Video different from pastor’s story
As a former law enforcement officer, I am disgusted with the actions of Pastor Godair of the Cornerstone Church. He has stated that he was mistreated by a Salisbury Police officer during a recent traffic stop, and he joined the NAACP in an attempt to have the police chief removed from office.
I just finished watching the unedited video of the traffic stop where the offense was alleged to have occurred. The officer was very polite and respectful to Mr. Godair, even after Godair threw a toothpick out right in front of the officer. This was disrespectful and also littering, but the good officer allowed it with only a mention of the possibility of littering.
Mr. Godair has stated that he was on the way to the hospital, but in the video he says he was trying to get to the dry cleaners before they closed.
The stop was textbook in my opinion, and the officer and the chief are due an apology. Their jobs are difficult enough without unfounded complaints being lodged by folks looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
Pastor Godair, have you never heard of a commandment admonishing us about bearing false witness against our neighbor?
— Jim Hopkins
Salisbury
Ice bucket success
The recent viral trend is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. People are challenging their peers to dump a bucket of ice water on their head and donate a smaller amount of money than someone who doesn’t do the challenge. I heard on the evening news that the challenge had truly worked. During the same time frame last year, the ALS Association raised $2.5 million dollars. This year, they have raised over $80 million! Thank you to all who have donated, and those who will.
More than just donating though, do some research. Visit alsa.org for more.
— Jeremy Gardner
Charlotte
Editor’s note: By the end of the week, the challenge had raised more than $100 million.

Those ‘bad’ police
So in 2013, Pastor Bill Godair and wife Tina of Cornerstone Church were speeding (58 in a 45 zone) in his Hummer, got caught and felt offended ‘cause his speeding need was to get a suit out of the cleaners by a time certain and police pulled him over.
Harboring this angst for over a year, he recently felt comfortable to not only be a part of, but to host, a press conference calling for the dismissal of the Salisbury chief of police, stating generalizations about police mistreatment and how he had been personally mistreated. Mr. Teamer also provided unspecified and generalized (to date) condemnations of the police chief.
Whoops! Evidently, not realizing that the whole incident was being video and audio recorded, the actual incident reappears and it shows a professional law enforcement officer doing his job, being respectful and observant as the pastor spits out his toothpick in his general direction.
Bill and Tina might get serious, negative marks on the “tithe block” for this stunt. I’m guessing the local NAACP is running, not walking, to try to distance themselves from this obvious debacle. Although, they too, might want to get their specifics together prior to trying to ruin someone’s reputation and get them fired.
Hopefully, Pastor Godair will get behind his snazzy Cornerstone press prop and let the press in to see actually what is/was going on within his mind when he, in his wisdom, decided to “play” this the way he did.
— John T. Blair
Salisbury

Under a microscope
Regarding “Police under a microscope” (Aug. 21 editorial): I am in favor of every device, every technology to increase the chances that at shift change, a police officer goes home to his or her family every night, or every morning, and to increase the likelihood that criminals are apprehended that day.
We have plenty of laws on the books to assure that any officer exceeding his authority is disciplined or, if necessary, removed. The people who complain that police have too much firepower would be the first to call for help if their property and lives were threatened.
In that same vein, I hope that the St. Louis county district attorney, Robert McCulloch, refuses to recuse himself, as some are demanding. Mr. McCulloch’s father was shot in the head 50 years ago by a black kidnapper, and in the minds of those trying to generate racial hatred in Ferguson Mo., that disqualifies McCulloch from being a prosecutor in this case. In other words, they are worried that McCulloch won’t follow their lynch mob mentality. Why, he might actually look at the evidence and weigh the matter of charges fairly! They can’t have that.
I love what McCulloch said when the wimpy, Pontius Pilate-style crowd pleaser Governor Nixon hinted McCulloch should resign. He told the governer to man up. Good for him. Wonder if he’d consider moving to North Carolina?
— Stephen Owen
Kannapolis