'Pistol-Whipped' (WHITE Police) Officer Didn't Shoot (BLACK) Attacker (Janard Cunningham) to Avoid Backlash

A police detective in Birmingham, Alabama, who was pistol-whipped until he became unconscious, says that he didn't use deadly force to defend himself because he feared the media backlash for killing an unarmed man.

"A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what's going on in the media," the officer, who wanted to remain anonymous, told CNN. "I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media like I am right now." 

Police Chief A.C. Roper told CNN that the detective was on his way to interview someone who had witnessed a robbery last Friday, when he saw a car with at least two people in it driving erratically on the interstate. 

"He calls for backup and tells the man to stay in the car, but he didn't," Heath Boackle, a sergeant with the Birmingham Police Department and president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN. 

The alleged suspect, Janard Cunningham, got out of the car and aggressively approached the detective, asking why he was pulled over. The detective did consider using force at that point but decided against it when he was hit by Cunningham. 


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