Chicago police officer placed on desk duty after viral video appears to show him grabbing, physically restraining woman on North Avenue Beach
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Monday was investigating a viral video that appears to show a uniformed Chicago police officer grabbing and physically restraining a woman he apparently ordered to leave North Avenue Beach over the weekend.
A lawyer for the woman called the situation “an obvious case of racial profiling” and Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she was “quite disturbed” by the video, which appears to show “the woman was following the direction of the officer and leaving the beach.”
The lawyer, Keenan Saulter, identified the woman as Nikkita Brown and said she was leaving the beach as ordered when she asked the unmasked officer who was confronting her to stay 6 feet away from her because of her concerns about COVID-19.
Saulter said the officer “ignored this request and mocked it.”
On Monday, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown placed the officer on paid desk duty for at least 30 days while COPA continues its investigation, a police spokesman said. COPA had initially recommended either that course of action, or that Superintendent Brown relieve the officer of his powers — a move that would have not only put him on paid desk duty, but it would have prohibited him from carrying a badge and a gun for work purposes.
“We are committed to a fair, timely and objective investigation to determine if the actions of the involved officer are in accordance with (Police) Department Policy and Training,” COPA’s interim chief administrator, Andrea Kersten, said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to investigate allegations of police misconduct and determine if they are well founded based on the facts and evidence of each case. If violations did occur, COPA will hold the officer accountable.”
In one of three videos obtained by Saulter’s law firm, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times online, Nikkita Brown is seen holding a dog’s leash a few feet away from a police officer who has not been publicly identified. He begins walking toward her and she begins walking backward, away from him. The verbal exchange isn’t caught on the cellphone video but Brown can be heard screaming repeatedly, in apparent distress.
It appears the officer is indicating the beach is closed and he keeps walking at her for about 20 seconds, while she and the dog continue to retreat from him. He starts moving his arms in a shooing motion as they walk, until she eventually stops, cellphone in hand.
A few seconds later, he appears to try to grab the phone from her. When she pulls it away, he begins trying to physically restrain her by grabbing her arms; both spin in circles until he has her arms held behind her back and holds her there for about a minute. She is eventually let free and both of them walk away in opposite directions.
According to Saulter, Nikkita Brown had been trying to use her phone to take a video of the officer, who “then violently attacks her — for absolutely no reason.”
“He attempts to tackle her, all while groping her body as she screams for help. This unprovoked attack lasts for approximately two minutes, during this time Ms. Brown’s phone is knocked from her hands and she is knocked out of her shoes,” Saulter said in the statement released to the media.
Saulter said his client was traumatized by the encounter. Late Monday, Saulter — who also represents social worker Anjanette Young, a victim of a high-profile wrongful search warrant raid at her Near West Side home in 2019 — told the Tribune in a text message that he didn’t have any updates on Nikkita Brown’s case.
Reached by the Tribune, a woman who identified herself as Nikkita Brown’s mother agreed her daughter was having difficulty with what happened and that they were trying to process it.
Chicago police responded to the video, which had been circulating widely on social media, in its own post on Twitter Sunday. It said the department was aware of the video “regarding an incident involving a Chicago police officer and a woman walking her dog at North Avenue Beach.”
It says the department “promptly referred” it to COPA.
Lightfoot also used social media to condemn the interaction, saying: “I am deeply concerned by what is depicted on the lakefront beach in that video.” the mayor wrote..
Lightfoot said the woman involved was interviewed over the weekend and all video has been pulled. She said she hopes COPA moves it to the top of its priority list to get the investigation done, as it’s a “straightforward matter.”
“I am hoping that COPA will use all deliberate speed to get to a resolution so that we know exactly what happened with this woman who seemingly was innocently walking her dog and leaving the park,” Lightfoot said.
During a separate news conference Monday morning, Superintendent Brown said he did not have too many details about the incident because the investigation by COPA is still in its early stages. But he said the apparent closure of the beach for the evening “precipitated the interaction” between the cop and the woman.
“We don’t yet know what was done or said. All we know is that this person was not arrested,” the superintendent said.
He said the officer in the video has been identified internally.
“Apparently this is something that is viral on video. I would just ask the public to allow COPA to do its job and get to the bottom of what happened,” Brown said.
“I know it’s frustrating for the public to wait once you see a viral video,” he added.
Twitter @312BreakingNews
