The nation saw the news-bite version of the tape. The jury saw the whole dashcam video from start to finish, about 20 minutes, including the part where the criminal swerved toward and hit the officer in Hoover with his car. The police testified that that when the first officer slipped on the enbankment, they thought he had been shot. The criminal was lying with his hands under him; they thought had a gun. The jury acquitted the officers. There were no resulting riots in Birmingham. In fact, its been pretty peaceful.
If the Birmingham police feel it necesary to pull me over, I will pull over to a safe spot, turn on the interior light if its dark, put both hands on the steering wheel, and find out what they want without concern of a beatdown.
As far as the cat goes, I wonder if he is a yellow dog democrat.