It seems like police and violence always go hand in hand. Maybe it’s the power they hold that makes them feel it’s okay to target those weaker than them. If you need proof, look no further than a short video recorded in San Diego, California. In the footage, you see a man being tackled by three police officers. Right from the beginning, one of the officers starts hitting the back of the man’s head repeatedly. The second officer helps take him down, pushing him face-first into the ground while the third officer moves in to pin him.
A woman can be heard shouting in the background, clearly shaken by what she’s witnessing. The man, now restrained on the ground, yells that he isn’t resisting. But the second officer acts like he can’t hear him, or doesn’t care, and begins kneeing him in the side of his stomach several times.
Two more officers arrive on bikes and immediately start yelling at bystanders to back off. One woman, horrified by what she sees, tries to step in to help the man. Instead of listening, one of the newly arrived officers shoves her so hard she falls to the ground.
The crowd erupts. People begin shouting in outrage at what they’ve just seen. “Why are you pushing her down for?” the person filming yells out. The video ends with the three officers still pinning the vulnerable San Diego man to the ground.
Eventually, the footage made its way to Reddit, where it gained nearly 6,000 upvotes and over a thousand comments. Many users criticized the police officers’ actions, calling them unnecessarily cruel. One commenter pointed out that the “calf slicer” move used by one officer could seriously damage someone’s legs. Another wrote, “All of their movements look like they are trying to inflict the greatest injury possible.”
Beyond the violent takedown, viewers were equally disturbed by the moment an officer aggressively shoved a woman bystander to the ground. “No comments about the officer who blindside shoved that woman bystander to the ground unprovoked? Straight-up violent,” one user said.
Some users expressed frustration over how routine police violence seems to have become. Some commenters remarked that incidents like this have become so common, it would be more surprising to go an entire month without hearing about one. Another summed up the moment in disbelief: “Knees him. Pepper sprays indiscriminately at the person yelling at him to stop. Goes back to kneeing him.”
