A local attorney says there is “no evidence of brutality” in a video that has sparked online debate.
BUFFALO, NY — A Buffalo resident’s video of her African American neighbor’s encounter with the police has gone viral on the Internet.
The footage that lasts just under three minutes shows Paris Stevens held down by a police officer while another one looks on.
Although, the audio is been muted due to the profanities that were exchanged, it can be confirmed that a woman asks cops to stop at least 10 times. Her exact words – “You’re choking him!”.
Adriana Simpson, the woman who shot the video, says before she started taping the incident officers asked a bunch of guys on the sidewalk to line up and produce their identification.
Then, they singled out Stevens.
What happened that day?
One police officer asked him if Stevens had something in his mouth.
Simpson says her neighbour did not even get a chance to respond and the cop just grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the ground face down and that is when he started choking him.
She says, this went on for at least two and a half minutes and the man’s eyes started turning red and she could see his veins popping out.
“There was fear in his eyes. That’s what made me scared,” she added.
Finally, the cops handcuffed him and he was walked to a police car.
Is it or isn’t it police brutality?
However, a local lawyer who regularly defends the police department against accusations of brutality says she cannot spot use of excessive force in the video.
According to Floriuna Altshiler, the police did not cross the line.
“From what I see in this video I don’t see police brutality,” she says.
She was shown the video several times and analysed it from various angles, still Altshiler maintains procedure was followed.
So what is it if it isn’t excessive force?
The attorney is quick to clarify that the video does show a risky situation where the suspect is not obeying police orders.
When asked if there was a “grey area”, she responded she could personally not find anything wrong with what the cop was doing.
In fact, she saw was “gaining an appropriate tactical advantage over the suspect”.
She goes on to deny that the man is being choked in the video, refuting Simpson’s claim – although she does admit the footage provides limited information.
Buffalo police refused to comment, stating that an internal investigation was underway.
Watch the video below:
