Two Seattle police officers are under investigation after a bystander recorded them beating a man with their batons at a bus stop last week.
In the video, which was posted online and first reported by NBC affiliate KING 5-TV, two officers can be seen hitting a man with their batons last Friday afternoon. In the 40-second clip, one of the officers appears to grab the man’s hair before he uses a knee to pin him down.
The video does not show what occurred before the officers started beating the man.
Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability, a city watchdog agency, said it was investigating the encounter.
The city’s interim police chief, Sue Rahr, who took over last week for the former embattled chief, Adrian Diaz, said she had reviewed the video and understood the concern it had generated.
“While OPA is conducting a full comprehensive investigation as required by our accountability process, my staff is gathering information, including all available videos for my review so I have a more complete picture of the entire incident,” she said in a statement.
The police department did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the officers had been placed on administrative leave while the investigation is being conducted. The department also did not respond to a request for comment about the man’s identity and condition and whether he was arrested or charged with a crime. The Seattle Police Officers Guild, the police union, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The investigation comes at a turbulent time for the police department. Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that Rahr would replace Diaz. At least six officers have sued Diaz, accusing him of discriminating against women and people of color.
Deeanthony Marcell, who recorded the video, could not immediately be reached for comment at numbers listed for him or via his Instagram account, where he also uploaded the video. The video he posted to his Instagram had been viewed nearly 15,000 times as of Thursday afternoon. Marcell told KING 5-TV that he was on a bus when he decided to record what he was seeing.
He told the station that he did not know what preceded the beating but that he believed he was witnessing an injustice.
“It is never OK,” he said. “And that’s the only reason why I recorded it.”
