Ex-Tennessee trooper Harvey Briggs denied ripping mask off of protester; cop, video say otherwise [View all]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/09/23/tennessee-state-trooper-ripping-mask-protester-refuted-video-evidence/3502692001/

Ex-Tennessee trooper Harvey Briggs denied ripping mask off of protester; cop, video say otherwise

Jonathan MattiseAssociated Press

A former Tennessee state trooper’s insistence that he never yanked the mask off a protester near the state Capitol has been refuted by surveillance footage and an eyewitness account from a fellow law enforcement officer, state records show.

A public records request by The Associated Press also revealed a lengthy disciplinary record and an initial recommendation that Trooper Harvey Briggs be fired nearly two decades ago. After Briggs’ encounter with the protester, he was fired and charged with assault.

The notice of Briggs’ termination this summer says a security camera at the Tennessee State Library and Archives provided a different view from the protester’s own video. Andrew Golden’s widely shared recording showed Golden’s mask on the ground but didn’t capture Briggs removing it, and the trooper denied doing so on camera.

Briggs also violated state law by not wearing a mask himself, despite the coronavirus pandemic, the notice said.