LEVY COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – Levy County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO suspended two deputies after a traffic stop video was edited and posted to social media. A release from the sheriff’s office says it believes it was part of a coordinated attack against the agency and law enforcement, in general.
The sheriff’s office says a video of a traffic stop was professionally edited and posted to the internet on Thursday, Sept. 7. After learning of the incident, Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum directed a criminal and internal review of the video.
According to comments on the LCSO Facebook page, the edited video of the traffic stop appears on a YouTube channel called LackLuster. The channel has more than a million subscribers and in its description says, “The Police are the most conspicuous form of government. We have a duty to keep ALL public officials accountable.”
The nearly 20-minute video details a traffic stop of a couple in February of this year. It was posted on Friday, Sept. 7, and as of this writing, it had been seen 345,000 times.
Since the video has been posted, LCSO says they have received multiple negative emails, phone calls and social media reactions, some threatening LCSO staff and their family members. As of this writing, there were more than 800 comments on the LCSO Facebook page.
“We regret the negative attention that this incident has brought on our staff and our County. Any necessary corrective action will be taken once the incident is fully investigated,” said the sheriff’s office.
LCSO says the two deputies who were involved in the incident have been suspended until further notice.
The woman in the video, Michelle Guthrie has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office.