Baltimore police say an officer has had his police powers suspended and a criminal investigation is underway after a video may have shown the officer spitting on a man he arrested.
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Protesters took to the streets of Baltimore following Gray’s death on April 19, demanding that police officers be held accountable.
The officer in the video has not been identified.
Davis said in a statement, “The video appears to depict the police sergeant spitting on the arrestee. Our entire community deserves to be treated with dignity and respect”.
Davis said he did not have information about the arrest or what prompted the incident.
Sergeant Robert Mesner, a 34-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Dept., is allegedly seen in a shouting match October. 11 with a man as he arrests him. According to Rose, officers hit the man with a stick and then spit on him, before arresting him.
“You’re going to be Tased. Do it!” the man responded. A bystander is heard yelling “He just spit on him, he just spit on on him”.
Interim Commissioner Kevin Davis addressed the video at a news conference Tuesday.
Police spokesman T.J. Smith said only that the video came to the department’s attention via social media, and that it was under investigation.
The video comes days after another cell phone video showed a suspect punching officers as he violently resisted arrest.
“I think any reasonable person can watch that video and come up with a few serious concerns”, Davis continued.
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“We deal with people, communities, families, in crisis-and that’s not always pretty”. “This isn’t being reviewed, this isn’t being looked at, this isn’t being glanced at, this is a full-blown investigation”. The officer at the center of the investigation is on administrative duty.
