MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

California cop jump kicked Black man during 'warrantless' arrest in video while he was complying with hands up

An uproar over the incident was triggered after former NFL player Shannon Sharp shared the footage to his Twitter account

SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: A Black man in California was forcefully kicked in the back by a sheriff's deputy while his hands were above his head. According to Daily Mail, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department investigated the incident that took place in March, and revealed on Friday, August 28 that 'appropriate action' had been taken against the deputy.

A furore over the incident was triggered this week after former NFL player Shannon Sharp shared the footage to his Twitter account. "I thought all you had to do was comply and you wouldn’t be shot or brutalized by police," he wrote.

According to the original Instagram post, the man, who is unidentified, was 'minding his business' after eating brunch on a Sunday afternoon, when the Sacramento law enforcement suddenly gathered around him. In the footage, the man is standing near an auto dealership, with both his arms above his head, when two deputies approach him. In fact, one deputy seems to have pulled out a Taser and points it at the man, who flinches a little, but does not remove his hands from his head. 

The same deputy then stands behind the man and suddenly gives a brutal jump kick into the man's back.  The man turns to question the deputies, but the second official grabs the man in a deadlock. The man is wrestled to the ground. A female witness recorded the incident and posted it under the name Benjibrezzy. She was constantly yelling at them to stop. The deputies turned to the woman, whom they remove from the car as she explains that they had just finished eating brunch.

"We just got out of the breakfast," she says, to which the deputy replies, "We know exactly where you got out of."

"He has a warrant for his arrest," the deputy says, but refuses to tell the woman why. 

"That's his business. That's all I'm going to tell you," he said.  He added that the man is supposedly 'playing games' by not complying with deputies' requests. Four deputies gathered around the man to restrain him.

The video ended soon, but the woman clearly said in her Instagram post, according to Daily Mail,  that deputies later admitted that they had the wrong suspect.
She also alleged that the deputies never had an arrest warrant in the man's name at all. "All of what occurred in the video could have been prevented if they had simply asked for my brother’s ID before just attacking him," she wrote.

Sheriff Sgt Tess Deterding told ABC10 that the footage was worrying, and that an investigation into the matter was launched at the time. "Are there some things that I think we could all agree are concerning at first sight?" said Deterding. "I think that it's hard to judge something based on a video. That's why it's important to gather all the facts. The sheriff's office always has and will continue to take these type of allegations very seriously whether it's a false arrest or in this case allegations of a misidentification."

The man was eventually charged with resisting arrest and the deputies involved were still on staff after the incident. Recently, a spokesperson for the sheriff told ABC 10 that an administrative investigation was conducted and the deputy faced some form of repercussions. "The Sheriff’s Office conducted an administrative investigation, the allegations were sustained against the deputy, and appropriate action has been taken," they said.