New York, NY — This weekend, US Marshal Charles Brown showed up drunk to a McDonald’s location in Brooklyn and then pointed his gun at the cashier and several customers because his food was not being prepared quickly enough. Brown was off-duty at the time.
According to a report from the New York Post, Brown arrived at the McDonald’s after 1 A.M and was obviously drunk. Witnesses say that he was stumbling and slurring his words while making his order.
At some point while waiting for his food, Brown became impatient and became belligerent with one of the employees. One report indicates that it was a 41-year-old female employee, while another report indicates that it was a 25-year-old male employee. It is possible that one of these accounts is incorrect, but it is also possible that two separate employees were threatened in the attack.
According to witnesses, one of the customers attempted to intervene, and Brown quickly turned the gun on the customer as well.
Brown quickly left the McDonald’s when employees threatened to call police, and was later found and arrested on the side of the road. Brown was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a firearm and menacing in the second degree.
Despite the horrific scene caused by the officer, there were still witnesses who were attempting to make excuses for him.
“[U.S. Marshals] are under a lot of pressure. They’re under a lot of stress. They risk their lives every day,” one customer told the post.
In situations where government agents commit crimes, it is typical for them to avoid any type of serious legal penalties, and this situation will likely be no different. Despite the seriousness of his crimes, Brown was released from his holding cell without bail, showing that the officer is receiving special treatment before his court date even arrives.
Police officers pulling guns on food workers in not uncommon. In fact, they happen so often, the Free Thought Project has reported on multiple instances captured on video.
In July, a video was posted online showing a Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy involved in a standoff with police after he decided to pull his gun on a Jack in the Box employee.
Officer Benjamin Lee, 33, was arrested about 2:40 a.m. earlier this year after he drunkenly drove into the Jack in the Box order line and apparently thought his status as a cop could speed up his service.
In 2014, officer Scott Biumi pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 10 years probation for pointing a gun at teenagers in the drive-through line at yet another McDonald’s.
Also in 2014, Tuscon Police Officer, Kyle James McCartin, was drunk and belligerent when he walked into a Giant Gas Station wearing his bulletproof vest and began pointing his pistol at the clerk.
For assaulting innocent people with deadly weapons, none of the officers mentioned above spent a single day in jail.