Police bodycam footage reveals real story behind young mother being punched in head during beach arrest
Shocking new bodycam footage has been released and it explains some unanswered questions into the incident of the arrest of a 20-year-old mother who was brutally punched in the head by police officers.
Philadelphia-native Emily Weinman claimed that the officers used excessive force while they were arresting her on the beach in New Jersey.
The footage went viral over the weekend and it shows the young mother kicking her legs violently in the air as she was being pinned down by the two officers. The cops can be heard in the video shouting at Weinman saying, "Stop resisting". One of the officers then punches the 20-year-old on the head twice and pushes her face into the sand.
One of the deputies from the incident was suspended. This is the first time that bodycam footage from this incident was released to the public and it brought some clarity to the events of the day.
The footage starts with one of the officers asking Weinman questions about whether she was drinking any alcohol on the beach. The first instance of obstruction occurs when Weinman refused to give the police officer her name.
According to what Weinman said about the incident, the violence all started when she made a snide comment at the police officers.
They were on the beach breath-testing all the people there to check for underage drinking. Weinman can be heard on the bodycam footage asking: "Don't you have anything better to do?"
The police officer then accuses her of "making a scene" and also "disrespecting him". Weinman denies all these allegations by the officers.
The footage then shows Weinman walking away from the police officer and refusing to give her last name to him. He then says, "Okay that's it I'm done with you." He then turns to his partner and asks him if he has handcuffs with him.
Weinman turns around and screams at the officer, "Don't talk to me!" The police officer replies, "You're about to get dropped."
The camera is covered when the commotion starts and the next thing we see is the 20-year-old on the sand with one of the officer's hands on her head.
It also looked like her head was being forced down into the sand. The footage that went viral earlier was from another person at the beach. It showed Weinman being hit on the head twice by the cop.
Weinman said, "I tripped and fell and the cop tackled me to the ground and smashed my head into the sand. At that point I blacked out and fought any way possible trying to get up and push him off me."
"That's when he head locked me by his arm around my neck, punched on me in my head and then he head locked me again, but this time choking me, I was gasping for air."
People who witnessed the incident have said that Weinman had spat at the police officers. Weinman, however, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that she was only spitting sand out of her mouth that had gone in when her head was forced down into the sand. She claims that she was not spitting at the officers.
The footage also shows the officers leading Weinman away from the beach in handcuffs. She can be heard verbally abusing the officers and saying things like "dirtball" and "piece of trash".
Weinman was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and minor in possession of alcohol.
She did not talk about the criminal charges that were filed against her in the Facebook post which she has removed since then.
Chief Regalbuto of the Wildwood Police Department said: "I think the officers used the appropriate amount of force." When he was then asked about the officer punching the young mother on the head, he said, "It looks to me he’s trying to deliver a pressure point strike, but until I interview the arresting officer I won’t know."
The video was originally posted on Twitter on May 26. It was then retweeted more than 48,000 times so far since it's upload.