"We really are disheartened by how the police officers chose to go to that family,” Tanya McLean, executive director and founder of Leaders of Kenosha said.
A July arrest in Wisconsin has sparked outrage among the Kenosha community after police are seen on video brutalizing a man that they wrongly believed was the suspect in a hit-and-run, while he held his baby in his arms.
The video shows officers with the Kenosha Police Department trying to arrest a man sitting on the floor holding a baby. People in the background can be heard yelling “get the baby,” and the man being held down by police can be heard telling them “to let me the f--k go” and to “get the f--k off of me."
Once someone was able to grab the baby from the man, police immediately flip him from his sitting position to lying face down on the floor. One officer is then seen repeatedly moving his arm up and down, seemingly punching the man over and over while he is face-down on the ground before they put him in handcuffs.
Kenosha Police said they were responding to a hit-and-run nearby on July 20, and thought the suspects were inside the Applebee’s due to witness reports, according to WISN 12. Witnesses described the suspects as two Black males and one Black female that ran in the direction of the restaurant, the news site reported.
When police entered the Applebee’s, they claimed an employee directed them towards the man that is seen being beaten in the video, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.
Police later found the actual suspects hiding in the restaurant's bathroom, WISN 12 reported. Despite finding the real suspects, police still arrested the man and his wife and charged them with disorderly conduct and resisting and obstructing an officer, and the wife also was charged with possession of marijuana, the news site said.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Leaders of Kenosha condemned the charges and the arrest of the couple and urged community members to contact their elected officials.
“We really are disheartened by how the police officers chose to go to that family. There was just a lack of de-escalation. Everything happened so quickly. It elevated so quickly. It just didn’t seem that anyone was a voice of reason that had a uniform on,” Tanya McLean, executive director and founder of the organization, said at the press conference.
“We want to know why police officers are not being respectful to community members here in this city. What is it that makes you feel as if you need to be so overly aggressive, so confrontational,” McLean said.
The couple were scheduled to appear in court for pre-trial conferences on Friday afternoon, according to Kenosha News. They were both release on $500 signature bond the week they were arrested, the outlet reported.
Kenosha Police say the incident is under investigation and has been assigned to the Kenosha Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, Kenosha News said.
The Kenosha Mayor's Office told Inside Edition Digital they have no comment at this time.
