On 13 October 2021, Gastonia Police (Gastonia, N.C) Officers Maurice Taylor III and Ciera Brooks would escalate an encounter with a homeless veteran and his best friend, his service dog, sunshine.  One that would forever change the Veteran's world.  Officer Brooks demanded his Identification despite no law being broken.  After asking what the officer wanted to ID him for, Rohrer began to produce his ID when Taylor and Brooks began to batter him.  Then Taylor turned his focus on the service animal.  He tased her and she ran off. While in jail (for panhandling, allegedy... all those charges would be dropped 8-9 months later) Sunshine was struck by a car and killed.

The department Internal Affairs commander (Maurice Taylor Jr.)  decided that the bodycam footage of his son would never see the light of day.  After MONTHS of blocking any transparency efforts, they were FINALLY ordered to release the body cam footage, and it is much worse than anyone could have imagined.

You can tell a lot about a people by how they treat their most vulnerable members, and Gastonia Police Department has a long, well-documented history of abuse of the homeless, hoping to chase them out of their city.

With the bodycam footage being released (will link it below).  The purpose of this petition is to force the Gastonia Government, whom were willing accomplices in the obstructionist measures, to hold their officers accountable.  

Hurts my heart knowing that this isn't an anomalous occasion and that things like qualified immunity will only force the citizens to pay the lawsuits for damages ensuring officers aren't responsible for their crimes against the public.  Something has got to change. And quickly. 

https://youtu.be/Taa34d1xF5M