MCSO is Losing its War on Truth

by Jacob Richards

Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Phillip Peterson knew he fucked up. He realized it almost as soon as it was over. He had just put a student into a chokehold specifically banned by Colorado law.

“You don’t have to grab me like that,” said the victim after he was cuffed and being walked to the office. “Don’t pull away from me then,” Peterson replies, as if the victim is to blame for his actions. His partner Deputy Michael Hand, who had pulled his Taser, yelling “I will Tase you!” also quickly realized it, screaming at students to, “clear my scene,” and threatening those filming with obstruction.

Video released by the Sheriff’s Department shows the incident and nearly an additional 20 minutes of the deputies trying to spin half-truths, lying to the student’s parents/guardians, and painting the students involved as disruptive, violent, and uncooperative. Peterson while talking to the victim’s grandma claims that the victim “began to fight with me, so I did take him to the ground.” And quickly moves on to threats, “I don’t plan on charging him right now if he will be cooperative with me,” adding “if he wants to continue give me attitude and be disrespectful then, yes, I will put the obstruction charge on him.”

At one point, while conferring with Deputy Hand on the progress of their cover-up, Peterson says “Yeah, talked to his grandma on the phone, super fucking ally for us in this.” Later he says, “I have no regrets how any of that went down.”

But, it was too late for this improvised spin job. Too many students had seen it and too many had filmed the incident which took place at Central High School around 12:30pm on April 24. Concerned parents filled a complaint with the MCSO that same day.

The next day the videos started making their way around social media, and late on the April 25, The Revolutionist published the first write up of the incident. We had spoken with the mother of one of the students that had filmed the incident, and other parents concerned for the safety of their children at CHS.

The next day, April 26, MCSO announced that the incident was being investigated by their Professional Standards Unit, and the deputies were reassigned to another school. Just three hours later, likely in response to The Revolutionist and KREX TV publishing the deputy’s names, MSCO released the names of the deputies involved adding that Deputy Hand had been with the Sheriff’s office for over 9 years and Deputy Peterson over 3 years.

Requests for the body cam footage were made around this time by the mainstream media.

On Monday, April 29 the Sheriff’s Department released both Peterson and Hand’s body-cam footage as well as footage from the Central High School’s security camera. The MCSO released the videos on a ‘burner’ Youtube channel called “Wendy Likes” not the MCSO’s main channel. A move that will certainly make the footage harder to find in a couple years.

All three of the video’s start just seconds before the student is thrown to the ground placed into a chokehold and threaten with a Taser. Both of the body-cam videos also include roughly 20 minutes of video of the deputies talking with staff, each other, the students involved, and with parents/guardians over the phone. It’s not clear why all this extra footage was included, much of it is throwing shade at kids, spinning the events to parents and guardians, and generally trying to cover their asses.

One school administrator is heard saying that she, “really doesn’t like that kid.”

Numerous times in the post-incident footage the deputies reference a ‘fight,’ which was supposedly the precipitating incident.

To many observers it was obvious that MCSO released all the post-incident footage as an attempt to portray the students as the problem. An attempt at poisoning the well–to poison public opinion.

If there really was a fight that precipitated deputies contacting the students, why wouldn’t they post that footage?

Pretty quickly The Revolutionist pointed out this clear manipulation of information. The school’s footage was titled “CHS crime camera REDACTED 2.” We began asking where’s the footage, likely titled: “CHS crime camera REDACTED 1?” We started asking questions to those in power. And we got no answer.

But later that same day, MCSO quietly updated the CHS security camera video, adding the missing minutes leading up to the incident. Just as we, at the Revolutionist, suspected it did not show a fight.

That next day, April 30, an investigation was launched by the 21^st Judicial Districts Critical Incident Response Team. This investigation was requested by Sheriff Todd Rowell, and will proceed parallel the Shirreff’s internal investigation. The CIRT team is comprised of investigators from the MCSO, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Hwy Patrol, Colorado Department of Corrections, the District Attorney’s Office, and area Police Departments. CIRT is usually employed in cases of officer involved shootings, traffic incidents involving on duty police officers resulting in death or serious injury, in-Custody Deaths and Use of Force that results in serious injury, or when requested by the chief of any partner agency. The Grand Junction Police Department is leading this investigation. Per CIRT standards Deputies Peterson and Hand were placed on administrative leave at this time. Notice of the CIRT investigation and the change in the deputy’s status still has not been posted to the MSCO’s public communications website (almost 9 days later).

When it’s all said and done, regardless of all the precipitating incidents and teenage back talk, it is illegal in the state of Colorado to place anyone, let alone a student, into a chokehold.

MSCO can attempt to poison the well, they can try to slander the children, they can try to manipulate and conceal footage, but the people have seen through their tricks, and we have called them out. They are not winning their war on the Truth.

We fully expect the deputies to lose their jobs. We also expect MCSO to offer an apology to the victims and reevaluate and expand their training for deputies serving as School Resource Officers.

If they don’t lose their jobs, we will see you in the streets.