Georgia officer on leave after tasing, arresting Black woman who yelled at him

The officer was shown in a viral video shouting and yelling at the woman before using his Taser to subdue her

A video of police interaction in Georgia has led to a white officer being place on administrative duty after he was shown using a Taser on Black woman during an arrest.

The officer, who is shown in the video without a mask, was responding to a call about two people who had allegedly thrown a bottle at a car and threatened a woman and child inside the vehicle on Tuesday in Loganville, GA—a suburb of Atlanta.  

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Gwinnett Police Cpl. Collin Flynn said in a statement that the incident of the bottle being thrown was captured on surveillance video.

“That video shows a woman come and retrieve the bottle from the yard before police arrived,” he said. “The complainant directed the officer to the house where she believed the suspects were staying.”

“When the officer went to the house, he immediately recognized one of the women on the front porch from the video surveillance,” Flynn continued. “He attempted to speak with her about the incident but was unable to do so because the defendant, in this case, Kyndesia Smith, began yelling at him.”

The report notes that Smith repeatedly told the officer that she was not “going anywhere.” 

“Turn around,” the officer responded in the video. 

Smith refused and pulled away from the officer, standing behind a chair where another woman was sitting. The unnamed officer then walked around the chair and pulled Smith, knocking the woman in the chair to the ground. 

As Smith pulled away from the officer again, he shouted at her, “Get on the ground. Get on the f**king ground. Get on the ground right now.” 

He then deployed his Taser on Smith knocking her into a bush. He repeatedly shouted at her before handcuffing her. 

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Black Lives Matter activists have called for justice for Smith, accusing the officer of police brutality. In their response, the police department stressed that they take “all use of force seriously.”

“All use of force cases are administratively reviewed through the chain of command. An investigation into this incident is being conducted,” the statement continued. “The officer has been placed in an administrative role pending the outcome of the internal investigation.”

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