Photo: A Cedar Rapids Police Officer keeps her composure while activist Melyssa Jo Kelly rants; Facebook
“We got the po po wearing a black thing on her badge…I guess she’s sorry a couple of cops got whacked”—so begins the rant of a woman during a live-streamed incident inside a coffee shop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that has since gone viral.
Officers who responded to a call from the owner of the coffee shop, Brad Danielson regarding a disturbance involving “actor/activtist” Melyssa Jo Kelly, who recorded her interaction with the police as a “precautionary step,” according to a news report from The Des Moine Register.
Despite the insults and agitation, the officers demonstrated tremendous restraint.
A spokesman for Cedar Rapids public safety, Greg Buelow, remarked that the officers in the video showed “enormous professionalism” and composure during the incident. Buelow said that hundreds of people have commented and offered support for the police department: “It’s been overwhelmingly supportive — we’ve had people comment in from all over the country.”
Buelow also highlighted a key observation: “People have said it’s a model example of how to show composure when faced with someone who wants to agitate things.”
WATCH THE VIDEO FROM MELYSSA JO KELLY