An Illinois college campus cop who was acting slick when trying to pry information about an activist center that happens to be off campus ended up dropping his gun after he was told to go stuff it.
The Southern Illinois University police officer, whom we’ve identified as Detective John Christel, was in in plainclothes when he was captured on video asking questions about the Flyover Infoshop, which abides by “anarchistic principles.”
Christel was trying to figure out who ran it and was asking if he could go inside to talk to somebody but was told it was “private property,” so no, he was not welcomed inside.
The cop took it all in stride – unlike other cops we’ve seen in the past – and said, “fair enough,” sauntering off back to the unmarked patrol car on the curb.
He tried to open the door to the passenger’s side but it was locked, so he had to wait until his partner opened the door for him after stepping into the driver’s seat.
But when he sat down, his gun slipped out of its holster and fell to the pavement below, drawing laughs from the activists who had just denied him entrance to their outfit.
The video was posted on the Flyover Infoshop’s Facebook page on Friday and was picked up by the Southern Illinoisan.
SIU Police Chief Benjamin Newman is aware of the video and said the department is looking into it. Since it is a personnel matter, he cannot comment on it specifically.
“We work to ensure our officers are well-trained and have appropriate equipment,” Newman said.
Sure, that’s what they all say, but we would like to know what business they had prying into private property that was not even on campus as the map below shows.
Just last week, a campus cop in Florida negligently fired his gun after a SWAT team evacuated the library and classrooms looking for a Middle Eastern man or woman with a gun, who turned out to be a Muslim female student with a Koran.
UPDATE: We learned that since Southern Illinois University is a state school, its officers have statewide jurisdiction.
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