The Tuscaloosa Police Department has reportedly opened a "full investigation" after unsettling footage of several of their officers went viral over the weekend. After being called to 12th Avenue Place Apartments at "about 3 a.m." following an alleged noise complaint, the situation quickly escalated into a disturbing chain of events we’ve sadly seen repeated so often this year. "I have forwarded the video to our Internal Affairs investigators," Tuscaloosa police chief Steve Anderson told AL.com in a statement, adding that the investigation will begin as early as Monday.
Though details surrounding the encounter are still relatively scarce, several people in the footage can be heard asking the officers whether a male individual is being "arrested or detained" and questioning the legality of their attempts to enter the apartment. One officer can also be heard hurling expletives at those in the apartment upon entry, with AL.com reporting that "at least a dozen" police officers ultimately responded to the noise complaint.
"They had a girl and two boys on the ground," a witness told the local news outlet. "They were all screaming and everybody was videoing it." The male individual, as seen in the footage, is violently removed from the apartment before being hit with a Taser and struck multiple times with what appears to be a nightstick. For reflection on the current state of police brutality in this country, we once again turn to the Guardian’s ongoing The Counted project:
