Plainclothes Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 gunshots over 41 seconds during a traffic stop that left one man dead and one officer injured, according to graphic video footage a police oversight agency released Tuesday.

Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt. Video shows the 26-year-old Black man briefly lowering a window and then raising it and refusing to exit the vehicle as more officers arrived, yelled commands and drew weapons.

  • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Why are undercover cops pulling over a guy for not wearing a seat belt to begin with? Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for an answer to that.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That’s an easy answer, they profiled him as a drug dealer and looked for any pretext to stop him. Instead of doing real police work like developing leads and stopping someone because they have probable cause to believe they’re transporting drugs. But that’s not sexy and adrenaline inducing.

    • foggy@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Isn’t failure to wear seatbelt a secondary offense? I believe you cannot be pulled over for it, only cited for it during a legitimate traffic stop.

      • UnculturedSwine@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Got pulled over in Utah because my adult passenger wasn’t wearing his seatbelt correctly. There was no other pretense for it and there have been ad campaigns making it clear that officers will pull you over for that reason and only that reason.