A Florida sheriff’s deputy whose fragile ego was hurt after an autistic man wearing headphones did not hear his commands to stop walking into his house earlier this year is now apologizing for his brutal actions.
But Santa Rosa sheriff’s deputy Zachary MacPherson — who was suspended for three days — is only apologizing because there was so much outrage from the public, thanks to a Black woman recording the abuse from across the street in a livestreamed video that went viral.
At first, the sheriff’s office released a statement trying to justify the deputy’s actions by claiming the man he attacked had committed a “potential law violation” while also “disregarding verbal commands” from MacPherson — but never elaborating on the potential law violation.
MacPherson later claimed he was only looking out for the young man’s safety but safety went out the window when the deputy banged on the man’s front door, threatening to kick it down before yanking him out of the house and throwing him to the ground, then planting his knee on his back.
“I just want to know what’s going on,” asked the man, Aleczander “Zander” Cash, while facedown on the ground in front of his house as neighbors across the street protested against the abuse.
“What’s going on, sir, is that I ordered you to stop three times and identified myself as a sheriff’s deputy while you were walking away from me,” an enraged MacPherson said. “Then you rushed into your house and locked your door.”
“I was listening to my music,” responded Cash with his headphones visibly next to his head. “I didn’t hear you.”
The incident took place on Jan. 29 in Milton, a city of just over 10,000 people in the Florida Panhandle, and led to an internal affairs investigation, resulting in MacPherson being suspended for three days, according to a May 28 article published by the News Journal, which obtained records of the investigation.
“I did wrong,” MacPherson admitted to internal affairs investigators, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
“I regret allowing myself to get angry. I regret the way I talked to the neighbors. I regret the way I talked to Aleczander, at one point,” his apologia continued.
“I remember watching that video and that’s not the person I want to be, that’s not the person I believe I am.”
MacPherson also wrote a letter of apology to Cash, according to records in his file obtained by the News Journal.
“I allowed my emotions to get the better of me,” MacPherson wrote. “I allowed myself to get angry, and I displayed behavior I am entirely ashamed of!”
Watch the video below.
Deputy Threatens Neighbors
While arresting Cash, MacPherson then turned his rage to the neighbors across the street who were protesting his abusive actions while recording.
“Hey, you can stand and record all you want, but if you keep it up, you’re going in handcuffs next!” MacPherson threatened, even though the neighbors were not breaking any laws.
The two neighbors protesting were Black, as well as most of the neighborhood, according to local media, but Cash is white, begging the question of whether this would have happened had Cash lived in a predominantly white neighborhood.
“He was pounding on the door, and the little dude finally opened the door up,” Paul Boykins, one of the neighbors protesting, told the News Journal.
“(The deputy) grabbed his shirt, hitting him in the chest so hard I heard it way across the street,” Boykins continued. “He snatched the guy out, and both of his heels came up off the ground, and he slammed him on the concrete. Then the cop dropped his knee in his back.”
Mahalia McGruder, the other neighbor protesting, was also livestreaming video that ended up going viral.
“I wasn’t getting involved when he was just at the door, because I didn’t know what was going on. That wasn’t my business,” McGruder told the News Journal. “But when he snatched him out that house, it became my business. Then that’s somebody child.”
“Whichever way you look at it, he was going crazy,” McGruder said. “It’s messed up. I hope he thinks about what he’s done. He definitely needs some discipline. They need discipline within their own staff, within the police force and they need to police themselves.”
Sheriff’s Response
McGruder’s livestreamed video ended up viewed more than 3 million times, sparking outrage from across the country but especially from the community before she removed it from Facebook.
The backlash prompted the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office to issue the following statement:
“After observing a potential law violation and the individual disregarding verbal commands, the deputy made contact at the residence,” the statement said. “Based on the circumstances, the individual was detained as part of the investigative process.
“During questioning, it was determined that the individual may not have heard the deputy’s commands due to wearing headphones, which were covered by a hooded jacket and not visible to the deputy. Following the investigation, no charges were filed.”
Although the sheriff’s office never elaborated on the potential law enforcement violation, it most likely was jaywalking which was not even appropriate in this case, considering it was a residential street with no marked crosswalks or traffic control devices, according to a Florida criminal defense attorney who explains it would only be illegal if a pedestrian steps directly into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
Dashcam video from MacPherson’s patrol car shows Cash, who was wearing a hoodie over his head, was simply strolling across the street after checking for mail, because the mailbox is across the street from his home.
There was no need even to stop him in the first place because there is no law against walking across the street in your neighborhood, but the deputy apparently wanted to exert his power because the man happened to cross a street in his presence.
MacPherson told internal affairs investigators he just wanted to inform Cash that it was not safe to stand in the middle of the street – which he was not even doing, according to his own dashcam video. But then he claimed he became “nervous” when Cash walked into his home without acknowledging him.
However, he did not appear nervous when he began pounding on the front door, threatening to escalate the situation into a full-blown raid.
“If you don’t open the door, we’re going to write a warrant and kick your door in,” MacPherson threatened.
“Step out, step out now,” he ordered after Cash had opened the front door.
“Why?” Cash asked twice.
That was when MacPherson grabbed Cash by the shirt and flung him to the ground, treating him like a violent fugitive.
“Can I call my mom?” Cash repeatedly asked as neighbors can be heard protesting from across the street.
“Mind your business, go back inside,” another deputy told the neighbors, which was an unlawful order considering citizens have a constitutional right to observe and criticize police as long as they are not interfering.
Fortunately, the neighbors ignored the unlawful orders.
“The way I grew up, neighbors look out for each other. The kid was white. That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” said Boykins. “That could have been my daughter. That could have been my son.”
