3 police officers in Arkansas suspended after video shows them pummeling man during arrest

A trio of Arkansas police officers have been temporarily relieved of their duties, pending an investigation, after a bystander captured chilling video of the officers holding down a man and repeatedly punching him in his head, driving a knee into his back and slamming his head on the concrete pavement during an arrest Sunday morning.

The Crawford County Sheriff's Office confirmed Sunday afternoon that two of the officers in the video were deputies from their department.

“We have requested that Arkansas State Police conduct the investigation and the Deputies have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” Crawford County Sheriff James Damante wrote on the department’s Facebook page. “I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter.”

The third officer was a member of the Mulberry Police Department and has been placed on “administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” Mulberry Chief Shannon E. Gregory said in a statement to Yahoo News.

“We will take the appropriate actions at the conclusion of the investigation,” Gregory added.

The officers’ identities have not been publicly revealed.

Mulberry Mayor Gary D. Baxter said in a statement that he was “shocked and sickened” by what he saw in the video.

The video, which was first posted on Tiktok and then shared to Twitter Sunday afternoon, has garnered more than 6 million views in less than 24 hours. In the 34-second clip, the three officers are seen crouching over a man on the ground near a sidewalk. While one officer appears to hold the man down by lying on top of him, two other officers punch, kick and knee the man repeatedly on his head, legs and back. At one point one officer grabs ahold of the man’s hair and slams his head down on the concrete. The three officers collectively landed at least 27 blows to the man’s body during the video.

One woman, who does not appear in the video, can be heard yelling in the officer’s direction, "Don't beat him! He needs his medicine!"

At least one officer acknowledges the woman and responds, "Back the f*** up!" Another officer points to the woman to get in her car.

“This is bad,” a woman can be heard saying.

Another woman responds, “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Damante, the sheriff of Crawford County, told CNN affiliate KHBS that the suspect was wanted for allegedly threatening a gas station employee in a nearby town. When officers spotted the man, Damante says, the man became uncooperative and attacked the officers, which led to the interaction captured on video. The suspect was taken to the hospital for an examination before being booked into jail, the sheriff said, adding that one officer received minor head injuries during the altercation.

The man being beaten in the video, according to Arkansas State Police, is 27-year-old Randall Worcester, of Goose Creek, S.C. Worcester faces various charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and second-degree assault, police said. He is being held on $15,000 bond, according to Crawford County jail records.

It is not immediately known if Worcester has legal representation.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson confirmed on Twitter that he was aware of the incident and that the state police would investigate it.

For many critics, the shocking nature of the video drew parallels to past instances of police misconduct against unarmed Black men. In 2020, video of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd drew nationwide condemnation and sparked widespread activism for police reform; Derek Chauvin, the officer who held down Floyd, was ultimately convicted of murder.

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Cover thumbnail: via anthonjohnson520/Tiktok