Marquis Jackson was handcuffed in the back of a police car when officers began firing into the car after being startled by an acorn.
In November 2023, a police officer in Okaloosa County, Florida got in a heated shootout with an acorn, endangering the life of a detained man who was handcuffed in the car.
In a video that has gone viral on social media this week both for its absurdity and terrifying implications, Deputy Jesse Hernandez hears an acorn drop onto his car. In response, he dramatically rolls on the ground while repeatedly shouting “shots fired!” and unloading his sidearm into the vehicle, shattering its back window.
At the time, a handcuffed man named Marquis Jackson was inside the vehicle. Jackson is a Black Florida resident who had been detained by Hernandez and his partner, Sergeant Beth Roberts, after being accused of stealing a car and sending threatening messages to his girlfriend. One of the messages included what police said was an image of a pistol silencer.
After rolling on the ground, Hernandez shouted “I’m hit!”—he had not been hit—and told Roberts that shots were coming from inside the car. Roberts also unloaded her firearm at the vehicle as Jackson lay in the backseat.
Totally understandable that he would be traumatized by the event and have long lasting effects from that trauma.
Even if he is totally mentally fine and his trauma claims are BS, dude deserves to get paid.
Hopefully the event causes him to reevaluate his decisions in life, that along with a justified substantial payout, hopefully will lead him to live a better life going forward and he doesn’t throw away a golden ticket by continuing to do dumb shit like what put him in the back of the cop car in the first place.