RICHMOND, Va. — Law enforcement experts are weighing in on a now-viral video that appears to show a Richmond sheriff's deputy pepper spray a fan in the face at a Turnstile concert on Brown's Island last week, suggesting the incident may not have been warranted.
According to fans, the incident happened during a part of the show where the band was inviting people up on stage, which it had done at previous stops of its tour. Video appears to show multiple fans hop onto the stage without incident before the deputy chooses to deploy spray on one individual.
@cbs6_rva Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving is investigating a pepper spray incident that affected members of the band Turnstile and fans during Wednesday night's concert on Brown's Island. The Richmond Sheriff's office handled security at the concert, according to Richmond Police. During the show's encore, the band encouraged some members of the crowd to join them on stage, according to a fan who shared their experience with CBS 6. This is typical of hardcore shows and has been a staple of their current tour during the encore. In this video provided to CBS 6, security staff can be seen attempting to stop crowd members from getting up on stage, and a fan being sprayed in the face. Many people were affected, including members of the band. "I smelled the air getting a little spicy, and then my eyes are watering," someone who attended the concert told us. "I was like, 'Oh crap.' It's pepper spray." Sheriff Irving issued a statement to CBS 6 saying, "We are reviewing the concert activity and any allegations related to any incidents." We did not receive a response from The Broadberry, RMC Events, or the management of Turnstile.
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“In my experience, when he got sprayed, I had already been on stage and I was on the far side, so as I came back to the close side is when it started to hit me and I started coughing. It felt like I was going to throw up. My arm started burning. My eyes are irritated a lot. That wasn't fun at all," said Colin Buck, who was at the concert and affected by the pepper spray. “It kind of put a damper on the whole show.”
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Fans demand answers after pepper spray incident at Turnstile concert in Richmond
As to why the officer chose to use force in that situation, Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving has not answered. She previously told CBS 6 in a vague statement that allegations would be investigated.
CBS 6 showed video of the incident to Mark Bong, a former police officer and attorney with experience representing law enforcement, and Jerry Rodriguez, an expert witness on police practices.
Both had questions as to what exactly the threat was in that moment.
“I can see why people watching the video would have questions about it, because it doesn't seem immediate. It doesn't seem like there's an effort to de-escalate, and the force used may not be proportional to the resistance or threat that was present," Bong said.
“He did not appear to be a threat, to answer your question. He appears to be a person attending a concert," Rodriguez said when asked whether the individual who was sprayed appeared threatening.
Through a public records request, CBS 6 obtained the sheriff's office's use of force policy, which sets guidelines for when and when not to deploy OC spray, which is pepper spray.
It says deputies should first try "verbal dialogue and/or controlled techniques" before resorting to spray.
While experts said the video does not appear to show those other techniques taking place before the officer used spray, it's unclear what interactions may have occurred prior to the recording starting.
“The law expects that an officer will attempt to de-escalate, and that would mean starting on a lower or the lowest level of the force range, using light touch, using guiding touch, using verbal commands in order to gain compliance prior to escalating to the level of OC spray," Bong said.
“I would have liked to have seen the deputy make contact with them, which is according to their policy as well. Now, they're impacted here because of the loud noise, so you can't give verbal commands, but at least try," Rodriguez said.
The policy further states, “OC should be avoided under conditions where it may affect innocent bystanders.”
Experts said deploying pepper spray in the midst of a crowd of people adds extra layers of concern surrounding the incident.
“I don't think it was appropriate for those conditions, although it was an outside venue and you could argue that the effects would probably be minimized because of that, it still had residual effects. The policy states against it," Rodriguez said.
CBS 6 asked Irving and a publicist for the band whether it was communicated to security in advance that fans would be allowed on stage, and we have not yet received an answer.
That information, Bong said, could impact the officer's reasoning for justification.
“They probably should make that known to the law enforcement officers providing security ahead of time, because we want to avoid incidents just like this," Bong said.
Based on the video, Rodriguez said he doesn't believe the deputy had malicious intent, but he said the incident did not seem in line with policy.
“Based on the fact that there was a bunch of other people seconds before and even seconds after that were doing the same thing, it doesn't appear to be appropriate or really warranted," Rodriguez said.
CBS 6 has filed public records requests for more information regarding the incident and the sheriff's office's internal review, and we're still waiting for responses.
Irving did not respond to CBS 6's questions for this story.
A spokesperson for Richmond Police said no police reports connected to this incident have been filed.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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