US Cops Suspended After Video Of Them Punching, Kneeing Man Goes Viral
Three police officers in the US state
of Arkansas have been suspended and are under investigation, authorities said,
after video showing them violently beating a suspect during an arrest went
viral.
The video, taken by a bystander during the incident near the
city of Mulberry on Sunday, shows the three male officers punching the suspect
repeatedly in the face and kneeing him while he is on the ground.
"This is bad," a woman can
be heard saying. When bystanders call out to the officers, one orders them to
stay back.
It
is the latest incidence of police brutality to be caught on camera and spark
outrage in the United States.
Two
of the officers are from Crawford County Sheriff's Office while one is with the
Mulberry Police Department.
"I
hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate
measures in this matter," the statement added.
Mulberry
mayor Gary Baxter said the third officer had also been placed on administrative
leave and that Arkansas State Police were investigating.
The
video left him "shocked and sickened," he said in a statement on
Facebook.
He
promised to take the results of the investigation "very seriously"
and to "take any actions necessary to insure this never happens
again."
Arkansas
governor Asa Hutchinson also confirmed the investigation on social media.
Local
television station 40/29 News reported that the man was being detained after
threatening a gas station clerk earlier on Sunday.
He
initially cooperated with the officers before trying to attack them, it said.
It did not say if he had been armed or not.
The
suspect was taken first to hospital before being booked in to Crawford County
jail and charged with a slew of offences including battery, assault and
resisting arrest, the station reported.
References:
BBC News, CNN News, NDTV , The News, Al-Jazeera, CNBC, Economist, Times of
India, Sky sports, New York Time, Sky News,
Indianexpress
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