Another day, another investigation sparked by another viral video showing another cop beating on another Black man. This time it happened in New Jersey around 3 a.m. on Sunday when an officer was recorded repeatedly punching a Black man in the face while other officers restrained him.
According to CBS Philly, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office is looking into what led up to the incident—which happened in the 3700 block of Pacific Avenue in Wildwood, N.J.—and whether or not any of the officers involved violated the police department’s use of justifiable force policy.
So far there isn’t much information available as to the Black man’s identity or what exactly he did to prompt such an aggressive arrest, but the eyes don’t lie and what the video taken by a witness shows makes it hard to imagine that no use of force policy was violated.
The video shows a number of officers restraining the man on the ground while others appear to form a barrier around them. In what looks like a fit of rage, one officer can be seen using both fists to punch the man in the head and face at least four times while other officers hold him down.
Wildwood police told CBS Philly that the incident happened after a series of arrests but they wouldn’t comment any further. An unidentified “law enforcement source” told NBC10 the officers were called to the scene because someone reported a man hitting a woman inside Romeo’s Pizza. The source also said the man who was being restrained is 24-years-old and has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault on law enforcement, resisting arrest and riot, and is being held at the Cape May County Jail.
The video was taken by Joseph Kirk who was visiting Wildwood with a friend when they witnessed the altercation.
“It was just totally unnecessary of them punching him like that. It’s like five cops, one dude,” Kirk told CBS Philly.
Kirk’s friend, Ryan Wells, told reporters that when he got there, he “saw them grab him and throw him to the ground and they kept saying stop resisting, stuff like that. Then he started pounding his face honestly.”
Investigators are asking that anyone who has video or photos of the incident call the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Professional Standards Unit at 609-465-1135, according to NBC 10.