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On Sunday, August 21, 2022, educator and activist Amanda LaMielle shared a concerning video involving unidentified officers from the Flint Police Department on Facebook. The video, which is from July 29, showed a handcuffed woman being tased by the two officers outside a bar.
The month-old video immediately went viral on the internet, with outrage pouring in from various corners of the country. As police brutality cases are presently on the rise, LaMielle was just at the right place at the right time to capture the horrifying situation.
In the video, police officers can be seen handcuffing a woman in a crowded part of Flint. With her arms handcuffed behind her back, the woman, who was sitting on the road, was tased by the officers at close range.
LaMielle claims that the woman, whose identity is being withheld by the Flint Police Department, was tased twice. However, this part remains unclear in the video.
LaMielle described the scene to The Daily Beast as:
"When you see her feet go up… her body is just a noodle, and so her feet fall back down. She falls down to the ground. They just move in closely and start tasing her, hoping that nobody’s going to notice. But obviously, I did."
The two policemen refused to identify themselves. However, they said that the woman was facing charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, as well as those of disorderly conduct. Police claimed that she had apparently been restrained by bouncers at a local nightclub.
LaMielle, whose activism has taken her to other Michigan cities, said the incident in Flint reminded her of the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids. She told the Daily Beast:
"Activists spent three and a half years begging and pleading with the commissioners to do something about these rogue police [in Grand Rapids]. We were laughed at. We were arrested, brutalized. They never did anything. And then Patrick was killed. And that’s just, that’s the direction I see this going."
Flint Police Department defends the actions of its police officers after a viral video invited flak
When two Flint police officers, who are black, came under fire for aggressive treatment, a police spokesperson refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing. The spokesperson, Det. Sgt. Tyrone Booth told The Daily Beast:
"The officers’ actions are not being investigated. We are aware of the video—our agency have reviewed the video and there are no department violations."
Police officers are required to publicly identify themselves in such cases. However, the spokesperson said that the department was willing to overlook their failure to identify themselves because they were "involved in quite a difficult situation."
Booth further said:
"After being told you’re placed under arrest, it’s not a suggestion, or an invitation to cooperate. An obligation at that point is to submit to that arrest and doing that by turning around and placing your hands behind your back and accepting the fact that handcuffs will be put on you."
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Department also declined to comment on the video of the tasing.
