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Tribune News Service

An officer has been pulled from patrol while police conduct an internal investigation into a video that shows him pepper-spraying passing motorcyclists on a highway.
The officer, identified as W. Figueroa, who has been with Fort Worth police since 2009, was placed on administrative duties Monday afternoon.
Figueroa had pulled over a red pickup truck Sunday afternoon after it was allegedly blocking traffic and recording “motorcycles driving recklessly.”
As a caravan of motorcyclists began to pass, an officer emerges from the patrol car with what appears to be a canister of pepper spray in his right hand.
A video shot by one of the bikers with his GoPro camera shows the officer spraying at passing motorcyclists.
Chase Stone, president of an East Texas motorcycle “team” known as the East Texas Heat, posted the video on his Facebook page, writing that he believed the officer’s intention was to cause an accident.
“Law enforcement is here to protect and serve, not intentionally try to harm others,” Stone wrote on his Facebook post in asking others to share the video. “THIS WAS BEYOND DANGEROUS.”
Stone said an estimated 200 motorcyclists joined in a “Welcome Back Weather” ride to commemorate the beginning of biking season.
Jack Kinney, another member of the East Texas Heat, shot the video on his GoPro camera and said he had no idea what he had captured until late Sunday night, when he and Stone reviewed the footage.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, film everything. You can delete it later if nothing is on your camera,” Kinney said.
According to Fort Worth police, the department had fielded several calls reporting reckless driving.
Kinney said he witnessed no reckless driving and accused the department of running a “propaganda campaign to try to mitigate the damage.”
“What’s in the video? The people at that time, they weren’t committing any crime,” Kinney said. “They were driving slower than the speed limit and they got pepper sprayed for it.”
Police spokeswoman Corporal Tracey Knight said the officer “documented his actions as well as the actions before, during and after the traffic stop, as well as recording it on his body camera and the dash cam of his patrol car.”
She said she could not disclose the reason the officer gave for using his pepper spray because of the ongoing investigation.


Texas police officer caught on video pepper-spraying passing motorcyclists

A Fort Worth police officer identified as W. Figueroa is shown in a video spraying what appears to be pepper spray at passing motorcyclists on Sunday. Photo: YouTube

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