Have you seen the viral clip of a gyrating dancer losing control of a concealed pistol while performing a backflip in front of a gathered crowd at Mile High Spirits, a Denver area bar? If not for the fact that another patron was wounded in the leg, it would certainly make any bloopers or practical jokes reel -- when considering that the armed dancer was an off-duty FBI agent. Denver police are investigating the incident that an FBI spokeswoman described a "personnel matter," as the agent was not arrested after the incident. It has yet to be determined whether the agent had consumed any alcohol before his impressive back-handspring. The FBI has come a long way from earlier days, when I can still remember a legendary memo that would recirculate from time to time; it referenced J. Edgar Hoover's policy against agents' removing their suit jackets, reportedly instituted after some antics he didn't like during an office Christmas party. Times may have changed, but sound judgment, decorum and comportment -- especially while armed in public -- are essential character traits that every discerning agent should exhibit, and ones that never go out of style. No matter how difficult it may be to ignore the gravitational pull of strobe lights, cheering onlookers and a pulsating beat. The local district attorney hasn't made a decision about what action to take, but regardless of that outcome, it's highly likely that the FBI has or will initiate an investigation by its Office of Professional Responsibility into potential misconduct and will have assembled a seasoned "shooting review team" to travel to Denver and commence a full-scale review of the incident.
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A former FBI agent who accidentally shot and wounded a Denver bar patron in June after performing a dance-floor back flip has admitted a misdemeanor assault under a plea deal that spares him from serving jail time, prosecutors said. Chase Bishop, 30, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in Denver district court on Friday for shooting Thomas Reddington in the leg at the Mile High Spirits and Distillery, prosecutors said in a statement. Bishop, an FBI agent who was off duty at the time, was among the patrons at the nightclub in downtown Denver in the early morning hours of 2 June.
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Chase Bishop, 30, struck a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to two years of probation, The Denver Post reported. Footage of the June 2 shooting at Mile High Spirits and Distillery shows Bishop dancing in the middle of a circle of people before doing the backflip. The gun falls to the ground mid-flip and discharges as Bishop picks it up. The agent then puts the gun into a waistband holster and walks away with his hands up. He pleaded not guilty in November to second-degree assault, which carries a penalty of up to 16 years in prison. Bishop, who will serve his probation in Georgia, was in Denver on FBI business and was off-duty at the time of the shooting. FBI spokeswoman Kelsey Pietranton declined to say if he would continue to work at the agency. The man who was shot, Tom Reddington, 24, spoke emotionally in court about how he lost his job at an Amazon warehouse after the shooting, his chronic pain and his concern that he may never be able to run again. However, being in public, especially seeing law enforcement with guns, makes me very uncomfortable.
JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website. You might have heard the phrase FBI cant holster and wondered what the heck that is. Some even insist it's required for concealed carry. The FBI cant is a colloquial term to refer to a concealed carry holster that has a moderate forward tilt. The word "cant" has multiple meanings, among them a slope to one side.
