APD Toss Goes Viral
Video released of Austin police 'brutality' after incident on East Sixth Street
An Austin police officer tossing a man to the ground was caught on video this weekend on East Sixth Street. According YouTube user allDGoodNamesRtaken, the incident took place on February 15.
The video follows four uniformed APD officers as they ride down Dirty Sixth on horseback. As the camera focuses on the horses, a uniformed officer jogs up to a civilian and throws him to the ground. It is unclear what the man did to provoke the officer, but allDGoodNamesRtaken said it was because he was dancing.
"That guy was doing a little dance to the right of the horses as they went by," he wrote in a comment (that has now been deleted) on the video. The civilian was then put in handcuffs and escorted away by at least five officers.
The officer involved in the altercation isn't the only one in hot water. As the camera rolls, the man shooting the video asks another uniformed officer for his name and badge number. The officer looks into the camera and says, "Get a life, man." APD policy requires all uniformed officers to identify themselves if asked.
Austin Police Department issued a statement on Monday afternoon regarding the incident:
The Austin Police Department is aware of the video found on YouTube from an incident that occurred in Downtown Austin over the weekend. As standard protocol, the involved officers' Chain of Command will review this incident to determine if the response to resistance was appropriate and within APD policy.
Additionally, APD policy requires that an officer will provide their name and employee number when requested. This will also be part of the supervisory review of this incident.
This isn't the first time that recordings of APD officers have sparked outrage. In October, two on-duty officers were caught on tape making rape jokes. In February 2014, video of a jogger detained near the University of Texas at Austin campus also went viral. After the 2013 shooting death of Larry Jackson Jr., City Manager Marc Ott requested a formal review of the APD by the Department of Justice, a request the DOJ declined.