A White Chicago police officer has been placed on administrative leave after three videos of him attacking a Black woman went viral—opening an investigation.
All three of the videos were shared in a single post on the Instagram page of Keenan Saulter, the attorney representing the young woman in question, Nikkita Brown.
Brown was walking her dog in Chicago's Lincoln Park when the incident took place.
In footage from Brown's phone, the officer threatened Brown by telling her she would go to jail. He said he would make this an "official incident" after he turned his car camera on.
When the unnamed officer continued to approach Brown, he ignored her request to keep a distance of at least six feet.
Brown pointed out the officer wasn't wearing a mask. He responded, "I don't need a mask, I'm outside."
In footage shot by bystanders, Brown was seen complying with the officers request to leave the park, as the officer followed close behind her.
But when Brown briefly stopped, reportedly taking out her phone to record the incident, the officer attacked her, which resulted in screams from Brown.
The officer eventually restrained Brown, and was seen telling her something before he eventually let her go.
Brown's mother, Patricia Roberts, took to Twitter, horrified at what her daughter went through.
She revealed some of the footage was recorded by Chicago city workers who followed Brown home after witnessing the incident.
Twitter and Instagram reacted in horror to the officer's unprovoked assault.
Several people demanded the officer be fired, particularly as Brown could be seen complying with him in the released footage.
@kjesq2/Instagram
@kjesq2/Instagram
Saulter's law firm released a statement which declared Brown was "brutally attacked" in an "obvious case of racial profiling."
"He never had a reason to approach her. He never had a reason to attack her, and never had a reason to arrest her."
"And the best evidence of that is that after he attacked her, he allowed her to walk away."
The statement also pointed out Brown was not alone in the park when the incident occurred, as there were also White pedestrians in the officer's immediate vicinity who were never approached.
The incident resulted in an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, who published a statement on their Twitter page.
"We are committed to a fair, timely and objective investigation to determine if the actions of the involved officer are in accordance with Department Policy and Training."
"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 a press conference this past Monday, Chicago's Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, openly expressed horror at the footage.
She urged COPA to make this investigation a priority.
"I was quite disturbed by what I saw. It looked like the woman was following the direction of the officer and leaving the beach."
"But I want to make sure that COPA moves this to the top of the priority list and gets this done. I think this woman deserves to have answers as to what happened, as do members of the public."
The offending officer was placed on desk duty during the investigation.
But Police Chief Superintendent David Brown asked the public to be "patient" in regards to the officer's future with the Chicago police.
"I just want to ask the public to allow COPA to complete this investigation and allow for this process of finding out what happened, getting to the bottom of it, to play out before we then are able to make any kind of next steps from my perspective, from a COPA perspective."
As far as Saulter and Nikkita Brown are concerned, the officer—whose name still hasn't been released—should have no possible future with the Chicago police after everything she went through.
"What she wants and is entitled to is accountability by the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department to ensure the situation is properly investigated and this officer is disciplined."
"This officer should be fired."
