Take time to hear both sides

Police incident has me thinking, as a reporter and a citizen

Our country is in turmoil, to say the least.
I'm not talking about the election, though that is a huge part of the turmoil.
This morning, I noticed on Facebook in the trending feed "Edina, Minnesota. 25K talking about this."
Naturally, as a native Minnesotan, curiosity struck and I clicked on the link. It led me to a video of a police officer in Edina leading a black man to an unmarked squad vehicle for supposedly walking in the middle of the lane of traffic.

A screenshot of the Facebook trending page regarding the incident in Edina.

I watched the entire 7-minute video. The woman who made the recording repeatedly asked the officer, "Why can't you just show (the man) where a safe place to walk is?" while the officer had hold of the black man's jacket. The man was irate, swearing at the officer and becoming violent, while the woman continued saying, "He's scared. People die in these situations, it's scary."
The officer would intermittently tell the woman and other off-camera observers to back up and mind their own business.
The woman said on the video she'd witnessed the incident from the beginning. However, she didn't begin recording until the police officer was leading the man to the squad car, so the mass audience watching this video does not currently have the full story. This is dangerous. When people just immediately believe what they see rather than waiting for all details to make an informed decision, that's when trouble, hatred and anger brew.
I have an enormous amount of respect for law enforcement officers who do their jobs correctly and are transparent about their actions. I also have a great respect for people who are willing to record situations like this, which they have every right to do. However, they likely do not think about two things when recording -- how their own lives may be in danger and how their actions can impact the situation.
The Edina Police Department has responded to the video on the department Facebook page. The department claims the officer observed the man walking in the middle of the road after walking around sidewalk construction, and when the officer tried to alert the man to move off the roadway, the man ignored the officer and continued walking. The officer then pulled in front of the man, parked the squad vehicle a ways in front of the man and got out to confront him. The man walked around the squad vehicle, according the department.
The woman claims in her video, and the black man arrested also said, that he was walking on the white line to get around the sidewalk construction.
Again, the entire story is not out there yet! I'm waiting to see any dash-cam video the department might release, which could clear up what actually happened. I'm curious whether it was absolutely necessary for the officer to physically lead the man to the squad vehicle, and if the man's anger toward the officer was justified.
It's bothersome that people just blindly support one side or the other without finding all sides of the story. The national media can be notorious for sensationalizing an incident like this, seemingly just for web hits and gaining readership. Good sources will blatantly tell readers and viewers that the story is developing, all reports are not out yet and will also report from all sides as best they can -- sometimes it's not possible to get in touch with victims or the accused.
Good readers and viewers will take into account that the story has just broken and that they should make note to follow it, rather than making an immediate decision based on their own feelings on the incident.
I will be following this incident, hoping details are transparently released to the public and that the incident is not just swept under the rug. I hope Edina shows the country that police are doing their best and, if a situation warrants it, a reprimand and apology will be made. But, if the officer was in the right, I hope Edina also shows all evidence necessary to back up the officer's actions.
America is in need of some strong leadership, not only in the Oval Office, but in our local offices as well.