Citizens For Justice's video: Suicidal Man Violently Arrested One Block From Black Lives Matter Protest Columbia MO

On Monday, June 8, 2020 Columbia Police responded to a suicidal man armed with 2 knives he was threatening to use on himself. After an unsuccessful attempts by CPD to coax the man into surrendering, members of the George Floyd / Black Lives Matter protests were able to successfully talk him into dropping the knives. The following Friday, CPD was called back downtown in response to the same man allegedly threatening people with a knife. As police were searching the man, one officer can be seen throwing his beanie and other property on the ground. Simultaneously, the man can be heard repeatedly yelling “Fuck the Klan!” and "Kill me!" at responding officers. A psychical altercation began between the officers and the man, as they attempted to get him in the back of the vehicle. The incident occurred a block from an active George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protest. Several bystanders, some of them protesters, approached and began verbalizing complaint to officers about their handling of the man. One man accused of officers of choking the man, while another yelled that police were pulling his hair. Officers were eventually able to secure the man in the patrol vehicle. The man could be seen kicking the door to the patrol car from the inside. Lt. Chad Gooch, the supervising officer on the scene, smiled and waved at the bystanders, while sarcastically thanking them for their help. In response to questions by CFJ, Lt. Gooch offered the following statement: “We had a call of a man with a knife threatening people on 9th street,” he said. In response to a question to the police response Lt. Gooch stated, “We responded to a disturbance of a man with a knife threatening people on 9th street.” Columbia City Councilman Mike Trapp recently revealed that City Manager John Glasscock was working on a cost analysis to defund parts of the Columbia Police Department. These funds would be diverted to a health department program centered around an unarmed crisis and mental health response team, dedicated to responding to incidents similar to this one. Several protesters questioned whether CPD officers were properly equipped to handle situations like the two that have occurred involving this man, and expressed their belief that a mental health crisis team would have been able to deescalate these situations without violence. City Council Considering Defunding Columbia Police Department: Mike Trapp Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoMTXRprKdM More Footage of the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter Protests: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLboGvGz__4dFy3ddOa6hfLESlColY9xhT Citizens For Justice on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cfjcomo/