A violent arrest captured on video has ignited more accusations of police brutality.
On Sunday, Facebook user Yanexa Yañez shared graphic footage that showed Beaumont, Texas, officers pinning a Hispanic man down before turning him over and slamming his head into a parking lot curb. Yañez, who identified the man as a veteran named Omar, claimed he hadn't committed any crime and was simply trying to help his intoxicated friend before police arrested him.
"My friend the one who got his head busted open, he is a veteran, this shows cops don’t even gaf," Yañez wrote on Facebook. "All because he got off my car to tell his friend 'get in the car, you’re intoxicated come with us.' My heart broke! When my friend kept saying 'I don’t want to die, I won’t want to die.'"
The first clip begins with officers handcuffing the man before they move him away from the group of bystanders. We then see Omar on his back while being pinned by three officers, one of whom has his knee pressed against the side of the man's face. Moments later, the officers violently turn Omar over and slam his head into a curb, causing a stream of blood to run down his face. At one point, you can hear a female bystander screaming at the police, "You knocked him the fuck out! Are you fucking kidding me?"
Video of the arrest, reportedly captured by a woman named Evelyn, can be viewed below.
Warning: The clip contains graphic images and explicit language.
On Monday, Yañez posted a photo of Omar's injuries, showing a huge gash on his forehead that was treated with staples.
A Change.org petition is now demanding the involved officers to be terminated for the violent arrest.
"Omar needs justice for this and the cops MUST be taken accountable and should be fired for the actions they have caused," the petition reads in part. "This could have ended terribly the cops from Beaumont Texas should not have been so aggressive and they should not have put so much unnecessary force to someone who was not resisting at all. Omar kept saying over and over again that he didn’t want to die, this breaks my heart and he needs justice to be served."
The petition has received more than 17,300 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. The Beaumont Police Department has yet to respond to the video.
