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The Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police has been forced to issue a statement after a video of one of their officers stalking, harassing and arresting an African American man has gone viral on social media.
The Cincinnati FOP released the statement on Saturday about the arrest that was caught on video in Over-the-Rhine.
The video recorded the police harassment while the officer seemed unaware that he was still being filmed.
The February 6th arrest of Charles Harrell came just after he crossed the street, trying to get to a safe and populated place when he realized a police officer was following him for now reason.
As soon as he got out of jail, he posted the clip to Facebook.
Harrell explains that the Cincinnati police officer was following him for no reason, but later accused him of jaywalking, for which the officer actually arrested him.
“Officer Osterman did absolutely nothing wrong,” FOP President Dan Hills unsurprisingly said. “He should be commended for staying very professional while Mr. Harrell became very belligerent.”
The FOP has proven that they will defend officers even when they murder unarmed, innocent people. So should we really be surprised that they would defend this racist officer?
The Cincinnati Police Department says that they have launched an investigation into the incident. They claim to be taking a citizen complaint from Harrell.
Read their predictable statement below:
“We take all citizen concerns and complaints seriously. As such, the incident is under investigation by both the Internal Investigations Unit of the Cincinnati Police Department and the Citizen Complaint Authority, which provides a neutral, independent review of the incident,” said Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot K. Isaac. “We are committed to transparency and will provide further information once we have allowed both the criminal trial and the administrative investigations to run their course.”
The Cincinnati police and the FOP were contacted for comment, but they declined, citing the “pending investigation.”