Police org defends officer who punched detained man; victim’s attorney calls for criminal charges
The Los Angeles Police Protective League on Tuesday issued a statement defending the actions of an LAPD officer caught on camera punching a detained man in the jaw, despite a press conference that morning in which the victim’s attorney called for criminal charges to be filed against that officer.
The punch, which occurred on July 28 on East 113th Street near Graham Avenue in Watts, began when officers spotted a vehicle “double-parked, facing the wrong direction,” prompting what officials initially described as a traffic stop. The vehicle’s windows were also “heavily tinted,” police added in a news release.
Inside the vehicle was Alexander Goffeney Mitchell, 28, police said. Community activists, however, identified him as Alexander Donta Mitchell and noted he asked “What did I do?” as officers handcuffed him and led him to a squad car.
Los Angeles police officer brutally punches handcuffed man in face
According to police and the Protective League, only one hand had been cuffed as Mitchell’s protestations were paused by an officer’s punch to his jaw.
That strike “enabled officers to complete the handcuffing,” police said, and the Protective League added that the use of strikes complies with LAPD protocol when an officer is trying to “overcome active resistance to arrest.”
In the video, however, Mitchell appears to have both hands restrained behind his back by a pair of officers, something civil rights activist Najee Ali pointed out when speaking with KTLA.
“This young man had his hands behind his back, handcuffed,” Ali said. “He was not a threat, but we saw an officer punch him in the face for no reason.”
Another witness, who declined to provide her name but said she’s a family friend of Mitchell’s, added that officers instigated the confrontation.
“They just opened the door and snatched him out,” she explained. “There wasn’t no reason. He was just sitting in the car.”
Mitchell was checked out at a local hospital, then booked for allegedly resisting arrest.
Mitchell’s mother, An’Tneal Harris, called for change in a Tuesday morning press conference.
“Something has to be done,” she said. “It has to stop. It has to stop. To see my only child handcuffed, punched in the face while he was complying, I have a problem with that. This officer is a time-bomb ticking.”
Brad Gage, Mitchell’s attorney, added that the officer “clearly has anger-management issues.”
“He does not deserve to remain on the force,” Gage said. “We’re calling on the District Attorney’s Office to investigate.”
Despite the outcry from many who’ve seen the video, Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, placed the blame on Mitchell, not the officers.
“This incident never happens if the individual is not double-parked facing traffic, thus creating a traffic hazard, and if the individual simply complies with simple requests from the responding officers instead of resisting,” Lally said. “The officers followed their training and sometimes placing someone into handcuffs gets physical, it is the suspect’s actions that most often times dictates the level of physicality.”
The officer who struck Mitchell has been placed under investigation and removed from field duties, police said. An LAPD Southeast Division supervisor who was at the scene was the person who “initiated a personnel complaint” against that officer, police added.
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