11/08/2025
I am writing this today because of something I witnessed that left me deeply appalled and concerned for our community here in Bryan. I saw a man pulled over in what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. What followed was anything but routine.
Almost immediately, a second police car arrived, and two officers approached the man's vehicle. Without any apparent verbal exchange that I could see, both officers went to the back of the truck, placed their hands on their holsters, and then drew their fi****ms. In response, the driver got out of his truck and immediately lifted his shirt, showing them he was unarmed. While one officer then re-holstered his weapon, he immediately moved in, pulled the man's shirt up himself, and began searching him.
I want to be clear: I understand that police officers have an incredibly difficult and dangerous job to do. I respect the risks they take, and I know that not all officers are bad. Many serve our community with honor and restraint. However, what I saw today felt like an example of how the privileges and authority afforded to officers can be overused. I don't know the full context of the stop, but the immediate escalation to drawn weapons on a single individual was alarming, especially in the current climate of public concern over policing.
What alarmed me just as much as the officers' actions was the fear and hesitation that keeps good people silent. As we were watching this happen, my first instinct was to call the department and ask for a sergeant to be present, but my husband cautioned me against it, worried about getting involved.
And this is the very heart of the problem. People need to speak up, stand up, and be about something more than just ourselves. We are too often afraid to do this. We see something that feels wrong, that erodes the trust between law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to protect, but we stay quiet. We let the fear of "what might happen" paralyze us.
We must remember that we have rights, and we have a voice. We should not be scared to use them to hold our public servants accountable, whether through peacefully observing, filing a report after the fact, or engaging in community dialogue. Silence allows questionable actions to become the norm. What I saw today was not just a traffic stop; it was a stark reminder that we, as a community, have a responsibility to see, to question, and to speak. We shouldn't be scared to use the very rights we are promised.
