A video was recently released depicting four Mesa (Ariz.) police officers brutally beating a man who appeared to be on the phone.
According to the Arizona Republic, Mesa Police Chief Ramon Batista said “I don’t feel our officers were at their best. I don’t feel this situation needed to go the way that it went.”
Batista noted the situation is currently being investigated and the four officers have been put on paid leave pending the investigation. The officers have not been identified.
The victim was 33-year-old Robert Johnson. The incident took place on May 23 at an apartment complex where officers responded to a domestic violence call. Johnson was the friend of the suspect.
In the video Johnson is seen looking down at his phone while he is circled by the four officers. They start to hit him repeatedly. He is knocked to the ground before he is ultimately handcuffed while a zip tie is used to secure his feet.
Johnson was arrested on charges of suspicion of disorderly conduct and hindering.
Around the end of the video, one officer wraps a white cloth around Johnson’s face covering his eyes, before officers pick him up and carry him into the elevator.
“The images of the video are powerful ,and I thought it was paramount that you hear it from me with respect to how I feel about it and what I’m going to do to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Batista told the Republic about his decision to release the video before it appeared online.
Community leaders and Johnson’s attorney recently released a statement on the situation.
Andre Miller, a pastor at New Beginnings Christian Church in Mesa, and attorneys Benjamin Taylor and Joel Robbins, who are representing Johnson wrote:
“The misconduct of these officers would have gone unnoticed if it had not been captured by surveillance videos at the apartment complex where the assault occurred. We hope and pray that the Mesa Police Department will accept responsibility for the misconduct of these officers. Mesa must take concrete steps to ensure that culpable officers are disciplined, retrained or dismissed.”
“This is terrible for Mesa police culture, and we’re going to be doing everything we can to pursue justice for our client,” attorney Taylor added. “Mesa has a culture of police brutality, and this affects all people. that live in Mesa and travel through Mesa. and this culture needs to be cleaned up immediately.”
Batista recently changed the department’s policy in response to the situation.
According to 12 News, Batista has changed the policy to officers cannot hit a suspect in the face or head unless they’re fighting with them.
“This in no way represents the whole work that is done every day,” Batista told the news station. “They are human beings and certainly at first glance, this looks like a mistake, and it doesn’t look right, and it’s my job to collectively investigate and find the answers to this.”
