83 comments on “Tell the UHP Trooper John Gardner must be punished.”

    • Ohhh so cops should be judged or questioned… way too many cops have a “i’m the law, and it doesn’t apply to me attitude”. Sounds to me like your a cop, and have that “i’m above the law attitude”.

      Try being a cop before you judge one. They live a dangerous life, and jerks just make it even more dangerous.

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  2. it’s my understanding that a cop can search after an arrest without a warrant. did he search before he turned possession of the car over to massey’s wife?

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  4. Dwight, try being a doctor or a Muslim or a woman before you judge one. That’s good advice for us all, but doesn’t apply any more to cops. The video clearly shows that Officer Gardner acted way too rashly. We can’t give our public servants impunity, even when 99 percent of them are good guys.

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  5. A few comments have been made that Mr. Massey was resisting arrest when he started to walk (back up) away. It looked more to me like Mr. Massey was acting on instinct..you know, Fight or Flight, when this Trooper pointed a taser gun at him. It appeared that Mr. Massey was exiting his vehicle to discuss the speed signs when this officer announced he was arresting him for not signing the speeding ticket??? That is Mr. Massey’s RIGHT to refuse to sign the ticket, and clearly not against the law! We have laws in America…and we have rules and regulations that even Utah State Troopers have to follow. Jon Gardner did not follow policy, procedure or protocol. At no time did it ever appear that Mr. Massey “took control” over the situation that would warrant the Trooper to act in the manner he did or take the actions he chose. If I was the wife, I’d be suing him for my mental and emotional trauma/ duress too!!! When exactley was Mr. Massey’s rights read to him? After Jon Gardner told his version of the incident and finished socializing with his fellow officers?

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  7. Why is anyone surprised by this??? This PIG should be immediately fired from the public payroll and charged with his crimes, but so should at least 30% of them. This is totally typical police behavior. I certainly hope the prevalance of video monitoring (people should probably put it on their own vehicles for protection) can put more PIGS like this behind bars where they belong. I especially love how the PIG outrightly lies when questioned by the other police officer that arrives on the scene…this is how honest most police reports are as well. Lying, power-mongering, insecure & immature shitheaded PIGS. I hope video catches them all at their facade.

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  8. I have been very disturbed by the sudden appearance of many LEO’s on popular websites.Many are insulting,baiting,and disrupting.When,law enforcement shows they are willing to admit a wrong,instead of adopting this seige mentality,they will get the public support they need.Myself included.

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  9. wow, chloe…why don’t you tell us how you really feel?

    the hatred in your words makes you every bit as “immature” as the “pig” you refer to.

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  10. I’m thinking the same thing. And I’m pretty anti-Gardner right now. “At least 30 percent” is ridiculous, and I highly doubt you have anything solid to back your numbers up. The fact is, most officers may not be angels, but they’re pretty honorable people doing a tough job. Grow up.

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  13. What would Thomas Jefferson have done? I thought we didn’t live in a police state?

    Last I checked traffice tickets were not criminal activity; and the guy was not under arrest. People need to stand up to this crap. We are not sheep who are supposed to “sit down shut up and do whatever the cop says.”

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  14. After watching the video a few times I have noticed several things.

    1) Massey wanted to get out of the car to view a sign.
    2) the officer asked him to get out of the car, NOT explaining why.
    3) It looks like Massey assumed his request was being granted to view the sign.
    4) The officer escalated the issue to the point of the taser. If you notice the taser is out and pointed at Massey before he turns back to the SUV. Why would the officer have the taser out BEFORE there was a reason?
    5) The officer is a liar.
    6) The other hometown hero officer is just as disrespectful and disgusting as the first officer.

    We really do need to do as the officers say, but I am sure there have been far more tense situations resolved without a tasing. Officer Gardner has no business patrolling the streets when he is on tape lying, using excessive force, then laughing about it with no regard to the pain he inflicted.

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  15. Taser International markets there product as nonlethal. This device has allowed police to increase their sensitivity to anyone that doesn’t agree with them. In Utah it is my understanding that a person is not required to sign a ticket. The cop could have given him the ticket and left. I especially like the way the UHP protect their own in saying what he did was right. They are just as guilty as him. Shame on you.

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  16. THIS IS WHY COPS ARE ALL !@*&%^(*$..YOU GIVE THEM A LITTLE AUTHORITY AND IT GOES STRAIGHT TO THEIR POWER HUNGRY HEAD. NONE OF THEM CAN KEEP A COOL HEAD UNDER ANY KIND OF PRESSURE. THATS WHY THEY GET PAID SCRAPS. ITS ALL THEY DESERVE. GUESS WHAT OFFICERS I CARRY A GUN AROUND ALL DAY TOO, BUT I DONT FEEL THE NEED TO SHOW PEOPLE HOW POWERFUL IAM BECAUSE OF IT. LEARN TO RESPECT THOSE YOU SERVE AND MAYBE SOMEDAY YOU WILL GET A RAISE….. TO SAY, ” $16 DOLLARS AN HR….Mike

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  17. What? You don’t walk away from an officer when he ordering you to put your hands behind your back. In some states you can be arrested for not signing a speeding ticket. Officers do not have to tell you why you are being hand cuffed or read you your rights until they are ready to. This guy got everything he deserved. Take the ticket and go to court.

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  18. I have to say that quite a few of you appear to be ignorant lunatics. Let me break it down Barney-style, in simple words that you can understand:

    Driver speeds.
    Driver is stopped.
    Driver is issued citation.
    Driver refuses to sign citation.
    Driver is (at the option of the officer) placed under arrest.
    Upon being told so and ordered out of the vehicle Driver acts stupid and doesn’t do what he is told —–> it now goes beyond Officer Presence and Verbal Commands to Soft Empty Hand Techniques..WAIT! Is it really a good idea to get into a physical altercation on a major roadway that has a good chance of ending up in traffic, presenting danger not only to the officer and driver but to passing motorists as well? If he is so equipped, should the officer deploy OC spray? Sure. Driver gets sprayed, loses his mind, and runs out into traffic and of course..internet lawyers all over the world will question that one. Hmmm..guess that leaves the Taser, which will immediately incapacitate an uncooperative subject making it easier for the officer to end the confrontation.

    Actually, I guess what should have happened was Trooper Gardner should have told Massey, “Thats okay, dont bother to acknowledging receipt of this citation by signing, I am so sorry for doing my job, and I promise to never stop you for doing well over the speed limit again”

    To those questioning Gardner not reading Massey his rights please do us all a favor and bone up on your Miranda law. Actually check out a book from the library, stop using wikipedia and sell that deluxe DVD box set of “COPS” that you watch way too often.

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  19. Re-watch the video.

    Gardner tells Massey to step out of the vehicle, turns his back, walks to the hood of his car and puts down his ticket book. He immediately wheels around, pulls the taser and tells Massey to put his hands behind his back. Massey, obviously stunned he has a gun aimed at him, instinctivly backs away and half turns and shuffles toward his car. Gardner fires.

    This all took place in a span of 8 seconds. And it appears Gardner had decided to pull the taser before he even put down his ticket book. If he felt threatened enough to pull the taser, why would he turn his back on Massey and even allow him to walk past him (pointing to the speed limit sign)?

    Bottom line. Trooper Gardner had heard enough of this kid asking him to clarify the circumstances of the ticket and he was going to teach him a lesson by giving him a “ride on the taser”.

    Shameful.

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  20. I am a mother in law to a young lady whos ex’husband is a deputy sheriff in Duchsene County, Duchesne, Utah (about 30 miles from Roosevelt and the John Gardner incident). I was called as a witness on behalf of my now, daughter in law during a custody type hearing. While I was waiting in the Court room to testify on her behalf and my sons behalf, her ex-husband was in uniform,wearing his sidearm, all the while before court commenced he had his hand on his sidearm giving me glaring stares and smiling. I flet threatend and scared, I filed charges with his superior, gave a written statement with supporting documentation, a transcripe where he was asked to remove his sidearm and challanged the judge. Today I received a report from his superior (who is a friend of his, along with the investigators and the judge) stating that “there is nothing substantial to show that Sgt.. may be a threat” that they felt that I was less than straightforward” and not truthful”. During my taped interview I had an attorney present. In the past her ex’husband has pointed his “taser, laiser light at her in an elementary school room with children in the room, making shooting sounds at her as he pointed it at her heart, then into her eyes. She filed charges with the local law enforcement in Vernal, Utah and even with a written teachers statement of the incident attached to her complaint, nothing happened to the officer. At one point he pointed his Tazer gun at her in a McDonalds, when she was 6 months pregnant succeeding in scarring her in the presence of their minor daughter, again nothing happened to the officer. Of course, the outcome is, the local investigators investigate their “buddies” and nothing ever happens to them. However, they can give subtle threats, and use scare tatics all they want. I feel investigators of officers in this area should be an outside source. The honest layperson does not have a chance in proving their case against an officer in this area. I have reported that he showers with his 8 year old daughter, sleeps with her and yet all that happend is he is told that that is inappropraite. Don’t you think an officer of the law would know that? Seriously, who is investigation whom around here? Thank you.

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  22. Trooper Gardner was way out of line. There was not any resistant and it was very clear the driver was not demonstrating any signs for being dangerous. Trooper Gardner should not be wearing a badge anymore and UHP should be conveying their sincerest apology for what appears to be a sadistic individual that was not screened properly when hired and not trained accordingly to the rule and regulation of engagement. Congratulation Trooper Gardner for giving Law Enforcement Officers every where another black eye, you are truly a disgrace to your uniform as well as your parents. From one officer to another!

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  23. Let’s look at the bigger picture….. If this “tasing” would have happened to say a person visiting the USA what then?!! I for one welcome all ethnic diversity to Utah!! I believe the whole idea of commerce in Utah is in jeopardy due to this incident and believe Utah has a reasonability to uphold our community reputation! My feeling is that we attracted a “level” of intelligence or incompetence to the role of law enforcement officer due to the lack of salary. I do like think our law enforcement needs to be supported by “us” the public!!

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  24. As for this issue… The lack of training on the officer’s part and lack of communication is sickening!!! Furthermore!! Massey should be ashamed of his self for handling the situation the way he did in front of his wife and child! His behavior was highly inappropriate!!

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  25. What a pathetic excuse for a UHP Trooper.

    Gardner is the perfect example of a high school dork that intends to make up for all the times when he was laughed at and made the joke of throughout his school years and even in his life now.

    What an embarrassment to the police force. No consideration for the trauma that Massey’s wife and child had to experience. All because he lacks any respect for the public that he is supposed to protect and serve.

    UHP should fire him immediately….have him charged with assault with a deadly weapon & giving a false statement to a police officer… (Reference the end of the video when he falsely recounted the events to the other officer.)… Place him under arrest….then have him booked in to jail.

    I hope that Massey peruses every legal avenue available to make UHP & Gardner pay for his inexcusable actions and the trauma that his family had to endure and will continue to have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

    Do the right thing UHP. Don’t just cover for him because you don’t adequately scan for unstable individuals such as Gardner.

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  26. Massey has every right to dispute a traffic violation, which doesn’t warrant Gardner to arrest him.

    Gardner seems like a troubled individual. Perhaps he was beaten as a kid, and is now taking his frustrations out on the public that he was hired to protect… NOT harm!

    Gardner makes me sick… and so does this “UHP internal investigation.” These investigations resolve nothing, as the police department usually protects their own. There should be an independent third party firm, hired by the Governor, to investigate this matter.

    John Gardner and the state of Utah make me sick!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  27. It’s obvious through Trooper John Gardner’s actions he is part of an al-Qaeda sleeper cell. It’s being discovered that Islamic extremist have infiltrated those in this country that we expect to Protect and Serve our communities, our police. The way that the police violate the constitution and people’s civil rights they are obviously operating under the direction of some terrorist dictator. I say we go kick in John Gardener’s door and I’ll bet we find him with a picture of Osama on his wall and he’ll be kneeling on a prayer mat with a Koran clutched in hand screaming al-lah al-lah akbar. I wonder how many Utah State Troopers are really al-Qaeda terrorist disguised as cops?

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  28. A savage’s only answer to a problem he’s having with somebody is a club, an axe, a knife, a spear. All too often the people placed in charge of controlling the savages have that same mentality. Read “Guilty by Reason of Insanity” for the reference to psychological tests given to prison inmates and guards; if the examiner did not know the identity of the person turning in the test, he could not tell if it came from an inmate or a corrections officer–they gave the same sorts of responses.
    Are police applicants subjected to adequate mental screening to keep these sick psychologies out of law enforcement? Isn’t it obvious that an occupation which puts into the hands of the people who exercise it a gun, a club, a toxic spray can, handcuffs, and now a taser, and doesn’t expect them to bring more to the job than a twelfth grade education is bound to attract a disproportionate number of posturing neanderthals, barely suppressed sadists, and people who just want to throw their weight around? Officers like Gardner are like Drill Instructors and career sergeants in the military: you ask for clarification of an order and immediately they think you are questioning that order, defying their petty authority, and they come down on you just as hard as it takes to put you in your place. They don’t even have the “communications skills” to deescalate a confrontation even if they are so inclined. All they understand is force and the fact that force is “a good persuader”. We are headed for a police state. The excuse will be terrorism but the handwriting was on the wall long before 2001. Even getting a traffic ticket, for all its pettiness, is an encounter which you are not going to emerge from without having acknowledged, if only by your cringing, silent, watch-your-step compliance that the cop is in charge. Just look at the way they stand: the Alpha-male, domineering posture. I suspect it’s all driven by fear. The fear that they are anything but the macho types they want to be taken as being. Why else would they resort to a [deadly] weapon so quickly? Why else would they call for reinforcements at the slightest sign of serious trouble from one person, even an obviously unarmed one? Why else would they put hundreds of lives in danger chasing down the highway at 120 miles a hour to impose their will on someone who as often as not turns out to be a scared kid who ran in jackrabbit panic because he didn’t have a license? Bear in mind: most of these chases take place in precisely those areas, like L.A., where they have helicopters and unmarked cars that could keep the pursued under surveillance. You know one thing: sooner or later he’s got to run out of gas.

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  29. ADDENDUM: The real danger to Massey was that his head might slam into the pavement [possibly over the line into the highway itself!] after he was tasered. He dropped like a puppet whose string has been cut. One of the reasons for my interest in this case is that my nephew greatly resembles Massey physically. And he was assaulted-and-battered some years ago, by a non-cop. When his head hit the sidewalk he sustained brain trauma that would have been fatal if he had not been taken to just the right hospital in time. Ever since then he has had epilepsy and is not allowed to drive.
    I don’t think we can even hear enough of the dialogue to be able to judge that Massey was being provocative. He may have been just asking reasonable questions and showing reasonable displeasure at being ticketed for going no faster probably than most of the other drivers, some of whom were behind the wheels of something that weighed forty tons. And was it unreasonable of him to think that you cannot be forced in this country to sign something? Can he be expected to have known that a cop does not have to inform you that you are under arrest before cuffing you? “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Please: Do you know how complicated and how subject to interpretation laws are these days?
    To those who say do whatever the cop tells you and then “work the whole thing out in court, because that’s the way the system works” : I hope you would agree that if Gardner had told Massey to lie face-down in the middle of the highway, Massey would have been permitted to disobey that or any other order which threatened his life. So somewhere in between ordering him to place his hands behind his back, and ordering him to spread-eagle himself on the road, you would say there lies the line the officer should not cross?
    Have you ever had your arms pinioned behind your back by handcuffs? It is a position which makes one feel extremely helpless and vulnerable, which in fact one is. What if the cop at that point decides to work you over? Despite the striving of the law, at least as applied within courtrooms, to be so objective and unemotional, we often hear it said that cops have to operate largely on their gut instincts. Of course the civilian they are dealing with is not allowed to obey a gut instinct that is telling him: “I don’t trust this cop. I can’t let him pin my arms behind my back–the vibrations I’m getting from him tell me he may work me over.”
    And I know from personal experience and observation that [far too many] judges in these minor courts are partial to the police. I think they used to call such courts, at least informally, “police courts”, and the judges “police magistrates.”
    Police not only have more powers than the rest of us, they also have more rights: what greater right is there than the right to be considered to be in the right–absent ANY other criterion but your vocational status as a law enforcement official?
    Maybe like everything else it’s a matter of money: you get the quality of policeman you pay for.

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  30. The trooper maybe cleared by Dept. for following SOP on use of force; but I don’t see the trooper or the UHP winning in a civil case. Massey would most likely file a civil rights violation case. As for the UHP stating they clear Trooper Gardner because Massey has his back to him and hand in pocket. Ok now using that reason REMEMBER THIS. When asked for your wallet and you reach behind and to take it out and get shot. Well he was reaching for a weapon. How can Trooper Gardner speed lock on Massey for a speed reading? I see him dip and stop in front of a speed sign and Massey then passes him. Trooper Gardner pulls back out with out stopping and pulls Massey over in about 5 seconds. Massey states he did not see speed sign; most likely because he was looking at Trooper Gardner’s unit.
    I have dealt with people who act like Massey. I have told them you were speeding and were tracked by radar or laser. I am also required by law the state exactly why I am placing some one under arrest. The thing that is disturbing is the miss statements made by Trooper Gardner near the end of the video stating what happened. Yet the UHP ignored this and other items I saw in the video.
    Bottom line is BOTH Massey and Trooper Gardner are wrong.
    Trooper Gardner for NOT COMMUNICATING CLEARLY TO MASSEY WHAT WAS GOING ON. I can point out many times in the video.
    For MASSEY he should have shut up and listened more before saying anything.
    Arguing with an LEO will get you nowhere and alert the LEO that you are trying to hide something. ARGUING to a LEO in my experience alerts me and tells me something is wrong. People DO NOT NORMALLY ACT THE WAY MASSEY DID. Especially in a remote area as this took place.
    I also have a question?
    Why is Trooper Gardner’s dash cam running before the incident?
    Is it’s UHP policy to run the video camera for the whole patrol watch?
    Just curious though.

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  32. I too agree with most people on this issue, That officer Gardner was overreacting to the situation. I can just imagine Mr. Massey’s frustration in dealing with this cop. Although Mr Massey probably should have tried to calm down a bit and hopefully fight it in court their was no reason for the use of the taser. In my lifelong encounters with the police I have concluded that a good many of them (Not most but enough) are bullies with badges who don’t seem to know when their dealing with a real hardened criminal or just a unlucky motorist that broke a traffic law. I work for Amtrak and we have our own police force whom I’ve had to write an angry letter about. This past christmas time we had a passenger ( A retired Navy veteran)who was just taking pictures on a public platform in NY city Penn station after his train got in and dropped him off. He got his pictures of the train leaving the platform and heading up the stairs to the waiting area in the station when 2 Amtrak police with a bomb sniffing dog approached him and told him he was trespassing. They demanded to see his camera. He showed them the pictures, they wanted the memory card and to erase it. He refused and they cuffed him hard behind his back and even cuffed him inside the holing cell in Penn station. They let him go after several hours with a bogus tresspassins charge. I wrote to our Amtrak president and the chief of police in D.C. as well as the NYC Penn Station chief of police expressing my outrage at this police abuse. I don’t know the outcome but I hope those cops were fired. There are too many power hungry bullies in uniform and it makes the good ones look bad. By the way just last week I got my 1st ticket in 15 years by an angry UHP officer at 13th south in SLC. It was totally unecessary and was not justified. I had accidentally started to pull off the exit ramp which was apparently closed for painting later that morning. (about 3:30am) After being told by a very nice trooper at the first exit 400 south to take the next exit since the same thing was going on at the first exit. I was not going very fast and immediately pulled over when I noticed I had accidentally went down the closed ramp. The sings and all the road construction was very confusing which was exactly what the first cop said. He admitted that the way they put the signs out and diverted traffic was messed up. At 13th south I mearly started to go the ramp to get off I-15. Their were no traffic cones closing the road nor was the UHP car blocking the exit ramp. It was very confusing and I tried to plea my case with the officer but he didn’t want to hear it. He barked orders and acted like i shot his dog. He took this very personally. He was very angry over a little mistake that could have been easily resolved by telling me to go to the next exit which was open. I even told him about the last cop and what he said but that didn’t matter. I got a big fat ticket which i am going to fight in court and probably lose. Now I just have a feeling of disdain for the UHP even though i have only encountered one jerk. Some of them are truly on some sort of power trip.

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