Imagine you’re celebrating your favorite NFL team making it to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years, only for it to be ruined by police officers arresting you in the most brutal way possible. That’s what happened to Daysheion Renee Ponds.
According to the Kansas City Star, Ponds was arrested by Kansas City police after she got into a heated argument with a bartender in the downtown Power & Light District neighborhood. The bartender accused Ponds of not paying for a drink. In response, Ponds said she charged for a drink she never actually got.
This resulted in the bartender getting the attention of security guards and off-duty police officers who were in the area.
Initially, Ponds could only make claims of how the arrest went down. But after the video of the arrest was released on Wednesday, everyone in the world can now see the incident.
In the video, one of the off-duty officers can be heard yelling at Ponds, who is dressed in Chiefs gear, “If you act like an animal, we’re going to treat you like an animal.”
One of the officers can also be heard talking to the man recording the video: “Get back or you’re going to jail. F***ing record all you want, I’m not playing this game.”
While the arrest is receiving some criticism, the Kansas City Police Department is standing behind the actions of its officers. KCPD spokesman Jacob Becchina told the Kansas City Star, “The officer advises the person they are free to film but that they need to back up. Officers are well within their right to advise a citizen to cease their actions if they are creating an interference.”
Ponds feels she was treated inappropriately, telling the Kansas City Star, “I’m 5-foot-2 and I’m under 150 pounds…I was no threat, I couldn’t have hurt them in any way, and the whole time that they were hitting on me and beating me. I was in handcuffs, so I couldn’t have done anything extreme to them.”
It’s unclear if Ponds will take any legal action against the officers whom she believes used excessive force against her during the arrest.