THIS is the shocking moment a cop punches a black store owner who reported a robbery in Alabama – leaving him with a broken jaw. New footage of the March clash was made public for the first time this week by police in Decatur. The CCTV and police bodycam clips shows a police officer walk […]
THIS is the shocking moment a cop punches a black store owner who reported a robbery in Alabama – leaving him with a broken jaw.
New footage of the March clash was made public for the first time this week by police in Decatur.
The CCTV and police bodycam clips shows a police officer walk into Star Spirits & Beverages liquor store, and immediately punch the owner, Kevin Penn.
The 47-year-old had called police on March 15 to report that his store had been robbed, and he was holding the suspect at gunpoint.
Decatur police Chief Nate Allen told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday that because Penn had reported a robbery, police believed he was the suspect, as he was armed.
At the conference, the footage – recorded by a police body camera video – was played to journalists, but copies were not released, AL.com reports.
Police can be seen entering the store with guns, before pointing them at Penn.
The footage is unclear, and is slowed down at some points, while the audio is also difficult to make out.
Allen said Penn was holding a magazine in one hand – which police may have mistaken for a gun.
The police chief said Penn then moved his other hand over a gun which was lying on a counter next to him.
An officer walks in and immediately punches Penn in the face.
The officer’s name has not been released but he is on desk duty pending an internal investigation, which, Allen says, started on March 16.
After a reporter asked Allen whether the punch was excessive force, Allen replied officers should use the “least amount of force necessary to get the job done”.
“I would much rather have a punch than an officer-involved shooting,” the chief said.
Penn suffered a broken jaw and some of his teeth were knocked out, his lawyer, Carl Cole told the local news website.
Penn underwent several weeks of treatment, including having his mouth wired shut.
Penn was taken down onto the ground, handcuffed, and arrested on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing governmental operations.
Police accused him of obstructing their investigation of the robbery, according to court records, but at the conference said a “simple shoplifting” incident had occurred, rather than a robbery.
Penn has filed an internal affairs complaint with the police department and handed over surveillance video from his store, Cole said, but the city hasn’t responded to his request for information about the status of the investigation.
The news came as protests continued to spread across the US to demand justice for George Floyd, the black man killed while he was in police custody, as well as Breonna Taylor, a black woman shot in her bed by police in March.
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