Those Minneapolis police officers are at it again, hurting a Black man and being caught on camera doing so.
According to Newsweek, in an arrest captured on camera and shared on Instagram by @farahleft, a white Minneapolis police officer tackled a 64-year-old Black man inside an Aldi’s store.
Does he think he’s on Sunday Night Football or something?
The almost 5-minute video has not gotten over 112,000 views since it was posted last week.
Per the story from Newsweek, the video begins with Troy Lee Billups, the 64-year-old Black man, telling Officer Christopher Lange, “Don’t your hands on me!”
From Newsweek:
Lange, who is white, is seen grabbing Billups by the collar and shoving him face down into a nearby counter.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to de-escalate! How the f**k is this de-escalating?” the person filming the video can be heard saying.
Lange then throws Billups to the ground and the pair struggle for more than a minute as the man repeatedly tells the officer not to touch him.
At one point, the officer tells a bystander that Billups is being arrested “because he’s obstructing.”
“No, you escalated this situation!” The person filming says. “You escalated this situation and you made this happen. It’s clear. It’s clear as day!”
The officer later takes Billups outside and when the person filming catches up to them near a patrol car, they appear to be discussing an alleged altercation that led up to the incident.
“You shouldn’t have put your hands on me,” Billups tells the officer. “We weren’t fighting, we was talking. We weren’t pushing. We didn’t touch each other. Only I just said, ‘Don’t put your hands on me.’”
Officer Lange ended up putting Billups in handcuffs and arrested for “for obstructing the legal process with force” according to Newsweek.
Yeah, okay.
But per the report from Newsweek, records from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office show Billups was released from custody on the next day.
Aldi’s even had to comment on the nonsense behavior this officer displayed.
From Newsweek:
An Aldi spokesperson told Newsweek: “At Aldi, we’re committed to ensuring the highest level of safety for our customers, employees and local communities. We are cooperating with local authorities as they investigate this matter further. We kindly ask that you direct any questions to the Minneapolis Police Department.”
But for us, that still isn’t enough. Social justice activists have demanded Officer Lange face disciplinary action according to Newsweek.
Lord knows he probably hasn’t.
As stated by Newsweek, the Racial Justice Network said in a statement, “It is clear that Officer Lange’s excessive force escalated a situation that called for de-escalation.” The organization also pointed out that Officer Lange has been investigated for misconduct five times in the past two years.
Thankfully Billups wasn’t hurt and hopefully, Officer Lange can face some consequences for trying to be so big and bad.