What else did he do besides hurt people's feelings?
How obtuse can you get? He did far more than hurt peoples feelings.
Multiple times Harless has gone off on people on what should have been routine stops when he discovers they have a legal carry permit and a legal gun. Multiple tapes have show he rants, curses and says "I’ll shoot you in the face ...." and "I should have took two steps back, pulled my Glock .40 and just put 10 bullets in your (expletive) ....".
He shuts a guy up everytime the guy tries to notify that he has a carry permit, then he goes off on a profanity laden rant when he notices the permit in the guy's hand with his driver's license. In the written report Harless claimed the guy failed to notify when the recording shows the guy trying to notify and Harless shutting him up.
I have had a traffic stop where I was carrying and the officer could care less. Tennessee formerly required notify, but decided it is not necessary.
A loose cannon (like Harless evidently is from the dashboard tapes that keep showing up) is a danger. I don't know about Ohio, but states do have laws like this:
Texas State Law: Section 9.31 of the Penal Code:
The use of force to resist an arrest or search is
justified:
(1) If, before the actor offers any resistance, the
peace officer (or person acting at his direction) uses
or attempts to use greater force than necessary to
make the arrest or search; and
(2) When and to the degree the actor reasonably
believes the force is immediately necessary to protect
himself against the peace officer's (or other person's)
use or attempted use of greater force than necessary
Harless may be dancing this side of using or attempting to use force, by saying "I will..." or "I should...". Handgun carry permit class in Tennessee taught us that you cannot use force in self defense against a future threat, only against an imminent threat of death or greivous harm by one with the ability and opportunity to put life or limb in jeopardy now. Harless may just be making idle threats to show his contempt for the concealed carry law by taking it out on folks he catches legally carrying, but that pattern of behavior almost seems calculated to escalate a routine traffic stop into a situation to justify him using force, by putting people in fear that they need to protect themselves from him.
A police officer's job is to keep the peace, not see how much stuff he can provoke just because he does not agree with the concealed carry permit law.
Harless' recorded behavior and obtuse defense of his behavior can only breed contempt for law enforcement.
Are we now to outlaw "stop or I'll shoot" because it might hurt people's feelings?
Edward Garner was shot in the back of the head trying to climb a fence and killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_v._Garner
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that under the Fourth Amendment, when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, he or she may use deadly force only to prevent escape if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.
Shooting merely to stop a fleeing subject has been outlawed in the US since 1985.