After an incident during an otherwise peaceful protest last Wednesday, Officer Neil Reynolds was ruthlessly teased by a protestor. The officer is expected to make a full recovery.
“Neil is laying low right now while he regains his strength,” says another officer, William Styles. “I just wish all the people defending these so-called protestors could have seen this, and could see the way we’re treated everyday.”
Reynolds suffered the unexpected verbal abuse during an exchange where protestors requested he wear a mask.
“He was just standing on the corner glaring at the cop-haters when they started chanting at him to put on a mask,” says Styles. “And then if that wasn’t bad enough, one of them told him he should grateful for the opportunity to cover up his shapeless cop chin.”
“I don’t even know what a cop chin is, but it’s definitely offensive. And these people are supposed to be against racism! Complete hypocrites,” Styles adds.
While Officer Reynolds’s injuries may be invisible, unlike those of protestors who were pepper sprayed, tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets, and beaten with batons, there is no denying the significance of his emotional pain.
“Nobody realizes cops are actually some of the most discriminated against people,” says Styles. “If I said the things about black people that people say about cops, the mob would be at my throat. Not that I ever would. Many of my fellow officers are black, but you won’t hear them talking about that.”
Though the brutal teasing has caused Reynolds’s coworkers to reflect deeply on injustice faced by police officers, this reflection is anticipated to be the only lasting effect of the episode.
Witnesses report Reynolds appeared to already be in better spirits as he mounted his bike to rush at protestors from behind and begin making violent, random arrests.
