Virginia State Police and the state Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights are investigating the traffic stop of 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario in rural Isle of Wight County, where two police officers, screaming with their guns drawn, threatened him, peppersprayed him in the face and demanded he get out of his SUV without giving him an explanation for the stop.

Lt. Nazario, an Army Medical Corps officer with the Virginia National Guard, was in uniform after leaving training when he was stopped the night of Dec. 5 on U.S. 460 by two police officers in the town of Windsor.

He drove to a well-lighted BP gasoline station where the 27-year-old graduate of Virginia State University ultimately was pulled out of his vehicle by police, struck multiple times with “knee-strikes” to his legs and knocked to the ground. He then was handcuffed and interrogated.

On the police body camera footage, Lt. Nazario calmly and repeatedly asked the officers why he was stopped. The video shows him complying with their commands to hold his hands in the air outside the driver’s side window. He told the armed officers, “I’m honestly afraid to get out.”

“Yeah, you should be!” one of the officers responded.

An officer also could be heard using a slang term to suggest Lt. Nazario was facing execution.

Lt. Nazario later was released by police without any charges.

Video of the incident has gone viral on the internet, once again raising alarms about law enforcement and their continuing use of excessive force against Black people.

Lt.Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., by relatives who were also cousins to Eric Garner, the man killed by police in July 2014 on a Staten Island sidewalk when he was put in a continuous chokehold despite his pleas that he couldn’t breathe.

According to The Washington Post, Lt. Nazario called Mr. Garner his uncle.

Lt. Nazario, a former ROTC student who graduated from VSU in 2016, filed a $1 million lawsuit in federal court against the two officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, which was announced this week. The lawsuit accuses the officers of violating the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, assault and other claims.

Mr. Gutierrez was fired after an investigation determined he did not follow police department policies, Windsor officials said in a statement on Sunday.

The Isle of Wight Branch NAACP and other local and state leaders held a news conference Monday evening across the street from the gas station where Lt. Nazario was stopped.

“There are so many things that went wrong with this traffic stop, but it is indicative of what’s happening around the country, and how officers walk away from cases with no disciplinary action, to include termination and or firing,” said NAACP chapter President Valerie Butler, who also called for Officer Crocker to be fired.

The civil rights organization also called for the resignation of Windsor Police Chief Rodney “Dan” Riddle following a Wednesday news conference in which the chief defended the actions of the officers. He said there were “red flags” that caused them to draw their weapons on Lt. Nazario and claimed that Officer Crocker attempted to de-escalate the situation.

Chief Riddle said he is using the incident as a teaching moment, with the department pursuing additional training for officers in implicit bias and citizen encounters.

He also confirmed that the FBI is conducting a federal investigation into the incident.

Gov. Ralph S. Northam called the encounter “disturbing,” and said he directed State Police to review what happened.

“It was shameful. It was embarrassing. It was disgusting,” Delegate Don Scott, a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said of the traffic stop.

In a statement, the VLBC called the actions of the two officers “atrocious” and said they must be investigated and held accountable.

“Not even a military uniform and brave service to this country can shield Black and Brown Virginians from racist police harassment and brutality. In stark contrast stands the shield of qualified/sovereign immunity, which allows law enforcement to engage in racist brutality with little to no consequences,” the caucus stated.

The caucus also called for passage of a bill by Richmond Delegate Jeff Bourne that would end qualified immunity for police officers and their governing bodies from civil liability for violations of a person’s rights. The bill was shot down during the latest General Assembly session.

“We must revolutionize police accountability here in Virginia ...These wanton acts of racist aggression from law enforcement cannot be allowed to continue,” the caucus stated.

Attorney General Mark R. Herring directed his civil rights office to investigate a possible “pattern of misconduct” by Windsor Police. His office has asked the Windsor department to release records involving use of force during the past 10 years. He also wants access to various complaints against the department that involve traffic stops, use of force and “treatment on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin.”

In a CNN interview, Mr. Herring called the conduct of the officers “appalling” and “dangerous,” adding that he saw nothing in the video that would justify their actions.

The lawsuit said the traffic stop “was ostensibly for the lack of a rear license plate, though the temporary tags (for the new vehicle) were affixed to the back of the vehicle and visible.”

Located about 70 miles southeast of Richmond, Windsor has a population of 2,721 and seven full-time police officers. Nearly three- quarters of the town is white and nearly 18 percent is Black.

Minnesota police officer charged in shooting death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright after Sunday traffic stop

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. - Once again, the killing of a Black motorist is grabbing the attention of Richmond and the nation.

And once again it has occurred in Minnesota, this time in Brooklyn Center, a suburb located 10 miles from Minneapolis where the high-profile murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd is nearing completion.

This latest incident involved a white female police officer shooting and killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who had been stopped Sunday afternoon. Police said he was stopped for an expired vehicle registration, while Mr. Wright, who called his mother from his cellphone after he being stopped, said it was for having air freshener dangling from his rearview mirror.

As in the Floyd case, the public reaction has been swift, with three nights of protests, civil unrest and some looting in Brooklyn Center. Public outrage has not triggered the widespread protests spawned by the disturbing video of Mr. Floyd’s death.

Seeking to restore calm, the official response has been swift as well. The officer, Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force and police trainer, turned in her badge Tuesday. On Wednesday, Ms. Potter, 48, was charged with second degree manslaughter.

She was being held without bail while awaiting a court appearance. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined up to $20,000.

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, who told reporters on Monday that the shooting appeared to be accidental, also submitted his resignation on Tuesday to the city’s first Black mayor, Mike Elliott.

Mr. Gannon said the evidence indicated that Ms. Potter meant to draw her Taser, but instead pulled her gun when Mr. Wright broke away from a fellow officer, jumped in his car and tried to drive off. The situation escalated when Ms. Potter’s records check showed Mr. Wright had an outstanding arrest warrant.

A short clip of body camera video released Monday showed Mr. Wright trying to get back in his car as a female voice could be heard shouting, “I’ll Taser you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” as she fired.

The same female voice could be heard saying, “Holy s---, I just shot him,” as the car pulled away.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office, which brought the charge after the medical examiner ruled Mr. Wright’s death a homicide by gunshot, disclosed that Ms. Potter was acting as her partner’s field training officer at the time.

“We will vigorously prosecute and intend to prove that Officer Potter abrogated her responsibility to protect the public when she used her firearm rather than her Taser,” according to a statement from the office. “Her action caused the unlawful killing of Mr. Wright, and she must be held accountable.”

Members of the Wright family called for an end to the rioting, but also expressed concern that Ms. Potter was not charged with murder.

Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Wright family, stated after the arrest that the charge fell short and indicated more work is needed on police reform.

“While we appreciate that the district attorney is pursuing justice for Daunte, no conviction can give the Wright family their loved one back. This was no accident. This was an intentional, deliberate, and unlawful use of force. Driving while Black continues to result in a death sentence,” Mr. Crump said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Chauvin trial wrapped up their case Monday with testimony from a heart specialist, who testified that Mr. Floyd, 46, did not die of a heart attack or a drug overdose, but from asphyxiation.

His testimony sought to bolster the case against Mr. Chauvin and rebut the defense theory that Mr. Floyd’s health issues, along with a drug overdose, were the actual cause of his death.

While it is still uncertain whether Mr. Chauvin will testify, the defense has begun presenting witnesses, with closing arguments expected Monday at the Hennepin County courthouse. The case would then go to the jury.

The defense by Wednesday had presented six witnesses, with the most notable being a former chief medical examiner in Maryland who testified that Mr. Floyd died from sudden cardiac arrest.

Dr. David Fowler, though, acknowledged during cross-examination that a person would suffer irreversible brain damage if someone knelt on the back of his or her neck for 4 minutes, less than half the 9 minutes and 29 seconds Mr. Chauvin knelt on Mr. Floyd’s neck.

The defense also offered testimony from its own expert in the use of force, Barry Brodd, who testified that he believed Mr. Chauvin acted reasonably.

“I felt that Derek Chauvin was justified, was acting with objective reasonableness, following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement in his interaction with Mr. Floyd,” Mr. Brodd told the jury.

The prosecution earlier presented testimony from the Minneapolis police chief and veteran training officers that Mr. Chauvin’s actions violated department policy, practice and procedure and did not comport with the training officers receive.