During his initial recorded statement, he claimed he'd been responding to a potential trespassing incident.
He said I had refused instructions.
He described the water spray as an attempt to make me leave a location where he believed I wasn't authorized to remain.
But the recording showed me repeatedly stating that I owned the property and offering to verify my identity.
It also showed that the officer had no immediate reason to use physical force to move me.
I hadn't threatened him.
Hadn't tried to flee.
Hadn't reached for a weapon.
Hadn't obstructed an investigation.
I was standing beside a flower bed.
And a police officer decided to punish me for asking why he thought I didn't belong there.
Foster's interview was more complicated.
He acknowledged that he saw the encounter escalating.
He heard me offer identification.
He heard Cole reject my explanation.
And he admitted he should have intervened sooner.
Andrea asked why he didn't.
Foster looked down.
For a moment, he struggled to answer.
Then he said, “I thought Nathan was handling the contact.”
The investigator waited.
He continued.
“I knew he was getting angry.”
“Did you believe Ms. Brooks posed a threat?”
“No.”
“Did you believe the use of the hose was necessary?”
Foster swallowed.
“No.”
“Then why didn't you stop him when he first picked it up?”
His eyes filled.
He stared at his hands.
Then whispered, “I froze.”
For a moment, he remained silent.
Then he added, “And I was afraid of challenging him.”
Andrea looked toward him.
“Why?”
Foster took a breath.
“Because Nathan made everything into a loyalty test. If you questioned him, you weren't backing your partner. If you reported something, you were trying to get another officer in trouble.”
He shook his head.
“I knew that wasn't right.”
The investigator asked whether he had reported similar concerns before.
Foster hesitated.
Then said, “Once.”
He described a complaint involving a young delivery driver several months earlier.
The driver had been stopped after a neighborhood security guard reported an unfamiliar vehicle.
The driver produced a valid delivery confirmation and identification.
Cole continued questioning him.