The Camera Doesn't Lie

A West Palm Beach couple who filmed Monday morning’s deadly officer-involved shooting on South Beach has accused officers of intimidation, destroying evidence and twisting the facts in the chaos surrounding the Memorial Day shootings – a charge that police officials say they know nothing about.

Meanwhile, a South Carolina man charged with DUI in a second officer-involved shooting that morning says he is innocent.

On Thursday, The Miami Herald spoke to the couple that saw the end of the 4 a.m. police chase on Collins Avenue, then watched and filmed from just a few feet away as a dozen officers fired their guns repeatedly into Raymond Herisse’s blue Hyundai. They say the only reason they were able to show the video to a reporter is because they hid a memory card after police allegedly pointed guns at their heads, threw them to the ground and smashed the cell phone that took the video.

It's easy to get overexcited during a scene like this, but police are trained to remain calm.  They are also trained to recognize a citizen's rights, and are sort of supposed to uphold those.  I'm sympathetic to the fact that some criminals force a strong hand.  However, I'm not blind to the fact that this sort of behavior is uncalled for and is a gross abuse of authority.  After watching them shoot several rounds, it had to be terrifying to have a gun pointed at their head, something the police didn't deny.