The Atlanta Police Department has addressed an extremely disturbing viral video of a Black woman, Angel Guice, being arrested for hanging out at a park after hours.
The video was initially posted by the woman’s sister who wrote:
I can’t believe this happened to my sister!!!
To give context my sister has never been in any type of unlawful situation and simply out of fear and lack of information she had questions about signing her citation.
Last night
#angelguice and her friend were hanging out at a park unknowingly after hours. Officer Brooks pulled up, asked for Id’s and proceeded to give each of them a citation to sign. Angel simply wanted to know exactly what she was signing and asked for the officer name and badge number.
At some point he became irritated by her questions. He then abused his power by using excessive force. He threw her to the ground and pulled out his taser.
Where’s the respect as a citizen?
Are we not allowed to ask questions about our rights without ego taking over?
Why was a taser pulled out?
Why was she frisked by a male officer?
Aren’t police here to protect and serve?
What kind of training is this?
Aggressive officers like this have to be STOPPED!
This is Atlanta Police Department. Please share!
See her original post below.
As you can imagine, the video is jarring, disturbing, and painful to watch and it’s caused outrage all over social media.
The Atlanta Police Department addressed the video with a lengthy statement via Facebook and they also released the police bodycam video.
The APD stressed the bodycam video immediately shows there is “more to the story” outside of the clip that has gone viral.
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is aware of video footage circulating on social media regarding an Atlanta Police Officer arresting a woman for being in a city park after hours.
Upon learning of the incident, members of the APD’s Command Staff immediately began reviewing the incident to determine the facts surrounding the case.
It has become immediately clear there is more to this story than the short social media video shows and the decision has been made to release the Body Worn Camera footage from the arresting officer.
The statement from the Atlanta Police Department concluded with:
In the end, this incident began as an effort to address issues in our city parks.
The officer clearly intended to issue a citation to each party and allow them to leave the park.
Several unnecessary decisions, that were entirely out of our control, resulted in a physical altercation with an officer and the physical arrest of this individual.
Read APD’s full statement below and review the bodycam video for yourself.
After reviewing the bodycam video have your feelings changed in any way about Angel Guice’s arrest?
Home » News » Atlanta Police Respond To Viral Video Of Black Woman’s Arrest, Releases BodyCam Footage