Footage released of a young black man attacked by police officers who was ‘terrified he was going to die’

Philadelphia Police have launched an internal investigation after a video is published showing the brutal treatment of Tyree Carroll

A still showing the amount of officers used to arrest Tyree Carroll

New video has been released online showing the brutal treatment of a young black man who was arrested in early April in Philadelphia.

Police allegedly pulled over Tyree Carroll for cycling on the wrong side of the road before being grounded to the floor. The video shows that eventually a dozen officers are at the scene.

Despite Carroll appearing to offer little threat, officers repeatedly punched and kicked the 22-year old for five minutes, according to the full length version of the video.

The family spokesperson, Margaret Prescord, told CBS News that Carroll bit a police officer during his arrest because as an asthmatic, he was concerned of the chokehold he was under and the pressure put on his chest made it difficult to breathe.

“He was thinking about Eric Garner… he was terrified he was going to die”. Eric Garner was the asthmatic New Yorker who died after being arrested on Staten Island last year.

In the video, Carroll’s screams for his grandmother are audible, as are the police shouts of “Taser him!”, but it is unclear if he was.

Carroll faces multiple charges including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and police say they found a small amount of crack cocaine; but the family has doubts over the drug allegations.

The video was released on YouTube on Wednesday by Los Angeles blogger Jasmyne Cannick; and there is no explanation as to why it took so long to be published.

Philadelphia Police have reacted to the footage by launching an internal investigation.

Carroll has been in jail since the incident and is scheduled for a hearing on 21 July.