Shocking video footage of police beating man shows him violently "swinging" at cops before he was pinned down
Another instance of alleged police brutality emerged after a video showing six North Carolina police officers punching, kicking and beating a black man with batons went viral on social media. The incident occurred just after 11 am on Friday at the intersection of Garner Road and MLK Boulevard.
In the footage shot by a witness on their cellphone, a man, whose identity is yet to be known, is being restrained in the middle of a street in Raleigh, NC, when he appears to resist the authorities. The man being held down appears to try to bite one of the cops on the leg, prompting a female officer to repeatedly beat him with a baton. She then appears to kick him in the head and later continues to hit him with the weapon.
The video crossed 50,000 views on Facebook as of Friday, local authorities said they are investigating into the incident.
Black community leaders and activists have taken it upon themselves to voice their dissent with the use of excessive force by authorities. Dawn Blagrove of the Carolina Justice Policy Center held a news conference to say the department needs to address these issues as soon as possible.
"If it takes more than five officers to restrain someone, you're doing it wrong. There's a problem with your training," said Blagrove.
However, another footage obtained by CBS17 a couple of hours later which captured what happened prior to the man being held on the ground. In that video, the suspect is seen swinging at the police, even appearing to throw a baton off one officer's grasp.
Video captured by Bonnie Kidder shows that even after being confronted by multiple officers, the man is undeterred and refuses to yield. Then, an officer approaches him from behind and grabs his legs, pulling him to the ground.
"It was not just them being excessive. This guy didn't look like he was going to stop for anything," Kidder said. "There was a little bit of fear and anxiety initially because we didn't know this guy was going to do," he added.
After the second video, Kidder said the officers' response appeared to be "justified", considering the violence used by the suspect. However, when Blagrove was asked if the new video would change her mind, her response was "absolutely not."
"In the spirit of transparency, we have proactively made the District Attorney's office aware of this situation. The Raleigh Police Department offers no further comment on this ongoing investigation," the Raleigh Police Department said in a statement.
Lorrin Freeman, the Wake County District Attorney, also released a statement, saying, "Late this afternoon I was made aware of a use of force incident regarding Raleigh Police Department by the chief of police for Raleigh.
"I have requested that all available video including body cameras and dash cam video be provided to my office for review."
"I am in consultation with the state Bureau of investigation and once we have completed a review, will be making a determination as to what the appropriate next steps are."
"We are requesting the community's patience as we go through this process." Having said that, authorities are yet to identify the suspect seen in the videos.