Police Investigate Arrest of Black Woman Seen in Viral Video
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
A Georgia police department is investigating an arrest captured on video showing a white officer using a stun gun on a Black woman. Gwinnett County police officer Michael Oxford was placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation into the encounter Tuesday, which was filmed on the front porch of a Loganville home and has since been viewed millions of times on the video-sharing app Tik Tok, news outlets reported. The officer responded to the home at around 7:30 p.m. on a property damage call in which a neighbor reported a group of people had thrown a bottle at her car, according to a Gwinnett County police statement. She also told officers one of the group members threatened to assault her 9-year-old child. Police said one of the women on the porch at a nearby home matched the description of a suspect in the complaint. The video showed the officer speaking with another one of the women on the porch, identified by police as Kyndesia Smith, who could be heard saying: "You're on our property." "We did not call you, I'm not going anywhere," Smith said. The officer responded that she was under arrest and grabbed her, later firing a stun gun at her, according to the video. The woman fell into bushes in front of the home screaming as the officer continued to struggle with her in an attempt to place her in handcuffs. In another video obtained by news outlets, Smith appeared to kick at the officer as he pushed her into the back of a police car. The police statement alleged the officer gave the woman "several warnings" and told her she would be stunned if she resisted commands. "The police department takes all use of force seriously," the statement said, concluding: "An investigation into this incident is being conducted." The woman´s mother, Aytra Thomas, spoke out against the officer´s use of force and told WSB-TV in an interview Thursday that the arrest "didn´t have to go that way." Smith was charged with felony obstruction and simple battery against a police officer and was released after posting bond Wednesday, according to jail records obtained by news outlets. It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf. The arrest comes as demonstrators around the country have called out racial injustice and police brutality during protests this summer, including in nearby Atlanta where a white officer now charged with murder fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, in a Wendy´s parking lot.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2461351/police-investigate-arrest-black-woman-seen-viral-video
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