The Cincinnati Police Department is conducting an internal investigation after video of an officer tasing a man sitting at a bus stop, and another officer pointing a gun at the man recording, sparked backlash online.
The video, lasting three minutes and forty-five seconds, of the June 1 arrest posted on
Facebook and
X (formerly Twitter) shows heavy police presence at a bus stop near Government Square in Cincinnati's Downtown neighborhood. The video shows officers and citizens arguing with tasers and guns drawn. At one point, an officer tases a man, who appears unfazed by the taser. The officer goes on to argue with a woman standing between the officer and the man. The officer pushes the woman away before grabbing the man and tackling him to the bus stop bench with the help of two other officers.
"You ain't gotta do that shit!" yelled the person recording the now-viral video.
Watch the video below
Seemingly unable to get the man's hands behind his back, the officers back up while the man sits on the bench with his arms crossed in front of his face.
"Put your hands behind your back!" yelled an officer repeatedly, pointing a taser at the man.
Another officer can be seen pointing his gun at the man recording the incident.
"Ain't nobody about to do nothing, man!" the man recording says to the officer.
Officers again attempt to restrain the man, but are unsuccessful. The man recording tells officers the man they are trying to arrest is not armed.
"Put your gun down, bruh! He ain't got no gun!" the man recording is heard yelling to officers.
At the 2:42 minute mark of the video, an officer is seen tasing the man on the bus stop bench, whose hands were visible near his face. This time, the man reacts to the taser, seemingly in pain.
"That's my brother!" yells a woman in the background.
The officer who was previously pointing a gun at the man recording then steps in between him and the man being tased.
"You gonna shoot me or something? I ain't got no gun, you got a gun to me. You ain't even got your stun-gun out," the man recording says to the officer.
As the man recording steps to the side to capture the arrest, the officer side-steps in front of his view, gun still drawn.
"You can't block me, bro," the man recording says.
Another officer approaches the man recording the video. As the officer appears to reach for the man's arm, the man recording yells "I didn't do nothing!" There's a blurry struggle, then the recording ends.
Comments under the video, which has racked up nearly 730,000 views on X alone, call out the officers for not deescalating the situation.
"The police [officer] should be deescalating! The man appeared unarmed and no one was in immediate danger," one user commented.
A Facebook user named
Anternitita O'Neal shared the video, along with screenshots of the officer who raised his gun at the man recording, identifying the officer as Orlando Smith.
"I fought hard trying to get this demonic demon off the force and prosecuted but my fight and voice went unanswered," she said in the June 4 Facebook post. "This monster not only killed my son Dontez Trayshawn Oneal , he also shot six or seven innocent people that were all Black. He also ran over that girl on Vine Street in 2013 after he killed my son."
Smith, whose photos across the internet match the face of the officer pointing a gun at the bystander, has been
investigated before for misconduct .
In a statement shared with reporters on WhatsApp, CPD Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said the incident is under review by the department and the Citizen Complaint Authority.
"The Cincinnati Police Department is aware of a video posted to social media that depicts a portion of an arrest involving CPD officers and three citizens. This incident occurred on June 1, 2024, in the vicinity of 500 Government Square, at approximately 5:00 p.m. The video was subsequently posted to social media via Facebook on Monday, June 3, 2024. We, as an agency understand that a video such as this generates many comments, concerns, and opinions, and can diminish the public’s trust. We are committed to transparency and the safety of our officers and citizens will always remain a top priority. Situations such as this allow us all to have honest conversations to grow together, learn together, and maximize our full potential as a strong city. Currently, this incident is under investigation by CPD, as well as the Citizen Complaint Authority, which provides a neutral, independent review of the incident," Cunningham said.
This is a developing story.
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