Harmless guy Held at Gunpoint, Tasered, Arrested for an ‘Unclean license plate’

 When police aren’t a kidnapping, caging, and killing people for possessing substances deemed illegal by the state, successively creating a criminal black marketplace for them which drives up against the law, they're out enforcing traffic laws. Any number of arbitrary traffic infractions can and can result in your extortion, arrest, imprisonment, or within the case of Philando Castile, death. Policing for profit within us is the norm.

Over the years we’ve reported on stories of individuals being assaulted, arrested, and even killed over stops for victimless crimes like dark window tint, no safety harness, and burned-out vehicle plate lights. However, during a decade of police accountability, we’ve never seen someone stopped and nearly killed for a grimy vehicle plate — yet.

Officer Kaleb Meyer with the New Braunfels local department may be a tyrant. When he pulled over Clarence Crawford earlier this year, his body camera captured his tyranny in action.

For having an “unclean license plate” Meyer held Crawford at gunpoint, dragged him out of his car, forced him all the way down to the bottom, tasered him in his back, handcuffed him, and so kidnapped the person. Crawford had committed no crime and harmed nobody.

As the video begins, the crazed cop charges at Crawford in his vehicle, a gun was drawn and begins yelling at Crawford. Crawford, knowing he had committed no crime, pulls out his phone and films, politely asking why he's being held at gunpoint.

Meyer refuses to inform the innocent man why he's getting ready to murder him in broad daylight. When Crawford is ordered out of the vehicle, he's so terrified he just puts both hands out, continuing to film within the process.

Crawford begs the cop to not shoot him and asks if he can release his safety belt. As soon as he releases it, Meyer drags the innocent man from the car and so orders him to the bottom.

Crawford complies with everything he's told. When told to induce on the bottom, Crawford takes a knee. When told to urge all the way down, he gets all the way down. Like most of the people, however, Crawford visited the bottom slowly as to not get dirty or hurt himself. This angered the tyrant Meyer, who then tasered Crawford.

After the handcuffs are on Crawford, and he's writing from the taser, only then does Meyer tell Crawford why he attacked him.

Meyer claimed that each one of these forces was necessary because Crawford realized the interstate to somewhere safe when Meyer attempted to drag him over.

“I’m not stopping on [sic] no ************ highway,” Crawford said. “I pulled over when it absolutely was safe, that’s the ********** rules! And if you would like to tase me because I took that [inaudible] that's your ******* problem.”

When pressed for the explanation for the stop in the first place, Meyer then tells Crawford that he had a “dirty registration code.” This was later confirmed by the department of local government likewise. Naturally, Crawford was upset and questioned the actual fact that Meyer held him at gunpoint.

“I made sure I wasn’t visiting get shot because your ****** *** came up to my car with a gun,” Crawford said.

In order to justify the disgusting abuse of power, Crawford was then arrested and charged with attempting to evade and interfere with police duties. He never received a citation for an unclean registration code.

When authorities reviewed the evidence within the case, they refused to stay the costs against Crawford and that they were all dropped.

Despite this incident unfolding in January of this year, the video was kept covert until on. After its release, New Braunfels Mayor Rusty Brockman and civil authority, Robert Camareno both condemned Meyer’s actions.

“We want to form it abundantly clear that the actions of the officer within the video aren't acceptable to the town of recent Braunfels and not representative of the lads and girls within the local department of the town of latest Braunfels,” Mayor Brockman said. “We are working with our local theologist King Jr. association, the New Braunfels law enforcement officials Association and therefore the city’s newly formed Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness forum to own an open dialogue and to maneuver forward in an exceedingly positive way.”

“The actions of Officer Meyer aren't acceptable to my office, to the town Council, or to the New Braunfels local department,” Camareno added. “Our officers are trained to be respectful, to de-escalate situations, give clear and concise commands, hear those they interact with, and only use force when matters deem it necessary; the training and our expectations weren't met during this traffic stop. The experience Mr. Crawford had with Officer Meyer isn't acceptable.”

Despite the unacceptable nature of Meyer’s actions, he was never fired and quietly resigned in September. He was never disciplined by the department.