Sometimes, I notice that when a Black person or suspect is resisting arrest, the officer then uses excessive or fatal force based on the behavior of that individual. Then, when people cry out “racism!” and “police brutality!” it’s always met with the same recycled response, “Well, they should’ve complied.” But suddenly, for a white suspect in Arkansas, the tables have turned.
A video went viral of two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and a Mulberry police officer pinning 27-year-old Randal Worcester down on the ground, per 4029TV News. They slammed his head onto the concrete and punched him repeatedly. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Facebook announcing the three involved were suspended and currently under investigation.
The comments under the statement cried for accountability and justice, even while Worcester was labeled a wanted suspect and was violent toward the officers.
Read more on the incident from CNN:
Worcester is charged with second-degree battery, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening and first- and second-degree assault, Arkansas State Police said.
Worcester allegedly threatened a gas station clerk in a neighboring town, Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante told CNN affiliate KHBS. When he was spotted in Mulberry, Worcester was initially cooperative, but then tried to attack the officers, leading to the confrontation seen in the video, Damante told the station.
It was unclear if Worcester suffered any serious injury. The suspect was examined at a hospital and booked into jail, while a deputy received minor head injuries during the altercation, the sheriff told KHBS.
CNN’s law enforcement analysts viewed the footage of the incident and agreed the officers went overboard.
“-it is very, very hard to argue that what you’re seeing — the sort of punches and the kneeing him in the back and slamming his head ... on the ground. That is not acceptable, normal, standard police use of force under really any circumstances,” said analyst Andrew McCabe via CNN.
We know. We’ve seen the videos of incidents just like these but with a Black person being beaten and pinned down. The first thing that comes out of the sheriff’s office is a statement justifying the officer’s use of force because of how the individual was behaving. Then, those officers escape charges or even the measly suspensions.
Just last year, an Arkansas police officer was accused of shooting and killing a white teen, Hunter Brittain, during a traffic stop, per KATV. His family is still protesting for police accountability. This year, 666 people were shot and killed by police, according to The Washington Post’s Fatal Force database.
The fight for police reform can’t be divided or called for when it’s convenient. Justice can’t be won if the people outraged for Worcester were not outraged for the Black men placed in those same situations.