West Palm Beach Police Caught on Video Punching Man With Taser and Kicking Him in the Head

A bystander with a camera phone captured West Palm Beach Police kicking a man in the head and punching him with what appears to be a Taser gun in Clematis, the downtown district of West Palm Beach, in the early-morning hours of Sunday, December 12. The video shows a young...

By Chris Joseph

January 3, 2013

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A bystander with a camera phone captured West Palm Beach Police kicking a man in the head and punching him with what appears to be a Taser gun in Clematis, the downtown district of West Palm Beach, in the early-morning hours of Sunday, December 12.

The video shows a young man being forced to lie on the ground as officers try to arrest him.

At one point, one of the officers shoves away a bystander and then kicks the man being arrested in the head.

Two officers then subdue the man, with one forcibly holding him down and the other repeatedly punching him with what appears to be a Taser gun.

(Video after the jump.)

The incident, which occurred around 3:50 on the morning of December 9, was captured on video by a bystander and sent to New Times on the condition of anonymity.

"West Palm Beach police and sheriff are a gang of thugs," the videographer tells New Times. "I don't want to be on the other side of their yeehaw justice or it might be me getting kicked in the head or beaten with a Taser one day."

According to the videographer, the incident happened so quickly, it was unclear why the man, who remains unidentified, was arrested.

"I saw two young men chasing each other and thought they were goofing off," he tells New Times. "But at the velocity one of them was running, it looked like he was being chased. They were headed towards the hookah club where I knew cops were already posted out front."

As soon as he heard the commotion, the videographer took out his phone and began shooting.

"I cant even tell you if the kid being beaten by the cops was even involved with the fight," he says.

"For all I know, he could have just been a bystander. I'm not sure who the original aggressor was, but I knew something was definitely wrong when I saw the cops start beating someone. I hope videos like this make the West Palm Beach Police question how they act in public."

Several attempts for a comment from the West Palm Beach Police Department regarding the incident have remained unanswered.

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