Charlotte police will release footage in viral Steele Creek arrest today. What to know

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department today is expected to release body camera footage from a controversial, forceful arrest in the Steele Creek area.

Christina Pierre’s Nov. 13 arrest drew concern when a bystander’s viral video showed Police Officer Vincent Pistone repeatedly hitting Pierre. The woman and her coworker and partner Anthony Lee were both charged with three crimes, which have since been dismissed. They had just clocked out from a nearby Bojangles.

Four weeks after the controversy, the public will get a fuller account of what led to Pistone hitting Pierre.

Here’s what you need to know.

What happened

Police say that they first saw Pierre and Lee smoking marijuana at a bus stop outside a Steele Creek Bojangles.

Before the viral video rolled, they say Pierre and Lee resisted arrest, and that Pierre “punched” an officer in the face. The officer then returned a blow, police said. Video released Tuesday is expected to show that encounter.

Backup arrived. Police arrested Lee and found a concealed gun in his bag, they said.

Cue the video captured by a bystander, with Pierre on the ground and police on top of her. A number of people nearby shouted for them to stop as Pistone punched her repeatedly. “You’re gonna kill her right on the ground,” one bystander said.

Officers carried Pierre to a police car.

Police charged Pierre with assault on a government official, resisting arrest and simple possession of marijuana. They charged Lee with carrying a concealed firearm, resisting arrest and simple possession of marijuana.

Use of force

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers are allowed to use force in some circumstances. CMPD has described Pistone’s blows to Pierre as “compliance strikes.”

Police have a wide range of options when trying to deescalate, according to the department’s directives. Some are simple — like a conversation. Others are physical, including leg sweeps and armbar takedowns.

But one expert said that hitting someone might not be the best way to get compliance.

“Strikes are not generally considered acceptable as a compliance tool,” said Dennis Kenney, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former police officer.

The situation becomes more problematic when there are multiple police officers on one person, he said.

The officers could still be justified, but it would all depend on Pierre’s own level of force, Kenney said. Without the body camera footage, it’s been unclear what that level of force looked like.

CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings has said that the department will look at its response to resistance, and the department appears to be open to more structural changes.

On Nov. 28, CMPD announced that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations was working to organize a Community and Police Collaboration Group “who will collectively review certain CMPD policies and provide the organization with recommendations for consideration.”

It appears that not just anyone can tune in to those meetings.

“I do not believe that those will be public,” Lt. Kevin Pietrus, who works in public affairs for CMPD, told The Observer on Dec. 1.

Community response

Community leaders in Charlotte said they were disturbed by the initial, viral footage, and said that it represented a step back in the relationship between CMPD and the public.

“We have worked so hard to bridge that gap, to start the process,” Team Trublue founder Will Adams said on Nov. 16. “I just feel like what happened Monday takes us all the f------ way back. Now we’ve gotta do this all over again.”

Some also questioned why police bothered to stop Pierre and Lee when the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office has said it does not prioritize prosecuting most nonviolent, low-level drug charges.

At the heart of the concerns, Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Corine Mack said, was a fear that implicit bias was at play. Pierre and Lee are Black.

North Carolina body camera law

North Carolina law requires a court order for body cam footage to be released.

In the case of Pierre’s and Lee’s arrests, CMPD filed its own petition for the footage’s release. And at a Nov. 15 press conference, Jennings shared his frustration that state law would not allow him to expedite the process.

Superior Court Judge Daniel Kuehnert gave the green light on Nov. 30.

“The public has a right to see it,” the judge said.

The Charlotte City Council also viewed the footage on Monday before its public release.

No legal punishment

However the community responds to the body cam footage released Tuesday, one thing is certain: Pierre and Lee won’t face any legal consequences.

In late November, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office dismissed charges against the two.

“After consideration of the body-worn camera evidence and the various recorded accounts of police and civilian witnesses present, based on the totality of the circumstances, the State does not have a reasonable likelihood of success at any potential trial on this matter,” prosecutor Sheena Gatehouse wrote in Pierre’s dismissal paperwork.

It came as no surprise to one attorney who has represented the couple.

“Our firm requested that the charges be dropped both publicly and to the DA’s office,” attorney Lauren Newton previously told The Charlotte Observer. “Given what’s come to light with witness statements, it’s not surprising. And it’s what we had hoped for and expected. We’re pleased to see the justice system working in the manner that it should be.”

A lawsuit is on the way, she added.