OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - An investigation by the California Highway Patrol has found a plainclothes officer acted within department policy when he pointed his gun at protesters during an Oakland demonstration last year.
The Oakland Tribune reports Friday that the unnamed officer was found to be justified for drawing his gun after his partner wrestled with a protester who struck him last December during an anti-police brutality protest.
"Was it unnerving? Yes. Shocking? Yes," CHP Golden Gate Division Chief AVert Browne told the newspaper Thursday. "We take that seriously when there's a display of a firearm, but had he not done that, today we might be having a different discussion. He saved his partner's life and other citizens that were there too."
The officer and his partner were dressed in plainclothes and followed the protest part of the way in their car. On foot they walked with the march from downtown Oakland a few blocks.
At some point, some protesters became suspicious that the two men were police, not protesters. At least one person attempted to pull off handkerchiefs the officers were wearing to hide their faces. A melee ensued.
