Arizona police release video showing them beating unarmed black man, claiming they 'wanted him to sit down'

The man spent the night in jail, and missed a job interview the next morning because of the beating, his pastor tells The Independent

Clark Mindock
New York
Thursday 07 June 2018 16:36 BST
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Arizona police captured on CCTV beating unarmed man Robert Johnson

Police in Mesa, Arizona have released a video showing officers beating an unarmed black man at an apartment complex in what advocates on the man’s behalf say shows a “culture of violence” at the department.

The video shows four officers approach a man later identified as 35-year-old Robert Johnson near an elevator at an apartment complex, while Mr Johnson is leaned up against the wall using his phone. Three of these officers then begin hitting Mr Johnson — kicking and punching him in the head and elsewhere — until Mr Johnson appears to lose consciousness.

Mesa Police Chief Ramon Batista told local news that he had placed the four officers on administrative leave, and that his department would reassess their policies towards the use of force.

“It is disappointing because this isn’t the way I see the people that I work with and the community that we serve,” Mr Batista said.

Police say that Mr Johnson was at the apartment complex with a friend, who had attempted to enter the apartment of his ex-girlfriend. The girlfriend called police, who then beat Mr Johnson.

The video — which was captured last month — was first discovered by Mr Johnson’s pastor, Andre Miller, who went to the apartment complex after the incident. Police say that the beating was initiated after Mr Johnson refused to comply with an order to sit down, though the video does not have audio to corroborate that claim. A request for further comment and clarification of the incident was not returned to The Independent by the Mesa Police Department.

Mr Miller with his fiancé in an undated photo

Mr Johnson is originally from Chicago, where he was once employed as a fire fighter, and is currently looking for work in Arizona. The morning after the incident with police, he was set to have a job interview, but missed that opportunity because he had spent the night in jail following the beating.

Mr Miller described Mr Johnson as a “family man” with a child on the way to The Independent, and said that the incident shows a clear instance of excessive force that sent an innocent man to the hospital. Because he is unemployed, he said, Mr Johnson will likely have to pay for medical bills out of his own pocket.

“He did go to the hospital. He’s going to have some continuing treatment because a lot of the physical scars that he had — those will eventually subside, but this has been very traumatic for him mentally, emotionally,” Mr Miller said. “He’s not sleeping, he’s constantly complaining of back pains, neck pains.”

The Mesa Police Association has taken issue with the release of the video, and said that it does not portray complete circumstances of the encounter.

“The Mesa Police Association feels it is grossly inappropriate to release a portion of video with no audio that does not include the full context of the encounter,” a statement from the association said. “Furthermore, we don't understand why video is being released when an internal investigation has not been completed. It is important to understand that any use of force, when viewed, is difficult to watch and never looks “good.”

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