At 1:55 p.m. on Aug. 26, the Woodfin Police Department published a statement on its Facebook page that described a “physical altercation” between officers and a man named Jonathan Barker. It stated the department had forwarded information about the incident to the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office for further review.
A video taken by a bystander and published by the Citizen Times on Aug. 25 shows Woodfin detective Jason Gregg deploying a Taser on Barker after Barker does not comply with Gregg’s commands. Two other officers, Colby Mehaffey and Jamie McCandless, stand by.
Throughout the interaction, Barker asked to speak with a supervisor. Gregg said he was the supervisor. Woodfin Police Chief Michael Dykes confirmed Gregg was not a supervisor but said Gregg was the most senior officer on the scene.
Previous reporting:Woodfin police chief says Taser use against motorist is 'most definitely' within policy
Eleven minutes later, the Woodfin Police Department updated its post with a new message: “Hey, Asheville Citizen Times, this is the PC way of saying, the Officers did nothing wrong, so take your tabloid joke of a news source and shove it.”
Screenshots of the updated post circulated on social media. On Aug. 27, Dykes confirmed the post’s authenticity.
“We were made aware of that and it’s been addressed,” Dykes said.
Dykes would not say how the situation was addressed, or confirm that the post was made by an employee of the Woodfin Police Department. He did not...
Read Full Story: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2021/09/06/woodfin-police-department-disparage-citizen-times-reporting-facebook-post/5621636001/
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