A cell phone video went viral of Columbus police beating an unarmed suspect, Timothy Davis, 31, during an arrest inside a neighborhood market.
The photo of 31-year-old Timothy Davis is startling, but not surprising. The police have been beating on unarmed black men and women for decades, so when cell phone video went viral on timelines around the globe, the people were up in arms, but aware that this is a continuous thing.
Davis, a Columbus native, was beaten brutally by the police there who claim he was resisting police. On his sheet, Davis has a criminal history that includes multiple charges of resisting arrest and assault and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The complaint alleges that Davis “tensed up to fight” after being told he was under arrest.
“Officer grabbed a hold of Mr. Davis and he pulled away. He then took an officer to the ground, fighting and biting officers.” In the video taken by a bystander, officers are shown restraining Davis, punching and repeatedly kicking him. Police Spokesman Sgt. Dean Worthington said that the level of force used depends on the behavior of the suspect. It is his rhetoric that is quite startling. “We are allowed to punch and we are allowed to kick,” Worthington said.
“That’s part of our use of force continuum and it all depends on what the behavior of the suspect is at the time. Certainly, we don’t want to go out there and punch citizens of our city but we have the authority, we have the responsibility to arrest people and sometimes arrests can be ugly.” Reactions have been outrageous, but as people have been calling for boycotts of the store and the store owner, citing that Jehad Elzaben is responsible for what happened.
The Columbus police internal affairs has been brought in to determine whether or not the use of force was within police policy.
Source: http://www.okayplayer.com/culture/columbus-police-say-allowed-punch-kick-unarmed-timothy-davis.html