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White Georgia cop seen tasing and dragging Black woman in viral TikTok video during arrest, put on desk duty

Officer Michael Oxford arrived at Kyndesia Smith’s mother’s house in Loganville after getting property damage call from a neighbor
PUBLISHED AUG 21, 2020
(Matt Johnson/Twitter)
(Matt Johnson/Twitter)

GWINNETT COUNTY, GEORGIA: A White police officer has been put on desk duty after a viral TikTok video showed him dragging and tasing a Black woman while arresting her. Officer Michael Oxford reportedly arrived at the house of Kyndesia Smith’s mother in Loganville on Tuesday, August 18, after getting a property damage call from a neighbor. According to police, Oxford responded to the area around 7:30 pm after an unidentified woman called 911 reporting a bottle thrown at her car by a group of people. The woman also said that the alleged attackers threatened to assault her nine-year-old kid. Police said that Oxford saw a woman matching the description of one of the alleged assailants on the porch at a nearby home.

The TikTok video of the incident showed the officer arguing with Smith, who was sitting on the porch with her mother Aytra Thomas and two other women. When Oxford reportedly asked the woman if she wanted to be behind bars, Smith was heard responding in the clip: “You're on our property. We did not call you, I'm not going anywhere.”



 

The video then shows the cop telling Smith that she is under arrest and also asking her to turn around, to which she says, “I'm not resisting, you're not touching me.” But that did not stop Oxford from grabbing her arms as he tried to handcuff her. His action eventually prompted screams from the other women present at the scene, The Daily Mail reported.



 

Later the video showed that when Oxford failed to handcuff Smith, he ordered her to get on the ground. He also drew his stun gun and tased her. Smith was then seen screaming and falling in the bushes near her home while the cop struggled to put handcuffs on her hands. “I then utilized (an) arm lock/leverage technique on Smith’s left arm in order to get the left arm behind her back to be handcuffed,” Oxford wrote in his report as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Another clip then showed the Black woman resisting and kicking Oxford as he placed her in the police vehicle. According to jail records, Smith has been charged with felony obstruction and simple battery against a police officer. However, she was released on bail on Wednesday, August 19, after posting a $5,900 bond.

Smith’s mother Thomas said that Oxford unnecessarily used force on them since he was not in danger. She also said that because of the taser, she and her daughter have suffered a lifelong injury. “Her side where the Taser went in is messed up. Her neck, her back, my shoulder. It ain’t have to go that way,” Thomas added.

Meanwhile, Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said in the statement: “The police department takes all use of force seriously. All use of force cases are administratively reviewed through the chain of command. An investigation into this incident is being conducted.”

The statement added, “We have a long history of being transparent public servants to the citizens of Gwinnett County. We will continue to keep our citizens up to date with information on this case as the facts are collected.”

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