Photo credit: Pgiam
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has released additional body cam footage showing the moments before an officer punched a man in the face.
As The Shade Room previously reported, a viral video shows an LAPD officer punching a Black man in the chin and cheekbone after he questioned two cops about his arrest. At the time, the detainee’s name was unknown. However, new updates have identified him as Alexander Mitchell.
Officials released additional body cam footage showing the moments before the California officer used what some are calling extreme force.
In the LAPD footage ABC 7 shared, the officer questions 28-year-old Alexander about double parking on a street. Soon after, the cop opens the car door, demands Mitchell’s license, and asks him to exit the vehicle.
Once Alexander Mitchell steps out of the car, the officer immediately puts him under arrest and later punches him in the face while trying to secure handcuffs on his wrist. Note that the officer who threw the punch was being assisted in the arrest by another Black-identifying cop.
Mitchell’s attorney, Bradly Gage, said the footage of the punch and the body cam video shows a violation of his client’s civil rights.
“I saw unnecessary escalation right from the beginning. They immediately go to handcuff him and search him for weapons. This is not how white people are treated by the police and it’s not how black people should be treated by the police.”
Gage further stated that Alexander Mitchell experienced racial profiling. “I am confident that if Alex was white, we wouldn’t be here today,” Gage asserted.
Watch the newly surfaced footage below.
NBC Los Angeles reports that police ordered Mitchell to exit the vehicle and claimed he resisted handcuffing by “refusing to place his hands behind his back and grasping his front waistband/pocket area with his right hand.”
According to the outlet, Richard Mendoza from the Police Protective League said the body cam footage shows officers repeatedly trying to get Mitchell to comply. His refusal prompted the officer to strike him on the right side of his face, allowing them to handcuff him. Mendoza believes that the officers used appropriate force to regain control of the situation.
“They used a one distraction punch to the face they were able to get him into handcuffs,” said Medoza.
Per TSR, LAPD officers confronted Alexander Mitchell during a traffic stop in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles on July 28. ABC7 adds that officers initially thought no one was in the parked vehicle with “heavily tinted windows” but later noticed Alexander Mitchell inside.
The outlet reports that the video shows two LAPD officers detaining and cuffing a tall man in a white t-shirt, red basketball shorts, and sneakers. The outlet also confirmed that the incident occurred before nightfall, near the officers’ parked vehicle.
While detained, Mitchell immediately yelled, “What did I do though?” His questions and concerns prompted the officer to throw a punch at hit the 28-year-old in the jaw.
As of Tuesday, July 30, LAPD confirmed that they have removed the officer who punched Mitchell from field duties. It remains unclear whether he is on desk duty or leave, and it’s uncertain how this status will affect his pay. Meanwhile, the LAPD is investigating the incident “involving the use of force.”
