Delray Beach police are receiving threatening phone calls after a video was posted online showing a police dog mauling a suspect. When that video went viral, people started calling the department leaving violent, threatening messages. The callers mistakenly believed that the dog attacked the man’s face due to a description about the incident that was posted with the video. However it turns out the dog only bit the man in the arm, which after a struggle with several officers, finally led to compliance by the suspect, who has been identified as 19-year-old Mason Courson.
According to WPBF News, Nick Palermo who took the video and posted it to Facebook wrote, “From what I saw, he was clearly unarmed. Six police officers tackled him to the floor and repetitively punched and kicked him, and to make matters worse they did the K-9 unit to come out and after the man in already in handcuffs they let the dog go at it on his face. I just don’t think that after a man is already in handcuffs on the ground that they need a dog to bite him and make him bleed out,” Palermo wrote. Below is the video in question.
Sgt. Goldman with the Delray Beach PD stated that Courson shoved the responding, uniformed officer, prompting a call for backup. Goldman also stated that Courson would not show his hands and “exhibited unusual strength consistent with Flakka use,” according to WPBF News.
The department says people are threatening their cops, saying that their officers committed “horrific acts.”
“It’s become a trend lately ..people feel they can express violent intent to law enforcement officers… that they can make these threats and that it’s ok but it’s not,” a Delray Beach police spokeswoman said.
“After what I’ve seen, I hope every single one of your officers involved dies on duty. I hope they get shot in the face. Seriously. Every single last one. I hope every single police officer in your department dies a horrible death,” the caller said.
The Delray Beach police chief addressed the video, saying that the K-9 unit did not attack the man’s face — just his arms– when he refused to show officers his hands.
This was not the only dispatch call the department received about the video. Police are tracking the caller, who was apparently from out-of-state, and plan to press charges.
The threats follow a disturbing pattern in south Florida. Just a week ago, while police were arresting Michael Crawford on a trespassing charge, he told an officer, “When I get out in 60 or 90 days, I’m coming for you. You’re a dead man. I hope the next cop that gets killed is you.” This also follows the Joy Feinberg incident, where Joy told a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy who pulled her over for speeding in a school zone, “No wonder you people get shot.”
