Facebook arrest video leads to protests in South Carolina
The protestors threw bottles and rocks at police officers in riot gear and set a small fire outside the building before leaving just after midnight
About 100 people protested late Wednesday outside a police headquarters in South Carolina, several hours after a video of officers in Rock Hill wrestling and throwing punches during two arrests was posted to Facebook.
The protestors threw bottles and rocks at police officers in riot gear and set a small fire outside the building before leaving just after midnight.
There were no arrests and no injuries and police didn’t use any pepper spray or tear gas, Rock Hill Police spokesman Lt. Michael Chavis said.
The protests were over the arrests of two men at a gas station Wednesday afternoon. A Facebook video showed several officers wrestling with both men and forcing them to the ground. One officer is seen throwing punches and a man’s face was bloodied.
Police doing a drug investigation pulled over one of the men after he made an illegal turn and the man called his brother to say he was stopped, Chavis said.
The driver tried to run when officers removed his handcuffs so he could take off some jewelry and his brother bumped officers and refused to move back when ordered, Chavis said.
An officer punched one man several times in the thigh to get him to stop resisting and one of the blows hit the man’s nose, blooding it, Chavis said in a statement.
The police department is reviewing the arrests and the force used by the officers, Chavis said.
A drug dog at the scene did not bite either man and officers did not use stun guns or other weapons, Chavis said.
The men were treated by paramedics and one of them was taken to the hospital before being taken to jail. Records didn’t indicate if they had lawyers.
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