This is infuriating! Even after the tape comes out showing that the cop lied and in fact Masai was the victim of the officers assault, the sheriff's department comes out issuing a statement that they're still defending the cop.
This is also why the "only a few bad apples" argument around cops falls flat. Even if there's literal tape of a cop behaving badly, the sheriff's department and the police union will defend them no matter what. The only way for the public to trust cops is if we can believe that they're actually enforcing and policing themselves which they clearly aren't.
Why is it so hard for law enforcement officers to come out and say "hey, we screwed this one up. One of our own acted poorly and will fix it?"
Did George Floyd killing is the only time I've ever seen law enforcement to speak out against their own.