Mesa Cops Attacked Non-Resistant Black Man b/c he “was projecting he was preparing for a physical altercation" [wha?] Public Rulers Angry He Didn’t Immediately Bow Down in the Presence
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"Sit your ass down, motherfucker." From [FTP] and [HERE] A shocking video has surfaced out of Mesa, Arizona last week showing a half-dozen cops jump an unarmed and non-violent Black man—punching him in the head until he falls unconscious to the floor. Despite several cops participating in the beating, not one word of it was mentioned in a report and the chief claims he had no idea it even happened.
The video is of an incident from May 23, in which police were responding to a call at an apartment complex. The Mesa Police department says they received a call from a woman stating that 20-year-old Erick Reyes was trying to get into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend.
When police arrived on the scene, Reyes and another man, 33-year-old Robert Johnson were leaving the complex. When police told Reyes to sit down on the ground, he reportedly complied with their order. Johnson was given the same order as he walked to the elevator.
Instead of sitting on the ground, Johnson, likely knowing he had done nothing wrong, simply sat against the wall. Apparently, this was not enough to appease the officers who then swarmed the unarmed and seemingly innocent man.
Cops are then seen on video brutally punching the non-violent man in the face and kneeing him in the stomach. Even after he’s knocked unconscious, the massive cop in front of him pummels his face as he falls to the ground.
Johnson was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and hindering police. Erick Reyes, 20, who was with Johnson that night, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia.
The case started when someone called 911 to report that Reyes had tried to force his way into his ex-girlfriend's apartment on Main Street about a mile east of Country Club Drive where the incident happened.
Johnson said he accompanied Reyes to help him take his belongings from his ex-girlfriend's apartment.
Officer Jhonte Jones said in his report he kneed and punched Johnson because Johnson leaned against a wall and extended his feet instead of sitting on the floor as police had ordered.
"Johnson's body language was projecting he was preparing for a physical altercation," the police report said. "Johnson's shoulders were bowed forward slightly and head slightly nodded.
"That was a position I recognized from past physical confrontations where a person ops (sic) to look toward the floor in order to use their peripheral vision to track several opponents simultaneously. Johnson's breathing became shallower and intentional, suggesting physiologically his body was transitioning to fight-or-flight mode."
Miller, the Mesa pastor, took issue with the officer's report.
"It makes for a very good novel," he said.
The Police Department released footage Tuesday captured on an apartment complex surveillance cameras, which doesn't have audio. The next day, the department released footage from police body cameras with audio and a 20-page police report.
