Police Officer Allegedly Slammed Black Man to the Ground and Broke His Wrist After Mistaking Him for Suspect | 22 Words

A police officer allegedly slammed an innocent black man to the ground and broke his wrist in the process.

Keep scrolling to see the horrifying video and to learn about the lawsuit now being held against the officers...

Right now is probably the worst time to be a police officer...

via: Getty

 And members of law enforcement here in America are now hated more than ever before.

Since George Floyd was brutally killed by a police officer last month...

People have been protesting and demanding justice for the black community.

Police brutality has been apparent for years in our country...

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 And there's no denying that black people are targeted way more than white people.

People have decided to start fighting back amidst the Black Lives Matter movement...

And things were quick to turn violent with many attacking police officers on scene and getting themselves arrested.

It's a difficult situation...

Because obviously, not all police officers are in the job to throw around their authority and get away with violence - there are so many officers out there who are in the job to try and make a difference.

And even though many police officers deserve to lose their jobs...

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 There is also the large population who don't at all deserve to be ridiculed and abused in the way in which they are being at the moment.

Whether that's being verbally abused in the street whilst on duty...

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 Or having things thrown at a police car, this behavior towards innocent police officers isn't acceptable.

This is what makes this situation so complicated...

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 It's difficult to distinguish the police officers who are wanting to do good and make a difference from the ones who are using and abusing their power.

But thanks to the power of social media...

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 More and more bad cops are being called out and shamed for their disgraceful behavior towards black people, and the most recent footage is harrowing.

The incident occurred in the city of Valdosta, Georgia, back in February...

via: Nathaniel Haugabrook

 Antonio Arnelo Smith, who is forty-six, was approached by 2 police officers in a Walgreen's parking lot when things very quickly turned ugly.

The officers had responded to a report of a man outside a Walgreens harassing customers and asking them for money...

via: Nathaniel Haugabrook

 One of the 2 officers encountered a black man in the parking lot and was informed by dispatchers that he had active felony arrest warrants against him.

The officer took the man into custody and advised her fellow responding officer, Dominic Henry, to check the west side of the building...

via: Nathaniel Haugabrook

 And this was when a customer pointed out Smith, which lead the officer to approach him, saying he was investigating "suspicious activity" - to which Smith replied that he was waiting for his sister to transfer money to him from Western Union.

According to the lawsuit, Smith immediately complied when asked for identification...

via: Nathaniel Haugabrook

 But when police Sgt. Billy Wheeler arrived at the scene, he mistook Smith for the original suspect. He advised Smith to put his hands behind his back and apparently, he "began to resist by pulling his arms forward and tensing his body."

Wheeler placed Smith in a "bear hug" and then slammed him to the ground...

The force that was used is painful to watch, and Smith is heard yelling, "What are you doing?" and "You've broken my wrist!"

Smith was clearly terrified and in a lot of pain...

And one of the officers is heard admitting the damage by saying, "Yeah, [his wrist] might be broke." It is both heartbreaking and angering to watch the way the officers treat this innocent man in such a brutal fashion.

Wheeler is then heard on the body camera video saying he thought Smith was the one with the warrant...

To which an officer responds, "No, 'cause there are 2 different people. That's what I was trying to figure out if I had missed something when you told him to put his hands behind his back."

Smith was taken to the hospital later that day, where he discovered his wrist was indeed fractured.

Nathaniel Haugabrook, who is Smith's attorney, told Buzzfeed News that his client did not have the financial resources to seek treatment. He added that Smith was not focused on getting the officers who detained him fired. The goal of the lawsuit, Haugabrook said, is to "help with this movement around the world to rectify police brutality... and for police reform and accountability."

Smith alleges that the officer's actions were "unnecessary and illegal"...

And he filed the lawsuit on Friday against the city of Valdosta, Georgia, and its police department seeking compensation and punitive damages for the February incident on the grounds that his constitutional rights were violated by unlawful detention, use of excessive force, and false arrest and imprisonment, among other counts.

In a statement Monday, the city said it had not yet reviewed the lawsuit and could not comment on the allegations...

But they released a statement detailing their version of the Feb. 8 encounter, along with body camera footage from one of the officers. "The City of Valdosta is fully committed to transparency," the city said. "The City of Valdosta and the Valdosta Police Department takes any report of any injury to a citizen seriously."

No action has yet been taken against the officers involved...

So make sure to stay posted for further updates.