CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police and the Citizen Complaint Authority have launched an investigation after video of an arrest on Government Square went viral.
A video recorded and posted to Facebook by Eddie Lee shows the Saturday arrest at Government Square involving at least eight officers. It happened at approximately 5 p.m. in the 100 block of Fifth Street, according to Lt. Johnathan Cunningham with the Cincinnati Police Department.
The video begins with a police officer pointing a Taser gun at a man, with a woman standing between the two. We spoke with Lee, who said he started recording to ensure the safety of the man in the video, whom he identified as his friend Johnnie Taylor.
While police have not said why Taylor was being arrested or what prompted officers to approach him, Lee told us he and Taylor were approached by an officer who claimed he saw them smoking weed from across the street.
Lee said the two were not smoking or drinking. Taylor, he said, spoke up, which resulted in the recorded incident.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
The woman screams "Please don't shoot" to the police officer.
Then the officer fires his Taser at Taylor, nearly hitting the woman. Taylor appears to have caught the wires before it could make full contact.
The video shows the officer telling Tayor to put his hands behind his back while the woman continues to stand between the two of them.
Another officer arrives just before the originally engaged officer pushes the woman, causing her to fall into the arms of the second officer.
With the woman no longer standing between them, the first officer grabs Taylor and pushes him down onto a nearby bench. Two more officers who arrived on the scene also assisted in trying to pin him down.
Two officers are shown on top of Taylor when one uses pepper spray. Afterward, the cops back up and Taylor can be seen wrapping his arms around his face.
At least three officers then surround Taylor as he sits on the bench. One officer wearing a blue shirt pointed his Taser at him yelling, "Put your hands behind your back now!"
That officer fired a shot with the Taser, striking him and causing him to slide off the bench in pain.
They then turn him over on the ground and arrest him.
Officers also arrested Lee after he recorded the video. At one point in the video, one of the officers responding drew his gun and turned to face Lee as another officer asked Lee to back up.
Lee was charged with "obstructing" the arrest and "hampering" the officer attempting to make the arrest, according to court documents. He was released on an own recognizance bond, meaning he did not have to pay for his release, but will be expected to report to court at a later date.
Lee told us police told him he "didn't back up further enough."
"You can see people in the video that were videoing that were closer than me to the scene," Lee said. "I was backing up, I was being compliant to what they were saying. I mean, I just felt the officer had a bad day and took it out on whoever they wanted to."
Lt. Cunningham sent out the following statement Wednesday afternoon about the arrest:
We, as an agency understand that a video such as this generates many comments, concerns, and opinions, and can diminish the public’s trust. We are committed to transparency and the safety of our officers and citizens will always remain a top priority. Situations such as this allow us all to have honest conversations to grow together, learn together, and maximize our full potential as a strong city. Currently, this incident is under investigation by CPD, as well as the Citizen Complaint Authority, which provides a neutral, independent review of the incident.
Lee told us he believes he and his friend "(were) treated unfairly."
The Holloman Center for Social Justice also put out a statement condemning the actions of the officers.
Iris Roley, partner with the Holloman Center and project manager for the Cincinnati Black United Front, said the events that took place "are unacceptable."
"While we don't know all the facts yet, we didn't see any actions on the video that required that level of force," Roley said. "The citizens of Cincinnati deserve better."
We took the concerns to FOP President Ken Kober.
"Well let the investigation play out because there's a lot more to this than just a 92-second clip of what actually occurred," Kober said.
Kober said the officers did what they were trained to do, including the officer who held his gun in front of Lee. He said the officer was not drawing his gun on anyone and did not have it pointed at a person.
"What he's doing is trying to keep these officers who have their attention directed somewhere else, to keep them safe," Kober said.
He said there is body camera footage and video from Metro that fully captured the arrest and will likely be released after an investigation into the incident is complete. We have requested a copy of both of these videos.
