Arkansas Police Officers Caught On Camera Brutally Beating Man During Arrest
They didn't stop until they saw they were being recorded.
TikTok Three Arkansas police officers have been suspended appearing to brutally beat a man they were attempting to detain.
The arrested suspect had allegedly threatened workers at a gas station in Mulberry, Crawford County, and assaulted a police officer before being brought to the ground and beaten, as seen in footage shared on social media.
A video of the Arkansas police officers beating the man has caused outrage on social media.
The video was shared by a woman named Naomi Johnson who says she was sent the footage by her sister, who wished to remain anonymous and sat in a car nearby.
Johnson's video was quickly posted to TikTok, Twitter and other platforms as a means of spreading awareness about police brutality.
One police officer from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department can be seen holding the suspect down while another officer repeatedly punches 27-year-old Randall Worcester in the head.
A third officer holds down Worcester’s legs as a means to leverage the attacks he lands with his knees into the suspect’s back and legs.
At one point, the officer who is punching the man in his head lifts his head and slams his face into the concrete.
The video starts after the beating had already begun, and only thirty seconds later do the officers realize they are being recorded by Johnson, causing them to slow their assault and focus on arresting the suspect.
Worcester, who is from Goose Creek, South Carolina, was arrested and taken to a local hospital and faces charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest, and other assault charges, police said.
Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante issued a statement on Sunday, revealing that two deputies from his office were suspended following the state police's investigation into the incident and the sheriff's office's internal review.
The third officer, a Mulberry police officer, was suspended as well.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Damante said in the statement.
Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory announced that the officer is on leave pending the result of the investigation.
“The city of Mulberry and the Mulberry police department takes these investigations very seriously,” Gregory said.
According to the Arkansas Times, the woman who recorded the video, who lives in Oklahoma, was too upset about the incident to talk to the Times but shared everything she knew to her sister.
“A shoeless man was sitting on the curb and talking with law enforcement officers when she arrived at the gas station,” Johnson said her sister reported. “The man stood up like he was going to run away, and the officers tackled him.”
She believes that the man seemed to be in mental distress.
Regardless of the circumstances, people online are furious with the way that the police handled the suspect and called for the firing of the officers involved.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.