The town of Windsor, Virginia, said Sunday that one officer has been fired and another disciplined over an arrest in December that went viral on social media over the weekend. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said earlier Sunday that video of the traffic stop, in which Army Lt. Caron Nazario was pepper-sprayed at gunpoint by two officers, "is disturbing and angered me," and he said he has directed the Virginia State Police to investigate the incident. Nazario, who is Black and Latino, is also suing the officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, in federal court.
Gutierrez and Crocker pulled Nazario over in Windsor on Dec. 5, 2020, because his brand new SUV did not have permanent license plates. At one point, Nazario, in his Army uniform, told the officers he was afraid to get out of the car, video from Nazario's cellphone and the officers' body cameras show. "Yeah, you should be," one of the officers responded. Gutierrez, who pepper-sprayed Nazario inside his car before arresting him, did not follow Windsor police procedures and was "terminated from his employment," the town of Windsor said in a statement. Nazario was released without charge.
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