as all this was happening petitioner was handcuffed on the ground crying whimpering and clearly in urgent distress and begging for anyone to help him as he began slipping into a serious psychiatric episode caused by the officer's conduct where's my dog where's my dog please help me why are y'all doing this to me i was giving you my id it's on your body can all i do is smile and wave at people i just want to know where my dog is where's my dog [Music] that gives you no right to tase my dog and tackle me i was literally handing you my id where's my dog man where's my dog what did y'all do with my dog why are y'all treating me like this i'm a disabled veteran with a service dog they won't tell me where sunshine is where's my dog [Music] not a single police officer would respond to petitioner and instead they openly laughed at and demeaned him as clearly shown in the body cam footage in october 2021 in gastonia north carolina two gastonia police officers showed up to a call and made a choice to abuse a homeless veteran and his service dog resulting in the death of his service dog the victim joshua aurora was charged with panhandling and resisting arrest but the officers even stated on their own body cameras that they knew he wasn't panhandling and he definitely didn't resist arrest joshua rohrer and attorneys claim that the narratives written by the attacking officers maurice taylor iii and sierra brooks do not match the body cam footage since the incident joshua aurora has petitioned city officials to release the body cam footage to the public to show what actually happened on that day news of the incident spread through social media and even mainstream news and month after month more and more people showed up to support joshua and petition local government to release the body cam footage hi i'm spike cohen when we came here last month we were here for two main things and those were number one to try to get you guys on our side to call for the release of the body cam footage so that we can know once and for all what happened that night and then the other thing that we were calling for was for y'all to work with pastor moses so that he can resume feeding and housing homeless people in his church as he is commissioned to do as a pastor unfortunately we know what's happened in the last month nothing month after month after month people have arrived in person to ask city officials to please show the public what happened that day phone calls have been made emails have been sent but city officials have completely ignored the people this month july of 2022 charges against joshua aurora were finally dropped but the body cam footage is still yet to be released on july 19 2022 supporters again returned to city hall to take turns reading from a petition that was sent to the chief of police and city officials the petition shows a narrative that contradicts that of the attacking officers and claims that the body cam footage will show that this is the true narrative i said so much today i just want to read from a petition that was delivered to chief britain as well as travis page on october 13th 2021 an anonymous caller contacted 9-1-1 at 6 29 p.m stating that several individuals were in different areas of shopping centers with dogs and asking quote okay so um is it legal for these adults to be standing on the intersection with a dog asking for money they're using the dog to get money is what they're doing the dispatcher operator stated quote i don't know if there's anything illegal about that i'm not an officer but i can definitely send an officer out there end quote to which the caller then stated that quote there has to be something someone can do about this this is bull crap they're using this poor animal the operator asked if the caller quote thinks the dog's in danger like are they going in the street like how are they using the dogs to get money the caller responded that quote that's putting two and two together they're using this dog to make people feel sorry for them and give them money rather than actually soliciting money from anyone despite the caller being unable to identify a crime the dispatcher sent one or more officers to speak with the caller and determine if petitioner was engaging in any unlawful activities within minutes of the call officer brooks approached petitioner at the intersection of cox road and gaston mall drive and stated that she had received at least three calls claiming that the petitioner was panhandling the entirety of this incident and what followed was captured by multiple police body cameras which the petitioner is now requesting that the court released to the public petitioner petitioners council dave dowell kim cooper and kelly green have all viewed the body camage with camera footage which based on their notes as detailed in part throughout the remainder of this petition officer taylors and brooks falsely accuse assault and unlawfully arrest petitioner and in the process tased his service dog after officer brooks first approached petitioners stating that an unidentified caller caller had claimed petitioner was panhandling officer brooks immediately changed her story by claiming she just witnessed petitioner solicit money from bystander and as a result demanded the petitioner's id petitioner responded that he had not asked for or solicited money from anyone rather a woman flagged petitioner down and offered him money officer brooks then radioed for backup and officer taylor arrived in seconds upon his arrival officer brooks repeated her claim that she just saw the petitioner solicit money when petitioner once again stated that he had not done so officer brooks finally acknowledged that she had not in fact witnessed any such solicitation and instead altered her claim by stating quote things can be inferred end quote and that she quote she interpreted it is asking for money because he walked out to the car realizing petition petitioner had done nothing illegal officer taylor attempted to create a separate basis to arrest petitioner by stating that quote you can go to jail for violating this ordinance if you keep arguing and quote you're going to go to jail if you keep arguing with law officers contrary to this allegation the body camera footage plainly refutes this officer taylor's claims that the petitioner was arguing or in any way engaging with combative or inappropriate behavior being well aware that the position mr ross i'm sorry your time is up exactly thank you i'm going to continue reading the petition from where mr ross left off being well aware that petitioner was a disabled veteran and a need of service dog as reflected by officer taylor's previous interaction with the petitioner as well as demonstrated specific comments made by both officers in the body camera recordings officer brooks deliberately escalated the situation and prayed on the petitioner's disability by taunting the petitioner that the officers would take the petition of service dog i.e quote you're going to jail and we're going to call animal control on your dog with both officers still being well aware that there was no basis to detain much less arrest the petitioner officer taylor in a series of highly revealing statements shifted his attention from the unsupportable claims that the petitioner was panhandling to officer taylor's anger that the woman discussed above had prevented him from arresting petitioner several days earlier as he expressed his disdain for the woman's interference officer taylor manufactured yet another attempted basis to arrest the petitioner i.e that officer taylor had instructed the petitioner not to stand highly on public property during their uh during their interaction several days earlier which was not a crime at that point officer taylor asked the petitioner's identification and despite the petitioner reiterating that he had done nothing wrong the petitioner removed his military id from his wallet and slowly extended his hand toward officer taylor to comply with his demand with no explanation officer taylor refused the the petitioner's valid military id and demanded that the petitioner produce a valid state id with which the petitioner a homeless individual does not and is not required to own with the petitioner's arm still extended with his military id projecting from his fingers towards officer taylor officer taylor with no warning whatsoever grabbed the petitioner's arm and slammed him on the hood of the police car when this occurred sunshine was sitting in her bed approximately 10 feet from the petitioner officer taylor and officer brooks however based on the amount of force used in addition to the officer's deliberate and unnecessary use of extremely painful submission tactic on the petitioner's arms the petition yelled somebody help me excuse me quote somebody help me end quote sensing panic sunshine moved towards the petitioner jumped on the hood of the police car and began licking the petitioner's face which is what the petitioner service dog is trained to do to assist the petitioner to manage panic attacks or ptsd episodes although sunshine was not standing close to either of the officers growling or engaging in any threatening behaviors officer taylor who at that point had moved approximately six feet away from both the petitioner and officer brooks removed his taser and yelled at the at petitioner to quote call your dog off and quote as instructed petitioner ordered sunshine to get down from the car which she did after which sunshine stood calmly to the left of the petitioner and several feet from officer brooks who was located to the petitioner's right side petitioner who was not struggling garcia your time is up thank you and perhaps the most recent action of this incident which has shown unmistakable which is shown with unmistakable clarity in the body cam footage officer taylor who was still standing approximately six feet away from the petitioner officer books and sunshine suddenly and falsely yelled that sunshine had just bitten him and with no justification whatsoever fired his taser into the back of sunshine who was facing away from officer taylor at the exact at at the exact moment where officer taylor falsely claimed the petitioner service dog i bitten him officer's body camera provided a clear and unobstructed view of officer brooks looking directly at sunshine which left no question officer brooks knew without with absolute certainty that sunshine did not bite officer taylor and officer taylor have fabricated this basis for tasing the petitioner's service dog simultaneously officer taylor's firing his tail simultaneously with officer taylor's firing of his taser officer brooks violently slammed petitioner's face slam petitioner face first into the ground where the petitioner believed that the officers were firing bullets at sunshine attempting to throw himself between what he believed was officer taylor's gun and his service dog in any in an attempt to save sunshine by intercepting what he believed will be one more bullet officer book's unjust unjustified decision to slam petitioner on the ground caused significant damage significant damage to his face and created a life-threatening blood clot in the petitioner's knee which the officers refused to allow the petitioner to obtain medical care to address as petitioner laid on the ground crying out in pain officer books then informed the petitioner quote i'll try you'll take that charge taylor was bit by the dog end quote and began placing handcuffs on the petitioner's wrist critically as offers as officer brooks was handcuffing petitioner the body cam footage shows petitioners still holding the military id that he attempted to provide to officer taylor i.e the fabricated justification of petitioners of the for petitioners detention and arrest officer taylor and officer taylor books fabricate their story to deceive their colleagues and supervisors as well as threaten and disparage witnesses as the officers began to realize that a sizable group of stunned and extremely angry bystanders had gathered around the scene and witnessed what the officers had done officer taylor began attempting to further promote his false justification for tasing sunshine by yelling to the crowd that quote the dog bit me the dog bit me end quote despite the body cam footage showing that officer brooks knew this claim was unequivocally false officer brooks attempted to bolster officer taylor's false accusation by stating quote the dog bit him did y'all see his dog bite him with no hesitation one of the increasingly irate crowd members openly disputed officer brooks and claimed officer brook's claim and stated the dog has never bitten anybody at approximately the same time a multitude of additional police vehicles began arriving on the scene one of which included all including a superior to officer taylor with the crowd growing increasingly incest incense that the inexcusable police actions they just witnessed officer taylor began immediately attempting to convince his fellow officers of his false narrative that joshua had engaged in some unlawful action that the dog initially barked and bit my foot but didn't break my boot and this dog initially bit me realizing the crowd had witnessed exactly what the officers had done officer taylor stated it bit my foot i knew was going to bite you and bit my boot as the crowd continued refuting the officer's claims and voicing outrage with what the officers had done officer brooks began attempting to belittle and discredit the bystanders in order to encourage the other officers to disregard the witness's statement here's the thing you all didn't see the whole story the crowd however would have none of it one bystander stating we watched what happened we support you guys but i'm second guessing it now another yell that officers brooke brooks and taylor were lying and we watched what happened we watched what happened one particularly angry woman said that joshua is frequently present where the incident happened but it had never hurt anyone officer brooks repeated his fictitious allegations by saying you did you see the dog bite his foot we watched it happen in response officer brooks threatened the woman saying i'll put you in handcuffs after her efforts to bolster her false narrative and silence the crowd's open dissent officer brooks made similar statements to a woman who chastised what the officers had done and who informed officer brooks that she had made a report of animal abuse of particular importance officer brooks expressly acknowledged her unlawful actions while mistakenly believing she had blocked the audio and video for body camera and proclaiming to the officers the officers would suffer no consequences for their actions i know they aren't going to do anything about it despite the entire crowd of witnesses forcefully disputing the officer's narrative officers brooks and tailored deceit disparaging claims they all saul well the aftermath resulting after nearly 15 or 20 other officers arrived on scene petitioner left in handcuffs sitting on the ground pleading with the officers and bystanders for help asking them to record and vacillate between begging and crying to anyone who would listen i need my dog she's my medical device where is my dog where's my dog furthering her attempts to convince her fellow officers to ignore the uniform statements and the crowd that officers brooks and taylor had unlawfully harmed joshua and lied as the events that occurred officer brooks attempted to shape the narrative for the officers just arriving and begin making condescending statements to joshua such as we politely asked for you for your id to which joshua was spent i gave you my id which was verified by the body cam footage that joshua's id was laying on the ground behind him and directly underneath the hand he provided he used to brought to officers officers brooks then began embellishing the dog bite story claiming sunshine bit officer taylor who tased it before it could bite me disillusioned joshua responded and the body cam footage confirmed my dog was running away and you shot her when she was running away i don't know where my dog is where is my dog the officers ignored joshua's pleas to find protect and obtain medical care for joshua's dog and dismiss the critical need for joshua to have access to his service dog in the very situation in which sunshine he needed sunshine the most as more officers on the scene began asking questions based in part on the uniform angry responses from the crowd brooks and taylor began struggling to select which theory they believed they could most effectively utilize to lie to their supervisors and fellow officers in order to conceal their unlawful actions despite acknowledging that she had never seen petitioner panhandle brook stated to petitioner in front of supervisors listen i asked you to get your stuff and not panhandle brooks then altered her original description of petitioners purported resisting actions from claiming petitioner refused to provide his id to a newly fabricated claim that after taylor told you that you were under arrest you started to resist and i took you to the ground this claim like the others made by taylor and books is directly refuted by the body camera footage being requested in this petition likewise taylor told a superior a very elaborate lie as to why he shot sunshine with his taser which began with his representations that his dog runs over to my foot and nips at my he nips at my foot he doesn't knit but he actually bites my boot but it doesn't break my boot at this point i'm as taylor continued attempting to promote this narrative his superior looked directly at taylor's boot that he claimed was bitten which is captured clearly on the body camera and sees there was no evidence of a bite nibble or even a scratch realizing his superior had seen through the dishonest story taylor nervously begins telling a more elaborate and demonstrably false story dog jumps on the hood and i'm thinking it's going to bite brooks at this point because the dog is obviously worried and it's going to try to protect its owner and it already bit me at this point once it looks like the dog was about to cross to brooks i tased it because that was a logical thing to do so my partner it ran away that was a logical thing to do instead of shooting the dog you get what i'm saying and so i can protect my partner because i'm not about to let my partner get bit by a dog it's a very well trained dog and i asked him to call the dog off after it bit me this can be seen on camera despite admittedly never witnessing petitioner engaged in any panhandling or other unlawful activities taylor attempted to justify his use of force and decision to charge petitioner for standing on a public access way by claiming in front of his supervisor that taylor had told petitioner not to remain on the public sideway and or other publicly available land which is not a crime several days earlier during his first interaction with petitioner unsatisfied with taylor's attempt to justify the use of force and subsequent and tolerable behavior that had just occurred the supervisor specifically asked if taylor had asked petitioner to move from the place he was standing today or to discontinue panhandling today as opposed to taylor's claim that he gave such an instruction days before to which officer taylor finally admitted that he had not as all this was happening petitioner was handcuffed on the ground crying whimpering and clearly in urgent distress and begging for anyone to help him as he began slipping into a serious psychiatric episode caused by the officer's conduct where's my dog where's my dog please help me why are you all doing this to me i was giving you my id it's on your body cam all i do is smile and wave at people i just want to know where my dog is where's my dog that gives you no right to tase my dog and tackle me i was literally handing you my id where's my dog man where's my dog what did y'all do with my dog why are y'all treating me like this i'm a disabled veteran with a service dog they won't tell me where sunshine is where's my dog not a single police officer would respond to petitioner and instead they openly laughed at and demeaned him as clearly shown in the body cam footage until he was being placed in a patrol car to be escorted to jail the officer preparing to transport petitioner and foreign petitioner that apparently a concerned citizen took the dog to which petitioners claimed you just let my dog go with a stranger despite the body cam footage showing the animal control had been present and attempting to secure sunshine before police instructed animal control to leave by stating quote let me handle it the officer responded that we can't help it we didn't let it go someone picked it up and took it astonished and beginning to panic petitioner asked do you all have the person's phone number to which the officers respond quote no petitioner was transported to the jail and charged with misdemeanor soliciting begging and infraction of soliciting from a highway and two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest during the booking process which was also captured on body cameras officer brooks and taylor belittle petitioner mocked his disability in the exact same fashion as officer taylor and properly interacted with petitioner on october 9 2021 officer taylor started stated to petitioner that you walk up and down the street all the time you're not disabled your legs work fine officer taylor also reiterated that he had previously expressed a petitioner by stating i have a disability rating and i still work my cousin's uncle has a rating and he still works you should have just listened and complied officer taylor brooks also abused their authority which magistrate mark oaks facilitated by insisting that petitioners bond should be excessively increased by claiming petitioner a homeless individual with no vehicle no resources and no history of missing court dates was a flight risk as a result magistrate oaks imposed a three thousand dollar bond for incredibly minor offenses and also set the bond that petitioner could not utilize a bondsman which required him again a homeless and deeply impoverished man to pay entire amount while petitioner was incarcerated jail officers despite police refusing to secure petitioner service dog brought sunshine service jacket to petitioner which pa plainly demonstrated that the officers could and should have insured sunshine remained in their custody and was kept safe one of the taser darts was still stuck through the back of the vest before the arrest mr roar i'm interrupting your time you keep speaking brother before the arrest sunshine service jacket had two patches identifying her as the service dog as saying do not separate from handling however when the vest was provided to petitioner jail both patches have been removed in an apparent effort to conceal the officer's knowingly unlawful actions in violations of state and federal law by separating a prescribed service dog from her owner as of today july 23 2022 the body cam footage is yet to be released contact information is in the description below as well as links where you can help contribute to joshua if you'd like to do so [Music] you