Shocking video shows a North Carolina police officer repeatedly punching a black woman who was being arrested for smoking marijuana, prompting an internal investigation as Charlotte’s police chief said he “understands.”[s] the indignation.”
The now-viral footage shows several officers pinning Christina Pierre to the ground near a bus stop on Monday afternoon, with one of them throwing several left-handers.
“What the fuck! Let her go! one onlooker shouts, while others note that the police were beating “a damn woman.”
“Why do you hit a lady like that?” Someone else in the angry crowd asks in horror, as someone shouts, “You will kill her on the ground.”
As outrage grew, police said Tuesday that Pierre had “refused arrest” and “punched an officer in the face” before the disturbing clip began.
The man with her, Anthony Lee, “had a firearm” (a 9mm pistol) and both “refused arrest and a struggle ensued with officers,” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.
“An officer delivered multiple blows to the woman’s right thigh and she was told several times, ‘Stop resisting,'” police said.
“After several repeated verbal commands, an officer struck the woman seven times with knees and 20 punches with closed fists” to try to “gain compliance,” the statement said.
“The officer was intentional about where the blows were struck,” the department stated, suggesting that all of the blows had been to his thigh.
However, Police Chief Johnny Jennings admitted at a news conference Wednesday that Pierre suffered facial injuries consistent with “a punch or an abrasion,” possibly during an earlier fight with an officer whose body camera was not working. That would be the focus of the internal investigation, he said.
“I understand it. I understand the outrage,” the police chief said.
Christina Pierre was charged with assault on a government official, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT
“I understand the emotions that arise when you watch a video involving an officer punching a woman who we are trying to arrest and subdue. I understand that.”
While he is still “proud” of the “great men and women who do great things every day” in his force, he acknowledged concern about the “impact” the video could have on the community.
“If I look at all of this, are there things we can do better? Absolutely. Are there things you wish had never happened? Certainly,” she said, promising to use it to be “better.”
“But we don’t want an incident like this, in the public eye, to define who we are as an agency,” he said, stating that use of force never seems “pretty,” even when it is justified.
Promising to investigate thoroughly, he said it will be “a long road” with “many sleepless nights” to determine “what measures need to be taken.”
“I never want to see any of my officers have to get to a point where they have to strike or use force against anyone,” he said, although I also never want to “see any of my officers get assaulted.”
Pierre was charged with assault on a government official, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana.
Anthony Lee was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT
Lee was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana.
Both suspects are black, while the unidentified officer throwing punches was white.
“When you add the racial factor to all of this, it heightens it,” said Jennings, who is black.
“Because I think historically we’ve seen, not just in Charlotte, but across the country, the mistreatment of black people and people of color by police.”
The chief emphasized that his department had made “great strides” and “progressed” its policies since the nationwide confrontation with police brutality in 2020, sparked by the caught-on-camera police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Officials were evaluating police body camera video of the arrest, which Jennings said he is currently prohibited by law from releasing to the public.
“I think the public deserves the right to see this video. “I’m sure the public will see this video,” Jennings said, saying he has filed a petition with the courts to release it, which could take “a couple of months.”
Recreational marijuana smoking is legal in 24 US states and Washington, DC, but is prohibited in all southern states except Virginia. It is legal to openly carry a gun without a permit in the Tar Heel State.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn