Knees to the legs and punches in the head. Three US police officers have been suspended after footage emerged online showing them violently beating a man during an arrest in Mulberry, a small town in Arkansas, in the southern United States.
In a video published on Sunday August 21 and widely distributed since, especially on social networks, we see two police officers hitting a man on the ground, while one of their college keeps him face down, astride him. As the victim, a white man on the ground, tries to shield his face, one of the police officers then bangs his head against the asphalt, in front of a grocery store.
A woman, witness to the scene and who ask them to stop to sees the order to retreat. In this country still haunted by the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer in May 2020, these violent images have been seen millions of times on social networks. “Like many of you, I was shocked and sickened by what I saw“, Gary Baxter, the city’s mayor, said in a statement announcing that one of the officers had been placed on “administrative leave” pending the results of an investigation into “use of force” by the officers.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the man on the ground is called Randall Worcester. Old 27 years old, he was wanted by the authorities after threatening an employee of gas station, who called the police. According to the sheriff, the man was cooperative at first, before becoming violent and trying to attack the police.
I have spoken with Col. Bill Bryant of the Arkansas State Police and the local arrest incident in Crawford County will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney.
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) August 22, 2022
After being examined at the hospital, he was incarcerated. He is the subject of several counts, including refusing to comply, resisting arrest and assault. The state’s Republican Governor, Asa Hutchinson, said on Twitter that he had spoken with the state’s police chief, assuring that the facts would be subject “of an investigation in accordance with the video evidence and the request of the prosecutor“.