Police officer chokes young black man who took his sister to prom outside Waffle House

Following argument at the Waffle House

Police in North Carolina are under fire after a video emerged of an officer choking and slamming an African-American man.

In a video posted to Facebook, an officer in a tactical vest can be seen pushing a young African-American man in formal attire against a wall, choking him and then hurling him on the ground in front of a Waffle House.

“Get your hands off me”, the man repeatedly shouts.

The town of Warsaw, North Carolina’s chief of police told the Raleigh News & Observer that his department was investigating the incident, as was district attorney Ernie Lee.

“We are currently investigating the whole incident, interviewing witnesses and gathering additional video”, police chief Eric Southerland said in a statement.

Anthony Wall had taken his 16-year-old sister out for food after she attended prom and got into an argument with Waffle House employees, the 22-year-old Mr Wall told ABC11. When the police arrived, he said, things turned violent.

“I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that's when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me”, Mr Wall said.

He was charged with resisting arrest and with disorderly conduct relating to his altercation with the restaurant staff.

Video of the incident has garnered hundreds of thousands of views.