Security footage obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle depicts police officers in the Bay Area city of Richmond moving away from a suspect in the middle of an arrest to beat up a local bystander who was filming them, according to The Daily Beast.
The website reported Kwesi Guss, who is Black, had pulled out his phone and filmed an arrest after hearing sirens.
"The Richmond police redirected their focus from the high-speed chase," wrote the Beast. "In security footage from the store of the incident the Chronicle uploaded to YouTube, a police cruiser pulls up to the sidewalk next to a man — identified as Guss — holding a phone."
Things escalated quickly after an officer ran up to Guss and reportedly told him to "Get out of the f--king way," to which Guss responded, "Shut your b---h a-- up."
In the video, noted the Beast, "The officer circles back around towards Guss, tells him to repeat what he said, and shoves him five times, causing Guss to stumble, before a woman runs over to intervene.
"An officer who was already at the location, runs from one of the other police cruisers towards the scuffle, but the original officer continues to push Guss. The assisting cop pulls Guss’ left arm back to aid the first officer in handcuffing him and kicks Guss in the ankle to make him kneel on the ground."
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Guss, who sustained scrapes and bruised ribs in the incident, says that the officers' claim he was resisting arrest is not true, and that he "wasn't moving."
Police misconduct incidents have gathered greater attention in recent years as the widespread availability of phones and recording equipment have made such incidents easier to spot.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Richmond police officer repeatedly strikes Black man as he films an arrest youtu.be
