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A Facebook video is going viral showing a North Carolina police officer assaulting a Black man at a Waffle House.
–This Is America: 5 powerful messages that will stay with you long after your Donald Glover hangover—
According to the News & Observer, Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland said that the officer in the video is a part of the Warsaw Police Department.
So this cop was an HOUR and some change outside of his jurisdiction. Threw around & assaulted this man, who was coming from prom with his sister. He didn’t deescalate the situation*like he is trained to* but almost made this black man a hashtag. Nah B, I’m taking you to court ? https://t.co/Axz6j7knXD
— Not From ?? (@kenyavanessa_) May 10, 2018
The department and District Attorney Ernie Lee are reportedly investigating the incident.
Anthony Wall said he was at Waffle House after taking his 16-year-old sister to prom. He said he argued with Waffle House employees and the police were called.
“I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that’s when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me,” Wall told ABC11, adding that his hands were in the air when the officer choked him.
Wall was reportedly charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for arguing with the Waffle House employees, according to ABC11.
–Activist Shaun King identifies police officer caught on video choking Black man on prom night–
Activist identifies police officer on social media
Shaun King, noted activist and journalist, says he has identified the Warsaw police officer seen assaulting Anthony Wall in the video.
They refused to release the name of the officer, but local people told me who it is and I confirmed.
This is Officer Frank Moss.
Several Black families throughout the area told me he has terrorized & brutalized them for years. He’s a huge man and abuses his power often. https://t.co/hLdsHEA57r
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 10, 2018
To give you an idea of the sheer size of Officer Frank Moss, that’s him on the far right of this photo.
He has been brutalizing people in North Carolina for years on end.
As soon as locals saw the video, they knew it was him. Said they’ve seen him do this before. pic.twitter.com/vWQXtfBDKb
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 10, 2018
And while the Warsaw police department and District Attorney Ernie Lee are reportedly investigating the brutal incident, they may not be pleased with King for outing the identity of the officer on social media.
As I was downloading all of the content from their Facebook profile, the Warsaw County Police Department in North Carolina deleted their entire Facebook Page. https://t.co/AbINBjfj9J
It’s gone. https://t.co/5C8QnPL7Wj
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 10, 2018
Another Waffle House incident
Another Waffle House in Alabama is under fire after a black woman says the restaurant locked its doors and refused to let her in to eat.
The Pinson, Alabama, restaurant is under investigation for racial discrimination after Jacinda Mitchell posted a video of the restaurant with the doors locked. Inside, a number of white people can be seen eating, and the cook is still active on the grill.
This latest incident comes just weeks after a Black woman was slammed to the floor by white police officers at a different Waffle House in Mobile, Alabama and a white man shot up a Waffle House in Tennessee. The shooter was taken down by James Shaw Jr., who has been hailed for his heroic act.
On the video taken by Jacinda Mitchell, you can see a man come to the window and say a few choice words to Mitchell as she filmed the incident. It looks like he’s threatening to shoot her. Mitchell said he did threaten her.
“They have the door locked and they have customers in here, and they’re saying that they’re closed,” the woman says in the video. “The customers are eating and they happen to be white customers, and I am an African-American…They have people that they’re serving but they’re telling me that they’re closed.”
Mitchell said while she doesn’t plan to sue, she wants to bring to light how she was discriminated against.