In a video, which emerged via social media on Sunday 21 August 2022, three police officers were seen violently manhandling a man they accused of over speeding, according to CNN report monitored by The DEFENDER on Monday.
They are confirmed to be officers in the Crawford County of Arkansas, a southern United States of America’s state bordering the Mississippi River.
Arkansas State Police, which says it has launched an investigation into the officers’ use of force, said the findings of its investigation would be given to the Crawford County prosecuting attorney, who will decide whether or not to charge the three officers.
The three Arkansas police officers were filmed punching and kicking the subdued man outside a convenience store in the county on Sunday.
The state police said the 27-year-old man was taken to hospital and later jailed.
A video of the incident, which has been circulated widely on social media, appears to show one officer holding the man to the ground while another punches his head multiple times. Beside them, another officer can be seen kicking the man in his legs.
At one point in the footage, one officer slams the man’s head onto the ground, prompting an onlooker to confront them.
“Back the fuck up,” one officer can be heard saying.
Posting the video Sunday via Twitter, Naomi Johnson @NaomiRHelm warned some viewers may find the video distressing, although the posting might have gone ahead because it became imperative to be posted.
The Arkansas State Police, in a media statement to a media practitioner, said that the incident occurred at around 10:40 a.m. on Sunday. It added that two of the officers under investigation are Crawford County Sheriff’s deputies, and one is a Mulberry police officer. The statement did not provide the names of the officers involved in the incident.
“The state police investigation will be limited to the use of physical force by the deputies and police officer,” the statement read.
The subdued man was identified as a 27-year-old resident of Goose Creek, South Carolina, by the Arkansas State Police. The statement said he had been taken to hospital for examination and treatment and was later released from medical care and jailed at Van Buren.
Per the Arkansas State Police statement, the man was charged with “second-degree battery, resisting arrest, refusal to submit, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening, and second-degree assault.”
In a Facebook post on Sunday evening, Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante wrote that his department had requested the investigation and suspended the two deputies involved pending its outcome.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” he wrote.
The Mulberry City’s Facebook account wrote on Sunday that one of its police officers is on administrative leave. “We will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of the investigation,” it said.
Mulberry is a city in Crawford County, and Insider’s calls to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department were not returned as of Sunday evening.
The Arkansas State Police said the findings of its investigation would be given to the Crawford County prosecuting attorney, who will decide whether or not to charge the three officers.
Meanwhile, Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted that he had spoken to State Police Director Col. Bill Bryant about the arrest and confirmed the launch of an investigation.
