3 Arkansas law enforcement officers suspended after video captures violent beating of shoeless man
Three Arkansas law enforcement officers — two Crawford County deputies and a Mulberry police officer — were suspended Sunday following outrage over a video posted on social media appearing to show them savagely beating a shoeless man, including slamming his heading the concrete. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the incident, which took place at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday outside a convenience store in the town of Mulberry.
The woman who filmed the police beating sent it to her sister in Oklahoma, Naomi Johnson, who posted it on social media. Johnson said her sister told her that before violence, the shoeless man, who appeared to be in mental distress, was sitting on the curb talking to law enforcement officers, stood up and appeared set to run away, and was tackled by the officers, the Arkansas Times repots.
"While the captured footage certainly doesn't tell the whole story, it's hard to see how a shoeless, mentally distressed man could warrant such brutality," Austin Bailey writes at the Arkansas Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to police, the man had been reported to be making threats to a convenience store employee, and when officers confronted him, he pushed a deputy to the ground and punched him in the back of his head, The Associated Press reports. The man, who was arrested and taken to a local hospital, faces charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, and assault.
Then the video went viral. "I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter," Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said Sunday evening, adding that along with the Arkansas State Police investigation, the sheriff's office will conduct its own inquiry. Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said "the city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously," and the officer will be on leave until the investigation in complete.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted that "the local arrest incident in Crawford County will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
The Week Recommends While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner
By The Week UK Published
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeys
Cartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
DOJ demands changes at 'abhorrent' Atlanta jail
Speed Read Georgia's Fulton County Jail subjects inmates to 'unconstitutional' conditions, the 16-month investigation found
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
China tries to bury deadly car attack
Speed Read An SUV drove into a crowd of people in Zhuhai, killing and injuring dozens — but news of the attack has been censored
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan
Speed Read Prosecutors are asking for the brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Abercrombie ex-CEO charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Mike Jeffries ran the brand during its heyday from 1992 to 2014
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Bodycam shows deputy killing Black woman
Speed Read An Illinois deputy fatally shot Sonya Massey, who had called 911 about suspected trespassers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published