A North Carolina police officer appeared to punch a Black woman in a video that's gone viral, per the Atlanta Black Star.
Bystander video shows several officers surrounding the woman on the ground. One of the officers appeared to hit the woman multiple times, sparking outrage from witnesses.
“What the f**k, get off her,” one bystander said.
“How the hell are you going to punch a woman like that, bro?” another chimed in.
According to WSOC, the video stemmed from an incident on Monday (November 13) involving Charlotte police and fast food employee Christina Pierre. Police said officers approached Pierre and another individual who was smoking weed. According to police, Pierre hit an officer and was "not allowing officers to arrest her."
Police said they ordered Pierre to stop resisting arrest multiple times before an officer struck her “seven times with knee strike and ten closed fist strikes to the peroneal nerve in the thigh to try to gain compliance."
The individual accompanying Pierre was arrested on charges of marijuana possession, carrying a concealed weapon, and resisting/obstructing and delay. Pierre faces similar charges including assault on a government official.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Johnny Jennings addressed the incident after video surfaced online.
“I never want to see an officer, much less one of my own, involved in a situation like this. Our officers are trained to engage and interact with people and manage situations to the best of their abilities based on the training they receive,” Jennings said in a statement. “When individuals physically assault officers and refuse to comply with police and when they resist arrest, officers must physically engage with them to safely take them into custody.”
Watch the video here.
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