A viral video from a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles captured the disturbing moment when police pulled a demonstrator from his wheelchair and knocked him to the ground.
Not only does law enforcement take his chair away, but the chaos appears to leave the wheelchair damaged and in pieces.
According to published reports, the disabled Black man was targeted after he allegedly punched an officer. The incident was captured as members of the LAPD clashed with demonstrators during protests on Tuesday,
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After the man is knocked out of his wheelchair, video shows him trying to wrestle a baton from cops. As multiple officers try to arrest him, the man is heard saying “They’re trying to kill me.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, the LAPD said that around 50 protestors tried “to interfere with 3 individuals in police custody” in the incident on June 14.
“During the incident a man in a wheelchair, Joshua Wilson, punched an officer in the face. Wilson, a convicted felon, was taken into custody and a loaded gun was found in his possession,” police said.
Cops said two other people “were booked, one for Battery on a Peace Officer and the other for a felony warrant,” the Twitter statement read. “Three officers and one sergeant suffered minor injuries during the incident and received medical treatment.”
Several Twitter users responded to the statement with comments rejecting the police department’s official version of what went down.
“Y’all probably planted it,” said one user, referring to claims that Wilson had a gun. “And you’re probably making the whole story up. It’s not like you haven’t before. Hard to trust the word of a bunch of chronic pathological liars.”
Another added, “Release the body cam footage of the search when they found he had a gun.”
A third stated, “I’m an attorney. I’ve been arrested. The cops fabricated the police report–right down to “answers” to questions that I was never asked. There was no gun here. We all know it.”
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Activeadvocate, who first shared the video of Wilson at the protest, announced a fundraising campaign was launched to help raise his bail money, per Celebrity Cover News.
“Joshua is a leader in our fight against racism,” the account captioned a video of him leading a protest, according to the report.
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