Georgia Police Sued Over Violent, Wrongful Arrest of Black Man Caught on Bodycam Video

Georgia Police Sued Over Violent, Wrongful Arrest of Black Man Caught on Bodycam Video


By Associated Press
July 1, 2020 11:53 AM EDT

(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Body camera video shows Antonio Arnelo Smith handing his driver’s license to a Black police officer and answering questions cooperatively before a white officer walks up behind him, wraps him in a bear hug and slams him face-first to the ground.

“Oh my God, you broke my wrist!” the 46-year-old Black man screams as two more white police officers arrive, holding him down and handcuffing him following the takedown. One eventually tells Smith he’s being arrested on an outstanding warrant, and is immediately corrected by the first officer: They’ve got the wrong man.

Clutching his wrist and whimpering, Smith was.......

Continue reading here: Valdosta, Ga. Police Sued Over Violent Arrest of Black Man | Time

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Didn't see this story posted, thought it might be worth discussing.

Seems as though everything was running smoothly until.......

Here is a short youtube.



Can't say I blame the man for walking away while clutching in pain.

With friends like those.

This is the very reason so many are wanting change.

No matter the reason for the encounter, no matter if accurately identified or not, no matter what the pending charge is, no matter how compliant or not one is, the simple fact of the matter is any encounter with the police means you are entirely unsafe, you are a target for abuse and violence by officers looking to hurt someone, in their eyes you have no rights, and they know as law enforcement today there are little bounds to what they can do.

Everyone is a suspect, everyone is a target.

Panhandling suspect, no resistance, they got the wrong guy.... broken wrist.

Without a video nothing would have happened, there would be no suit.

OrphanSlug said:

This is the very reason so many are wanting change.

No matter the reason for the encounter, no matter if accurately identified or not, no matter what the pending charge is, no matter how compliant or not one is, the simple fact of the matter is any encounter with the police means you are entirely unsafe, you are a target for abuse and violence by officers looking to hurt someone, in their eyes you have no rights, and they know as law enforcement today there are little bounds to what they can do.

Everyone is a suspect, everyone is a target.

Panhandling suspect, no resistance, they got the wrong guy.... broken wrist.

Without a video nothing would have happened, there would be no suit.

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That's not accurate. The police were the ones that provided the video after the lawsuit was filed. Kudos to the department for providing every officer at that scene with a bodycam and preserving the footage.


I have no explanation for what that officer did. It was stupid, unnecessary, and I'm sure violated a lot of policies. This is the type of behavior and poor judgement that we need to weed out of police departments. He only compounded it by not stepping out of the situation and turning the scene over to someone else when he realized his 'mistake'.

The other officers seemed to be very professional. Probably the worst thing they did was to not separate the man from the one officer, and encourage him to wait for the ambulance.

I'm really glad that they released the footage to the public as well - it's a good example of bad judgement. This will be great footage for training of police officers - - how not to approach a situation. It's also a good example of the need for policies where a supervising officer makes the 'mistake' and control of the scene should really pass to another officer.

OrphanSlug said:

This is the very reason so many are wanting change.

No matter the reason for the encounter, no matter if accurately identified or not, no matter what the pending charge is, no matter how compliant or not one is, the simple fact of the matter is any encounter with the police means you are entirely unsafe, you are a target for abuse and violence by officers looking to hurt someone, in their eyes you have no rights, and they know as law enforcement today there are little bounds to what they can do.

Everyone is a suspect, everyone is a target.

Panhandling suspect, no resistance, they got the wrong guy.... broken wrist.

Without a video nothing would have happened, there would be no suit.

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Yep. Hell ive seen higher ups try to scare the **** out of officers which probably explained why the cop at mcdonalds broke down into tears.

Dirty Harry is not a cop anyone should aspire to be.

Think about how much this happened before bodycams and smartphones.

Think about how much of it still happens when nobody's around with a smartphone and an officer "forgets" to turn on a bodycam.

Think about what happens while knowing the bodycam is on (Floyd).

Yeah us bleeding heart liberals want human rights to be respected because the cop fiction you see in movies and television dont portray anything close to reality. Even if they did, human rights would still be important.

Another youtube, body cam from the (sergeant?) aggressors pov.



Near the end it is quite refreshing to see a honest cop throw one of his own under the bus there.

Think we need more like him, not afraid to speak his mind and telling it like it is.

dcsports said:

That's not accurate. The police were the ones that provided the video after the lawsuit was filed. Kudos to the department for providing every officer at that scene with a bodycam and preserving the footage.


I have no explanation for what that officer did. It was stupid, unnecessary, and I'm sure violated a lot of policies. This is the type of behavior and poor judgement that we need to weed out of police departments. He only compounded it by not stepping out of the situation and turning the scene over to someone else when he realized his 'mistake'.

The other officers seemed to be very professional. Probably the worst thing they did was to not separate the man from the one officer, and encourage him to wait for the ambulance.

I'm really glad that they released the footage to the public as well - it's a good example of bad judgement. This will be great footage for training of police officers - - how not to approach a situation. It's also a good example of the need for policies where a supervising officer makes the 'mistake' and control of the scene should really pass to another officer.

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One of the things that really stood out to me in that video (and reminiscent of my experience with police in my old neighborhood in NYC) was how much of your treatment at the hands of police is less based on policy and much more on the officer whom you encounter. When I was younger, my former neighborhood was plagued with drug gangs, and since it was a mostly Latino neighborhood, the police attitude toward the community was one of treating many as if they were all criminals. This was made worse by the expanding Stop & Frisk policy which after it reached the precinct in my old neighborhood, caused a rise in people being stopped.

I was stopped numerous times on my walk home, which was often late at night because I worked the late shift while putting myself through school. Stops were sometimes uneventful with just questions about what I was doing and where I was going, to others where I'd be thrown up against a wall and searched despite having been cooperative. Some officers had power trips, and no matter how nice you were, you were going to be treated poorly no matter what. It's a shame body cams and cell phone footage wasn't a thing back then, because it would have likely put the brakes on Stop & Frisk much sooner. I wish those who blindly support the police would understand what it's like to have floodlights placed on you followed by an interrogation when you're just trying to get home. I think there's a big disconnect between people who can relate to these experiences, and those whom do not have this experience with police.

In this context, I agree with OrphanSlug's point about not feeling safe in the hands of police, because the color of your skin can play an important factor in how you're perceived and treated. Despite my experiences I am not an anti-police advocate, but a segment of our population shouldn't be treated poorly by police and there should be recourse for them when they're mistreated. In this case, I'm glad the police department was transparent and the injured citizen can sue for his ill treatment.

Utility Man said:

Another youtube, body cam from the (sergeant?) aggressors pov.



Near the end it is quite refreshing to see a honest cop throw one of his own under the bus there.

Think we need more like him, not afraid to speak his mind and telling it like it is.

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What did you hear that makes you think a cop threw him under the bus? I didn't hear anything like that? I did hear the aggressor trying to make excuses though.....

Mr Person said:

Think about how much this happened before bodycams and smartphones.

Think about how much of it still happens when nobody's around with a smartphone and an officer "forgets" to turn on a bodycam.

Think about what happens while knowing the bodycam is on (Floyd).

Click to expand...

Yeah, I think that's the horrifying realization that a lot of people are having over the last decade or so. The uncomfortable thought that for literally centuries we've only been made aware of the tiniest, tiniest fraction of what goes on just because we didn't get to see it. All we got was some text in a newspaper the next day... which was usually the police's side of the story.

I think people are slowly waking up to the fact that this isn't "a few bad apples."

Deuce said:

Yeah, I think that's the horrifying realization that a lot of people are having over the last decade or so. The uncomfortable thought that for literally centuries we've only been made aware of the tiniest, tiniest fraction of what goes on just because we didn't get to see it. All we got was some text in a newspaper the next day... which was usually the police's side of the story.

I think people are slowly waking up to the fact that this isn't "a few bad apples."

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And so many think "well, this is America and we've got aconstitution! We've got freedoms! We've got due process! So it'll all be taken care of...."

Nah. Someone's rights getting honored is the rare exception, not the rule. From beginning to end, the "justice" system is stacked against defendants, especially the poor ones.

Almost all judges will believe any story no matter how absurd, even if it's piddling like a case where someone is busted for 0.25g cocaine, and the cop says that the defendant saw him approaching and threw a baggie at his feet, which ended up containing cocaine. Or that the bag was sticking out of his pocket.

Bull. Absolute, 100%, utter bull. But it was cocaine. Why would a judge call the cop a liar, especially when the defendant doesn't testify at the suppression hearing?

Why doesn't the testify at a suppression hearing? Because then the prosecutor gets to cross-examine him on every single potential fact related to the future trial. And then the prosecutor gets to pick and choose, coach, his witnesses for trial to meet that testimony. Too big of a risk.

So you get some cops lying out of every hole, a defendant who doesn't testify, and a judge who doesn't want to end up in the papers for disbelieving the cops (aka, calling them liars implicitly).




Sickest joke on Earth, calling it a "criminal justice" system.....