A man is held down by police. They punch him hard in the head, kick his legs with their knees, beat his face against the concrete floor.
Three US police officers have been suspended after a video emerged online showing them violently beating a white man during an arrest in Arkansas, a southern US state, authorities said on Sunday evening.
“It’s serious,” says a person off camera. When passersby try to approach the police, one of them orders them to stay away.
Videos showing police violence, often against African-Americans, regularly make headlines in the United States, a country still marked by the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer in May 2020.
“Like many of you, I was shocked and sickened by what I saw,” Gary Baxter, mayor of the town where the video was filmed, Mulberry, said in a statement announcing that the one of the officers had been placed on “administrative leave” pending the results of an investigation.
An open investigation
The other two officers, who work for Crawford County, were also suspended, with the sheriff promising he would take “appropriate action.”
The violent arrest happened around 10:40 a.m. (3:40 p.m. GMT) on Sunday outside a grocery store, according to Arkansas State Police, who have opened an investigation into “the use of force” by the police men.
The victim, Randall Worcester, 27, was transported to a hospital before being imprisoned, according to the same source. He is the subject of several counts, including refusing to comply, resisting arrest and assault.
The suspect is accused of threatening a gas station worker who called police, Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said. Randall Worcester was cooperative at first, before becoming violent and trying to attack the police, Mr Damante said.
The state’s Republican Governor, Asa Hutchinson, said on Twitter that the facts would be “investigated pursuant to video evidence and the prosecutor’s request.”