Greensboro police release video of controversial McRae Street traffic stop
By: Greensboro, NC - Greensboro police body camera and dashcam videos released on Thursday show what happened during a May traffic stop.
Cellphone video had previously made the rounds on social media, showing a short snippet of an interaction between Greensboro Police Department officers and civilians. After numerous calls for transparency, the Greensboro Police Department petitioned the court to release the video.
On May 13, around 11:40 p.m., a Greensboro officer stopped a vehicle after responding to a shots fired call in the Willow Road area, according to GPD.
While at a red light at the intersection of Willow Road and Gate City Boulevard, an officer said they saw a dark-colored sedan with its front left headlight out.
The sedan turned left onto McRae Street and slowed down. The officer then stopped the car for a vehicle equipment violation. Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson said the traffic stop was legal.
The driver, identified by police as 24-year-old Damonta Glover, was cooperative.
An officer asked Glover if he had any weapons in the car. Glover and the two other men in the car said that there were no weapons.
Police say, back in December 2024, the same officer had found a concealed AR pistol in Glover’s vehicle. And, on May 12, Glover had been arrested on a charge of carrying a concealed gun in his vehicle.
Police say the officer had reasonable suspicion to “frisk” for weapons because Glover had reportedly possessed concealed guns in the past and police were actively responding to a report of shots fired.
The newly released body camera video shows an officer asking if he can do a “safety frisk.” One passenger declines and says, “I know my rights.”
The officer asks everyone in the vehicle to get out.
“Reasonable suspicion of a crime and the suspected presence of a weapon allows an officer to conduct a frisk without consent, and the officer can legally instruct everyone to exit the vehicle,” Thompson said.
27-year-old Savon Johnson and 20-year-old A’mon Moore refused to get out of the car and questioned the officer. Moore then started recording with his cellphone.
Officers then took Johnson and Moore out of the car and handcuffed them. Police say the two resisted by punching and pushing the officers, and the officers physically restrained them.
The video shows Johnson and Moore yelling at the officers to let them go.
Johnson screams in pain several times in the video while being handcuffed on the ground. When Moore is lifted to his feet by officers, he tells them he’s going to make them lose their jobs.
Police say no injuries were reported.
Officers searched the vehicle and found a gun in a backpack, along with masks and shell casings.
Glover was cited for driving with a revoked license and an equipment violation, then released.