For many US citizens, Washington, DC, has become a minefield to navigate with all the causes for arrests and strict regulations in place. One passerby even managed to catch a rather excessive arrest for a man who was merely eating in public, where at least seven police officers joined in, all from different departments, bodyslamming and restraining the lone civilian:
The incident, captured by Instagram user badassxdiamondd, shows a man in Washington, DC, getting slammed to the concrete by several police officers. Notably, this injured the man, and by the time he was cuffed and stood up, you can see blood gushing down from his forehead. Additionally, law enforcement officers from different government agencies, such as ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), DC police, Park Police, DHS (Homeland Security), and HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), have been identified.
“He was just standing there eating crabs, minding his business!” claims the eyewitness
According to additional eyewitness allegations, the man was stopped by the police for eating crabs in public. When asked for an ID, the man allegedly refused to show it, leading to the arrest. Some viewers were also alarmed at the aggressiveness of the other police officers toward the woman who was recording, with one of them even trying to slap away the phone or camera from her hand.
It’s not clear what necessitated the assistance of several officers from other police agencies at the scene or what other infractions the man had prior to his arrest. By the end of the video and the arrest, you can see at least a dozen more police officers and cars on the scene for whatever reason.
People Online Think the Violent Arrest is Excessive
Granted, the incident falls in line with the other recent Washington, DC arrests, but some people online are nonetheless disturbed at how excessive the police response was, especially to a man who was just allegedly eating in public. Thus, fascist sentiments towards police officers have intensified:
“Just f***ed up 7+ pigs for a guy eating. ACAB. F*** nazis,” fumes a Reddit user
“Are people not allowed to eat in public? Like I eat food in public places all the time, and now I am worried this is a dangerous activity. Very confused how food trucks and hot dog vendors exist if eating in public is forbidden. Eating doesnt seem like something you should need to show ID for or risk police brutality,” questions another
“How do these people sleep at night? It’s honestly shocking they can operate after doing that. Not only standing by and watching colleagues smash a dudes head in to concrete but then participate in blocking video.”
So far, it’s not clear which of the several police agencies that arrested the man will get custody, or if the man was slated for deportation, seeing as ICE is also present at the scene. The woman who was recording also claimed that the man who got arrested was “Mexican,” though it appears she also doesn’t know him personally and just happened to pass by.
