Apparently, even being at home does not prevent you from being harassed by police in Lancaster, California, as a veteran became visibly upset after being followed to his driveway over illegally tinted windows.
In the tense exchange shared on Instagram, the veteran could be heard asking, “Are you really doing this right now?” while the officer responded, “Yes, I am.” The veteran then replied, “You followed me to my {expletive} house; I just got off work,” as the officer warned that if he continued speaking in that manner, he was going to jail.
“I came for an illegal traffic stop, I don’t care if you are in your driveway or not,” the officer stated, prompting the man to ask what exactly was illegal. “Your window tint,” the officer fired back almost immediately, as the veteran insisted that his front window was not tinted. Shortly after, the camera went blank, and sounds from the recording suggested the situation may have turned physical. “No [expletive] way, in front of my house, you are here telling me my tint is illegal,” the man could be heard yelling. He emphasized he was wrongly accused of having a tinted front window when only the side windows were tinted.
That was when things became superheated. “I’m gonna [expletive] shoot you,” the officer threatened, as the heated exchange continued off camera. Shocked, the veteran questioned, “You’re gonna shoot me in front of my house?” but the officer didn’t budge. The comments section quickly filled with outrage, with many questioning the officer’s actions.
“Traffic stop at his HOME?” one user asked. Another questioned the escalation, “What’s the reason this was not just a fix-it ticket?” A third comment read, “Imagine feeling justified in shooting someone in their own driveway over something like tint.” One person fired off, “Interesting, the perpetrators are paid for by our tax dollars. NO REPRESENTATION NO TAXATION. THREATENING OUR VETERANS.” A netizen commented on public perception of law enforcement, stating, “Cops are really making it hard for people not to instantly hate them.”
Another commenter interpreted the officer’s words as intimidation, stating, “From the beginning, ‘If you escalate this’ means ‘I have a badge and wear a uniform so I have the authority to harass you and do what I want.‘” This user argued, “You cannot make a traffic stop on private property!!” This netizen advised, “This is a lawsuit, ALL DAY! They violated his rights, the stop wasn’t criminal! But we live in a ‘police state’, where ICE is just doing what the cops do on a daily basis, just with masks.”
One final commenter summarized how they believed the situation could have been handled differently, writing, “Even if he did have a tint on his window, it in no way warrants this much of an escalation. He could’ve sent him a ticket in the mail.” The comment continued, “I will also never understand why cops are allowed to retaliate by saying, ‘If you’re acting like this, you’re going to jail.’ So basically, you’re retaliating in such a petty manner, how is that not an abuse of power???”
