In the video, first obtained by the Austin American-Statesman, Richter approaches King’s Nissan, which is parked at a fast-food restaurant, to presumably write her a ticket for speeding.
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The video also reveals a conversation between the woman, an elementary-school teacher named Breaion King, and Richter’s partner, Patrick Spraldin, as she sat handcuffed behind him.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said the officer’s actions are not up to the expectations with the department.
A separate police video also recorded a conversation between Officer Patrick Spradlin and King as she was being driven to jail about the possibility of whites being more concerned in interactions with black people due to their “intimidating” appearance.
The Austin video emerged a day after bystander footage showed Florida police aiming their weapons at an unarmed black man as he lay on the ground with his hands in the air. Acevedo said that King did not file a complaint after the incident, but an internal police review determined the officers’ use of force was not done in a manner consistent with department policy. She had parked in a restaurant’s parking lot and was walking toward that restaurant when Officer Richter asked her to return to the driver’s seat of her auto.
As she climbs out of her auto, Richter tells her to stop. She adds that a lot of people are “afraid of black people”. A community oversight board, de-escalation training, and opportunities for officers to bond with community members outside police work are ways to strive toward healing, he said.
“I was heartbroken because I looked at that video and thought that would never happen to me as a white woman”, King’s attorney Erica Grigg told KXAN News. “I can absolutely pull you over if you are already stopped, yes”. The prosecutor dropped the charges after watching the police dash cam video.
According to the officer’s report, he says he asked King for her driver’s license, which was in her wallet under the driver’s seat. Richter has been a police officer for six years, Spradlin for 15, Austin police said. Oh my god. I was genuinely like fearful for my life.
After Richter tells her to get back inside her vehicle so he can close the door, King asks him, “Can you please hurry up?”
As she was about to exit her auto, one officer approached her and told her to sit back down in her vehicle. He said a criminal investigation has been opened against Richter. “I can give you a really good idea why it might be that way”, Spradlin was caught on tape saying. During the course of a (relatively civil) exchange about race, King asks Spradlin why white people are afraid of black people. He said they included Fatima Mann, an activist with the Austin Justice Coalition, who said she didn’t understand how no one in the department had previously raised concerns about the video.
Acevedo expressed regret that he did not know about the situation sooner, but said that he would be taking steps to ensure that citizens learn how to respond when they feel that they have been mistreated by cops.
“Some of them, due to their appearance and whatnot, some of them are very intimidating”, he said. “Most of the time we are but it makes you wonder are there other things we’re not aware of”. I would rather stay home. Seconds later, King was being violently arrested.
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Spradlin has one for her: “Why are so many people afraid of black people?”.
