Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill and Chief of Police Jeff McCutchen are disputing a recent social media post by sports commentator Fredderick Nettles.
In an August 27, 2020 post on Twitter, Nettles claimed he “Was recently pulled over in oxford, MS by 5, yes, FIVE police cars, because they say they THOUGHT my tag had expired!!! 1 of them kept insulting me, trying to get me to fight him! Thank GOD I made it out of there alive! WHEN WILL IT END!??”
Fredderick Nettles is the host of “The Segment Show” on YouTube which features interviews with former Ole Miss athletes.
The tweet and account by Fredderick Nettles @FredNetSports are protected from public view. However, Mayor Tannehill took a screen shot of it and posted it on her own account Friday, August 28 with her own comment.
Lies hurt everyone. Trust is so hard to earn. I woke up to a tweet from Fred Nettles yesterday claiming that after an experience in Oxford, Mississippi recently he was lucky to have “made it out alive.” 1/6 pic.twitter.com/QgQj4C9GAA
— Robyn Tannehill (@RobynTannehill) August 28, 2020
“Lies hurt everyone. Trust is so hard to earn. I woke up to a tweet from Fred Nettles yesterday claiming that after an experience in Oxford, Mississippi recently he was lucky to have “made it out alive.”
The Mayor continued, “I immediately sent him a DM. I have enjoyed getting to know Fred over the past year and was concerned to hear this accusation. I had OPD pull the videos from the ”recent” traffic stop which we found occurred in May 2019.”
“The body cameras were there. The dash cam videos were there. The relationship based policing we aim for is exactly what was present in this stop. Fred was pulled over because his tag was expired. He also had an expired license and no proof of insurance.”
“Fred states that “one officer kept insulting him and trying to get him to fight.” The video does not support this claim.I don’t believe I have ever seen a more congenial traffic stop or discussion between a compassionate cop and a respectful citizen.”
“I invited Fred to view the video with me to refresh his memory and he declined. I offered Fred the opportunity to visit with me and Chief McCutchen. I wanted to give him the opportunity to make this right. He again declined.”
“In this current climate it is so disappointing that someone would promote false information for attention. If we are in the wrong, we own it. I will not stand for an accusation like this to be made falsely about one of the finest police departments in the nation.”
Later Friday afternoon, Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen issued a press release of his own to The Local Voice:
“On Thursday, August 27, 2020, we were notified of a tweet that was circulating social media referencing a negative citizen interaction with one of our officers. Our administration opened an internal investigation into the stop. We were able to determine the date of stop was May of 2019.
After reviewing the footage, we found that the encounter was much different than what was posted on social media. We made multiple calls to the complainant as well as sent him messages on social media. All of our calls and requests went unanswered.
This was a legal stop, the driver had multiple violations, and our officers helped him to resolve an issue that he was unaware existed. We have chosen to post the videos to our YouTube channel.
What you will see in the video is one officer making the traffic stop. A second officer arrives as backup with his field training officer, which is a common practice on traffic stops.
Once the initial officer cannot determine why the car tag did not match the registration records, the field training officer (who is also a supervisor) helped figure out the issue. The supervisor brings the driver to the back of the car to explain the confusion with the tag.
The driver got back into his car and was ultimately was released with a citation.
At no time were our officers confrontational or argumentative. Equally, the driver was respectful and understanding. This is how we would want all stops to be conducted.
I was proud of how our officers conducted this stop. The initial officer introduced himself, he gave the reason for the stop and allowed the driver to explain. Our officer was professional and personable.
We realize that traffic stops can be stressful for drivers and officers. This stop was done by the book.
We want our community to know that we take complaints seriously and will investigate each one. However, it is very disappointing when false statements are made against law enforcement.
Trust is hard to build and incidents such as these erode the hard work that good law enforcement officers are tirelessly doing to maintain and build upon.
Sincerely,
Jeff McCutchen
Chief of Police”
So far there has been no public response from Nettles.
There should be repercussions for this!! This is what keeps the hate going.