Two Atlanta cops are put on leave after being filmed kicking woman 'with mental health problems' in the head while handcuffed during arrest
Two Atlanta cops have been put on leave after being filmed kicking a woman said to have mental health problems in the head as she lay on the ground handcuffed during an arrest.
The incident took place Monday afternoon when police were called to an apartment in Summerhill, Atlanta, for a domestic incident, according to Atlanta Uncensored, which posted the footage online.
The Instagram account said the woman was kicked in the face by one of the cops after she spat on his boots and pants while lying with her hands cuffed behind her back.
The footage has sparked outrage online while the witness who filmed it said it only captures one of several times the woman was kicked by the officers.
Two Atlanta cops have been put on leave after being filmed kicking a woman said to have mental health problems in the head as she lay on the ground handcuffed during an arrest
The seven-second video shows the woman lying face down on the ground next to some parked cars with two cops - one male and one female - standing over her.
The woman, who is partially undressed, raises her head in the direction of the male cop who then kicks her in the head with his right foot.
A gasp is heard in the footage as his boot strikes the woman's face.
The female officer does not appear to react or make any attempt to stop the incident.
A third officer is then seen coming around the side of the patrol car to the scene when the footage ends.
'Do you think excessive force was used in this situation?' reads the caption on the social media video.
Both the woman and the officer who kicked her are black.
The identities of the officers have not been released while the woman has been named by her family as 'Ashley.'
Ashley's neighbor, who shot the footage and did not want to be identified, told CBS46 she actually saw the cops kick her more than once.
The incident took place Monday afternoon when police were called to an apartment in Summerhill, Atlanta, for a domestic incident, according to Atlanta Uncensored. The woman was kicked in the face by the male cop after she allegedly spat on his boots and pants
The female officer does not appear to react or make any attempt to stop the incident. A third officer is then seen coming around the side of the patrol car to the scene (above)
'They actually kicked her down the hill and she went rolling,' she said.
'She was spitting at the officer and then she had already spit on him once before but it didn't get on him, so she spit on him again and it got on his boots and that's when he decided to kick her in the face,' she said.
The neighbor said she confronted the officer about the incident.
'We was like why did you kick her, he was like I didn't kick her, he didn't even know that somebody was recording,' she said.
Atlanta Police Department released a statement Monday confirming Police Chief Rodney Bryant had been made aware of the video 'showing an Atlanta Police sergeant kicking a woman in her head'.
Ashley's aunt Nell Gibson told CBS46 she was 'horrified' over the treatment of her niece who she said suffers from mental health problems and usually takes medication
Police said the incident unfolded when officers were called to 35 Haygood Avenue at around 12.30pm to reports of a woman walking around and pointing a gun at several people.
Officers arrived on scene and detained the woman, police said.
'Officers became concerned with the female's mental health and requested Grady EMS transport her to the hospital for evaluation. The female was not charged,' the statement read.
Atlanta Police Department released a statement Monday confirming Police Chief Rodney Bryant (above) had been made aware of the video
Atlanta PD slammed the actions of the cops and said both cops involved had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.
The actions of the sergeant who kicked the woman were 'unacceptable' while the department said it is 'also concerned with the apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident.'
The sergeant was placed on unpaid suspension while the officer was placed on administrative assignment.
Ashley's aunt Nell Gibson told CBS46 she was 'horrified' over the treatment of her niece who she said suffers from mental health problems and usually takes medication.
'It was a woman down on the ground in handcuffs, oh man I am totally horrified, I'm speechless, not only that it's a police officer,' she said.
'Ashley does have some mental health problems we thought she was off her meds because she's been acting kind of off.'
The Atlanta Police Department's Office of Professional Standards is leading the investigation which will be expedited, before the police chief determines the right course of action to take against the officers.
The incident comes at a time when police brutality is under the spotlight. Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe (left) shot dead black man Rayshard Brooks (right) at a Wendy's on June 12 2020
Bodycam footage (above) showed the moments leading up to Brooks death. Brooks ran away and was shot twice by Rolfe when he turned to fire the Taser in Rolfe's direction
The incident comes at a time when police brutality is under the spotlight following the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin and a series of cop killings of black men and women across America.
Less than one month after Floyd's murder, Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe shot dead black man Rayshard Brooks at a Wendy's.
Rolfe, 27, shot Brooks, also 27, twice in the back as he ran from officers outside the fast food joint in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 12 2020.
The white cop and fellow Officer Devin Brosnan, 26, had been called to the drive-thru by customers who said a man was asleep at the wheel.
A scuffle broke out when the officers tried to arrest him, with Brooks taking Brosnan's taser and pointing it behind him in the direction of the cops.
Black Lives Matter protesters descended on City Hall in Atlanta in May after the local police department reinstated Officer Garrett Rolfe
Rolfe, a six-year police veteran, was charged with 11 counts over Brooks' death including felony murder.
He was also fired by the Atlanta Police Department one day after the fatal shooting.
In May, Atlanta police reinstated Rolfe to the department, saying the fired officer was 'not afforded his right to due process'.
He is now on administrative leave because the terms of his bond mean he is banned from possessing a firearm or being around other police officers.
His reinstatement sparked renewed protests in the Atlanta community demanding justice for Brooks and his family.
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