Officer uses Taser on Black delivery driver in traffic stop
(NewsNation) — Delane Gordon says he was only a few hundred feet from the destination of his DoorDash delivery order when a police officer in Tennessee drove past him, did a U-turn, then pulled him over, allegedly for speeding.
Shortly thereafter, the Collegedale police officer fired his Taser at the 28-year-old Black man after he did not exit his vehicle and requested a supervisor, as seen in newly released cellphone video taken by Gordon from the incident March 10.
Gordon’s legal team says he questioned the officer about why he was pulled over and asked to talk with a supervisor. When Gordon sensed the situation was escalating, he began recording.
The 49-second video picks up in the middle of the encounter and shows an officer pointing his Taser at an unarmed Gordon demanding he get out of the vehicle. Gordon, who is sitting in the driver’s seat holding his license, asks to speak with a supervisor.
The officer insists that Gordon has refused to provide his information, which Gordon denies.
At one point Gordon puts his hands up and tells the officer he is feeling “uncomfortable,” to which the officer replied, “I don’t give a s*** what you feel like, I said get out.”
The officer then grabs the DoorDash driver and begins yanking him from the car. Moments later, he stuns Gordon with a Taser.
“Oh my God, that’s not lawful, sir. That’s not lawful,” Gordon said after he was hit. The video then ends.
Gordon is charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice in addition to the speeding ticket, his attorney said. His attorneys say they released the video of the incident to raise awareness and deal with the charges.
At the request of the Hamilton County district attorney’s office, the traffic stop is now under investigation by the county sheriff’s office.
Collegedale police said they are conducting an internal investigation as well, but have yet to identify the officer seen in the video.
The incident is just the latest addition to a national conversation around police use-of-force against people of color and the need for de-escalation training at law enforcement agencies.