Arkansas
Kicks in the head and back: New case of police violence shakes the USA
A police car blocks a street in Washington. Another case of police violence has occurred in the USA (symbol image)
© Lev Radin / Pacific Press Agency / Imago Images
Three police officers kneel on a man lying on the ground, two of them beat him. A police checkpoint in a small Arkansas community spiraled out of control on Sunday. A witness films the process, and the three officers are immediately suspended.
They are images that are reminiscent of the brutal actions of American police officers in the case of George Floyd. In Mulberry, a community of 1,500 in Arkansas, two police officers beat up a man on Sunday afternoon and a third pinned him to the ground. The whole thing is filmed by a witness who sends the video to her sister. It will then be published on the Internet. The brutality with which the officials proceed shakes many on social networks. While one of the officers repeatedly kneed the suspect in the back, another punched and kicked the man in the head. Finally he grabs him by the hair and bangs his head on the pavement.
There are different statements about the background of the fact. Jimmy Damante, the sheriff of Crawford County, where Mulberry is located, told CNN that the man on the floor was a 27-year-old white man who threatened the employees of a gas station in a neighboring town. When the police approached the man in front of a shop in Mulberry, he initially cooperated, but then attacked the police. This led to the argument on the video, Damante said. The 27-year-old was treated in a hospital and then taken to a prison. He was charged with, among other things, resisting law enforcement officers, first and second degree assault and assault, and bail was set at $15,000. One of the police officers suffered minor head injuries in the altercation.
Arkansas: Witness spreads incident on the Internet
Naomi Johnson describes the course of the argument in a completely different way. Her sister filmed the incident and sent it to her, and Johnson distributed the videos on social media. Johnson told the Arkansas Times that her sister told her that the man, who didn’t even have shoes, was sitting on a curb talking to officers. When the man got up and appeared to be fleeing, the police officers beat him. The man gave her sister the impression that he had mental problems.
However, the brutal behavior of the police officers is already having consequences. All three officials were suspended on Sunday. “I have asked the Arkansas State Police Department to take over the investigation and have suspended the three officers pending the investigation. All of my employees are responsible for their actions and I will take appropriate action,” Sheriff Damante said in a statement on Facebook . Governor Asa Hutchinson also assured that the arrest in Crawford County would be investigated based on the video recordings and the request of the prosecutor. The state police confirmed to “NPR” that the investigation into the incident has already begun. They will submit their findings to the prosecutor, who will determine “whether the form of police violence is consistent with Arkansas law.
Extreme cases of police violence are common in the United States. In May 2020, for example, a police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck for several minutes, who, like the surrounding passers-by, pointed out several times that he was unable to breathe. Floyd died following a police operation triggered by a suspected counterfeit $20 bill. The chief officer responsible, Derek Chauvin, was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison in 2021.
Sources: CNN, Arkansas Times, NPR