A video went viral online this week that showed a young black man being violently arrested by police in New York City for allegedly smoking marijuana at a park.
A bystander took the video that shows a man pleading with a plainclothes officer on Wednesday night at the 100% Playground in Brooklyn. The black man asks repeatedly why he is being detained while the officer holds him against the wall. The officer tells the man to not move and pulls out what looks like a taser.
“I didn’t commit any crime. What crime did I commit? Tell me!” the man asked the officer. “You’re about to hurt me. What did I do?”
After police officers can be seen sprinting toward the scene and slam the young man to the ground. “You about to shoot me with a taser?” asked the man. He then yells, “Get off me! What is he doing? Help me! Help me!”
“I was walking home and, at first, I thought I saw two random guys, and it looked kind of aggressive,” said “Velvet,” who posted the video to Twitter.
“I thought to myself, ‘The one guy had his hand up. Maybe he doesn’t want to fight, and I should help.’ So, I just turned around, and I saw the officer’s gun, and I thought, ‘That’s an undercover cop.’ Then, I heard the kid say, ‘Who are you? Can you identify yourself?’ and the cop ignored him, so that’s when I pulled out my phone.”
Detective Denise Moroney, a spokeswoman with the New York City Police Department, told Gothamist that the situation started when officers saw “two males inside the park smoking a lit marijuana cigarette, and, as the officers approached, the individuals, they fled the location.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea admitted the video featured “disturbing points” but said the young man should not have run from the police.
“I would like to see approach, discussion, and no running,” Shea said. “No physical resistance at all. The problem is, you can’t go back in time.”
