Atlanta, GA — An utterly infuriating video was posted to the Facebook page of ATLUncensored this week, showing an Atlanta cop kick a woman in her face as she lies handcuffed on the ground. The video was apparently so over the top, that the officer who kicked the woman was immediately suspended.
According to witnesses, police were arresting a woman, identified only as Ashley. She was handcuffed and on the ground and was acting strangely, apparently off of her medication.
“Ashley does have some mental health problems we thought she was off her meds because she’s been acting kind of off,” said Nell Gibson, Ashley’s aunt.
Regardless of her mental problems, however, the officer’s reaction was entirely unwarranted. As Ashley attempted to pick her head up off the ground, the unnamed officer decided to deliver a boot to her face. The kick was so hard that she immediately fell back down to the ground.
“It was a woman down on the ground in handcuffs. Oh man I am totally horrified. I’m speechless. Not only that, it’s a police officer,” said Gibson.
The female officer who witnessed the entire incident unfold did absolutely nothing as she watched a massive cop kick the restrained woman in her face.
What’s more, according to the neighbor, who took the video, it wasn’t the only time Ashley was kicked.
“They actually kicked her down the hill and she went rolling,” the neighbor told CBS 46.
After witnessing the cop kick a helpless woman in the face, the woman filming confronted the cop, who immediately denied doing it.
Luckily for Ashley, the attack was captured on video.
“We was like why did you kick her, he was like I didn’t kick her, he didn’t even know that somebody was recording,” the woman told CBS 46.
According to the woman filming, Ashley was acting erratically and was trying to spit at the officer.
“She was spitting at the officer and then she had already spit on him once before but it didn’t get on him, so she spit on him again and it got on his boots and that’s when he decided to kick her in the face,” said the woman.
Even though she successfully spit on the officer’s boots, he was in no danger as she had no way of spitting on his face since she was face down in handcuffs. Nevertheless, the officer felt Ashley deserved a boot to her face.
After the video went viral, the Atlanta police department was forced to respond and, according to police, Chief Rodney Bryant has reviewed the video and determined the actions of the sergeant “appear to be unacceptable.”
Highlighting the recent changes in policing in regard to officers intervening when they see fellow officers break the law, the department said they are also concerned with the “apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident.” That officer was suspended as well.
They now claim the incident is under investigation:
“The actions of those in the video appear to fall outside our standards and training. However, it is important for the Office of Professional Standards to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the facts surrounding this incident. Chief Bryant will monitor the progress of this expedited investigation and review the findings to determine the proper course of action.”
As you watch the video below, ask yourself what kind of person it takes to stand by and do nothing as a massive cop savagely abuses a handcuffed and helpless woman. Then ask yourself what kind of person it takes to actually kick a handcuffed woman in the face.
Not a very good one.
@Atlanta_Police response: the actions of the sergeant appear to be unacceptable and we are also concerned with the apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident.
— Jamie S Kennedy (@Jamie_S_Kennedy) July 26, 2021
Both officers have been suspended. @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/1VUYedgwQm
