The city of Greensboro, North Carolina is reeling following the release of a disturbing police body cam video that has gone viral.

The video, released by the police department earlier this week, shows officer Travis Cole approaching a man, Djuan Yourse, sitting on a porch in an affluent Greensboro neighborhood.  He tells Yourse that someone had called in a complaint about a man with a shovel wandering the neighborhood.

In what begins as a friendly discourse, Yourse explains that it must be a misunderstanding, as this is his mother's residence.  He did, in fact, have a shovel and used it to pry open the garage door a bit to make sure that his Mom had not left the family dog inside as he was concerned that it would damage property.

Yourse tells the officer that he is waiting for his mother to return as he does not have his key to the home with him.  He explains that his mother's home is not his primary residence but that he visits practically daily.

Things begin to escalate however, as officer Cole appears convinced that Yourse does not belong in the neighborhood.  Yourse offers to walk to a neighbor's house with the officer, who will vouch for him but Cole refuses.  Yourse then attempts to call his mother but she doesn't answer.

Finally, Yourse calls an unknown friend and asks them to come to the house so "these motherf*&#ing cops stop harassing me."

At this point, Cole appears to slap his phone away and punch Yourse in the eye.  He then, alongside his partner, forcefully detains Yourse.  Several other officers also swarm the neighborhood to assist.

The problem?  In addition to the officer's obvious over-reaction...Yourse was telling the truth.   It is his mother's house and the neighbors do know him well.  At a city council meeting on the subject, one neighbor described Yourse as "just a really, really nice guy."

Yourse admits in the video that he is a convicted felon and, at first, the Greensboro police department indicted that this must have put officer Cole on guard.  That said, the department stopped short of defending the officer's actions.

Following the release of the video, the Greensboro city council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to fire Cole.

“Well, it's horrible! And I say this as a white male representative,” said Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber.

During a press conference, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan apologized to Yourse, who was in attendance, calling the incident "ugly."

However, numerous Greensboro residents say the resolution is not enough, as this is not the first time Officer Cole has been in trouble.  While the ruling means Cole will not be allowed to be a cop in Greensboro, it does not prevent him from seeking a position in law enforcement elsewhere.

They want to make sure he can't be an officer anywhere.

As the video has now gone viral, it remains to be seen if any further action will be taken against Cole.

Since the video was released, Cole's partner, Charlotte Jackson, who is also seen in the video, has since resigned, although she was not formerly charged for her involvement in the incident.

 

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