The investigation comes after the emergence of police video footage showing not only the June 2015 arrest but also a scene afterward, when another white officer told the teacher that cops are wary of blacks due to their “violent tendencies” and “intimidating” appearance.
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Video of the June 2015 incident was just recently obtained by the Austin American-Statesman and its news partner KVUE-TV.
Officials in Austin are investigating the violent arrest of a black elementary school teacher who was body-slammed by a white police officer during a traffic stop.
The officer’s lights and siren were on when he pulled over 26-year-old Breaion King. In a second video a police officer was caught on camera telling King people were afraid of black people due to their “violent tendencies”. Police Chief Art Acevedo tells KVUE the department is conducting a full review on Richter’s use of force and Spradlin’s comments, which Acevedo said he found offensive. King steps out of the auto, then gets back in to get her driver license and is told by Richter put her feet in the vehicle so he can shut the door.
While in the patrol vehicle with a different police officer, identified as Officer Patrick Spradlin, King asks the officer driving if he believes there was racism out there. “It was like an out-of-body experience”, King said adding that she “feared for her life”.
She said what happened to her “is an opportunity to make things better and to change things for the better”.
“I was embarrassed and I was ashamed and I did not know what I needed to do”, King said. “And I don’t blame them”.
In the video, King parks at a Wendy’s and exits her vehicle before officer Bryan Richter approaches her and tells her she’s been stopped for speeding; she says she didn’t realize he had been attempting to pull her over.
Spradlin says: “I can give you a really good idea why it might be that way”.
“Why are so many people afraid of black people?”.
“You were approached in a manner and treated in a manner that is not consistent with the expectations of this police chief, of most of the officers of this police department, and most importantly, I think, of all of us as human beings”, he said. Acevedo reported Richter was subjected to informal discipline and counseling, then shared the case was never brought to his attention, prompting an administration investigation to see why the case was never reported.
Dashcam video shows Richter throwing her to the ground, yelling at her to stop resisting.
During a news conference on Thursday, Acevedo publicly apologized to King and her family.
Officer Richter wrote that, “She continued to be verbally aggressive and demanded I get the “Black Police…”
Prosecutors told the Statesman they first viewed the video about two weeks ago and will likely present the case to a grand jury. “I would rather stay home”.
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The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Officer Freddie Vincent posted the comments earlier this month after the fatal shootings of black men by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. “People are hesitant to let us know about a conversation that is exposing a mindset”, he said.
