San Jose Police Fire Rubber Bullets at Their Own Trainer, Rupturing His Testicle (That’s Nuts)

It’s ironic and it would be funny if it wasn’t so fucking sad. Listen, we want to believe that most police officers are good people. We want to believe that most cops get into their line of work because they have an inherent desire to help people. We want to believe the police are for us, not against us. But it’s getting harder and harder to believe that when stories like these come out.

Derrick Sanderlin, 27, has worked tirelessly to train new police recruits on how to avoid bias toward minorities during a confrontation. It was good, honest, important work and, for a while, Sanderlin believed he was making a difference in his community. Unfortunately, he may be questioning himself after he was shot with rubber bullets by a San Jose Police Officer during what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Adding injury to insult, the officer aimed squarely for Sanderlin’s groin.

Among the high-profile incidents of police rubber bullets seriously injuring a protester is the case of Derrick Sanderlin, a community organizer and SJPD trainer who was hit in the groin:https://t.co/A4qYCXOIOz

— Robert Salonga (@robertsalonga) June 9, 2020

According to reports, Sanderlin was protesting the death of George Floyd with his fellow community members. When a Mustang adorned with a “Blue Lives Matter” decal began blocking the march, numerous protesters circled the car. Sanderlin, to his credit, mediated the intense confrontation, calming down his fellow protesters and ensuring that the man in the Mustang left the scene unharmed, because he’s good at his job. Then things took a darker turn. Sanderlin and his fellow protesters made their way to City Hall, where officers were firing rubber bullets at the crowd. Sanderlin said he saw people being struck by the bullets. And he was torn.

He was torn because, on one hand, this was supposed to be “his team.” He worked with these men and women, had probably even trained some of them (not very well, as it turned out). But on the other hand, these officers were firing rubber bullets at unarmed citizens who were just trying to peacefully protest. Yes, things may have gotten out of hand, but aren’t police supposed to keep the peace, not disrupt it? Regardless, Sanderlin stood in front of some women who were being shot at. Officers told him to move and he said he “couldn’t do that.” He held his sign up to his chest, hopeful that it would at least soften the blow that he knew was coming. Well, he was right. The blow did come, just not at his chest. The firing officer shot a rubber bullet directly at the man’s groin, rupturing one of his testicles.

This is illegal, by the way. Had the officer bothered to attend Sanderlin’s training class, he would know that it was illegal to fire rubber bullets at the face or groin of the recipient. Kinda like dodgeball.

The point of this story is that Derrick Sanderlin is a hero and the San Jose Police, like many police forces around the world, are as corrupt as the ones in Gotham City. This man was shot for standing up for what was right, and he was shot by the very people he had been trying to teach. After surgery, Sanderlin said all was well, but that there was a good chance he would now be sterile. So, there’s a chance that this douchebag cop just cost this man the chance at producing children. Is 2020 nuts or what?

Cover Photo: MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images / Contributor (Getty Images)

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