Source: Thomas Bullock / Getty
We don’t care how intimidating a police officer is, record them and their interactions with the public every chance that you get.
Florida’s Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is being investigated following a viral video that shows 24-year-old suspect Le’Keian Woods severely beaten during arrest. The clip recorded by witnesses shows Woods’ face extremely swollen and bloodied while officers tried to pull his handcuffed body from the ground.
Be warned, the following video may be disturbing. Please take stock of your mental health prior to pressing play.
According to News4Jax, on Saturday, Sheriff T.K. Waters released a public statement about the video:
“Yesterday, JSO officers were involved in an incident near Toledo Road and Powers Avenue in which force was used taking a subject into custody. The agency takes all allegations of inappropriate use of force by JSO officers seriously.
As such, this incident is now under administrative review to determine if the involved officers violated any JSO policy. Because the matter is currently under investigation, the agency cannot comment further about the incident until the investigation is completed,” Waters said.
Waters went on to say that body camera footage from the scene will be released to the public during the investigation. Woods’ lawyer Harry Daniels says that his client was initially pulled over for a seat belt violation before things went left. The reason for his arrest is still unclear.
Woods remains in the hospital recovering from his injuries but he has been charged with armed trafficking in Methamphetamine, armed traffic in cocaine, armed possession of a controlled substance, resisting an officer with violence, altering, destroying, concealing or removing records, and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription.
Protesters recently gathered on the steps of the JSO to speak out against the violence enacted by the deputies according to First Coast News. Natassia Woods, Le’Keian’s mother, said she had spoken to her son but he was unable to understand what had happened to him.
“When he called me from the jail, he said, ‘Mama, what happened to me?’” Natassia Woods said.
“He didn’t even know he got beat like that. He didn’t even know that stuff had happened to him. He did not know that he had got beaten that bad.”
Per usual, there are those arguing that a “criminal” such as Le’Keian essentially deserves whatever treatment the police decide to dole out. That sentiment betrays those same folks’ alleged dedication to “American values” such as “truth” and “justice.”
