title:  Cop Holds Gun On Black Delivery Man During Routine Traffic Stop (VIDEO)
text: Twenty-five-year-old Christopher Jeffries was working as a pizza delivery driver on the night of January 16, when he was pulled over by a Bladensburg, MA, police officer.According to Jeffries, who captured the encounter with the unnamed officer on cell-phone video, the cop got out of his own vehicle with his gun drawn. After approaching Jeffries car, the officer pointed the gun in the young man s face.The cell-phone video shows the officer approaching the driver s side of his vehicle, shouting, POLICE OFFICER! PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL! Jeffries tries to communicate with the officer, who again demands that he puts his hands on the steering wheel.Jeffries complies by placing his hands on the wheel. He then calmly asks the cop, Can you put your gun away sir? Instead, the cop demands that he produce his license and registration. As he is attempting to do that, the officer commands him to put his phone down. I m putting my phone down,  Jeffries says.The cop repeats the command several more times, even though Jeffries is no longer holding his phone.He tells the officer that he did put his phone down, but the cop is too busy shouting orders in rapid-fire succession to even hear what he s saying.At this point Jeffries raises his empty hands, saying, My phone is not even in my hands. Immediately the cop starts demanding that he roll down his window.At this point the driver s window is cracked enough that he can hear the officer and the officer can hear him.Jeffries rolls the window down further, handing his driver s license through the opening, as the officer continues to demand that he roll his window down. My window is down,  he says. This can go from bad to real bad,  the cop says.A minute later, after Jeffries tells him he doesn t have his registration on him, the officer begins demanding that he get out of the vehicle.At this point Jeffries says,  I actually am afraid right now. He asks the officer,  Can you please call for backup?  saying,  You re pulling a gun on me. Watch the video below, via VerifiedPlus on YouTube.  During an interview with Fox 5, Jeffries described the encounter, saying: I felt like I was living the last seconds of my life when the man walked out of his car. He went to say: Seeing that gun just on my side mirror was like a startling, frightening moment of like,  This could be it,  given the atmosphere and the time that we are in. This stop should have resulted in a minor traffic ticket, at best.Instead it was escalated to a life or death situation, by a cop who was too scared to even talk to a Black man without his gun drawn and pointed in his face.Not surprisingly, the police chief contends that his officer s behavior was appropriate.Jeffries has filed a civil rights suit against the officer. Image credit: video screen capture via VerifiedPlus on youtube