. A short leave without pay, perhaps, depending on how overtly wrong it was. But fired? Hell, no. It really depends on the kind of mistake. “I was holding the pepper spray and accidentally squeezed the button.” Sure, give her a reprimand and maybe some more training. But this “mistake” was an extreme lapse of judgment, and you really have to question if she’s cut out for police work. I won’t even bother to respond to the ridiculousness of Smapti’s posts (at least not until the inevitable move of the thread to the Pit). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/15 "2015-01-30T17:23:57Z")
Fuck that. He had every right to be there, and the cop over-reacted like a little bitch. (Not a sexist remark. I would call a male cop the same thing for the same actions.) Zero tolerance for such actions. Especially since she was part of a line of cops. It’s not like she was alone facing an angry mob. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/16 "2015-01-30T17:27:09Z")
Oh hell, I can’t help myself. **Smapti** , do you see what he’s doing when he gets sprayed? Walking _away_ from the cop. He’s doing exactly what he’s being told to do - _staying back from the crazy cop_. Everyone was very peaceful around him (except her). There is absolutely no reasonable expectation that a person in that situation needs to be hyper-vigilant for a potential pepper spraying. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/17 "2015-01-30T17:33:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > He had every right to be there, and the cop over-reacted… > [@TroutMan](#): > > Everyone was very peaceful around him (except her). And she was the _only_ cop that was ranting and raving and brandishing a weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/18 "2015-01-30T17:39:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And she was the _only_ cop that was ranting and raving and brandishing a weapon. That’s exactly the sort of person who just starts blasting away with a sidearm at the slightest provocation. She needs to be fired. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/19 "2015-01-30T17:40:58Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Oh hell, I can’t help myself. **Smapti** , do you see what he’s doing when he gets sprayed? Walking _away_ from the cop. He’s doing exactly what he’s being told to do - _staying back from the crazy cop_. Everyone was very peaceful around him (except her). There is absolutely no reasonable expectation that a person in that situation needs to be hyper-vigilant for a potential pepper spraying. You’re seeing what you want to see. He’s ignoring the officer and continuing to walk in a straight line through the area the officers are trying to clear. There is insufficient data in this clip to determine whether “everyone around was being completely peaceful”. And a public protest in Seattle is exactly the kind of place where one needs to be hyper-aware of the police. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330/20 "2015-01-30T17:42:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And she was the _only_ cop that was ranting and raving and brandishing a weapon. When one officer takes point, people complain. When every officer brings out their weapon at once, people complain. I don’t see anything inappropriate in the officer’s actions here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-pepper-sprayed-while-talking-on-the-phone/711330.md?page=2)