Body cam footage shows moment Charlotte, NC, police force fast-food worker to ground before they knee her – as authorities drop charges following outrage over the arrests

• Police bodycam footage of Christina Pierre being arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina has been released 
• The officer who repeatedly punched Pierre during the arrest last month received a 40-hour suspension
• An investigation concluded that the six other officers involved used necessary force 

Newly released police bodycam video revealed the violent encounter between a black woman and North Carolina Police officers at a Charlotte bus stop.

The incident took place around 2pm Monday when a group of officers surrounded Bojangles employee Christina Pierre and a man on a park bench. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials said the altercation began when cops approached Pierre and her colleague, Anthony Nathaniel Lee, as they smoked marijuana at South Tryon Street and Arrowood Road near the Bojangles restaurant where they both worked. 

The encounter took a quick turn after officers approached them and asked if they were smoking marijuana. They then proceeded to grab both of them, and pinned Pierre to the ground during her arrest. 

Pierre was charged with assault on a government official and the man was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, and both of them were charged with resisting officers and marijuana possession. All of the charges were later dropped.   

Newly released police bodycam video revealed the violent encounter between Christina Pierre and six officers from Charlotte, North Carolina arrested 

Earlier bystander video showed a wider angle of the encounter as the group of cops handles Pierre. Bodycam video was released on Tuesday

The officer who repeatedly punched Pierre during the arrest last month received a 40-hour suspension after an internal affairs investigation determined that he used excessive force. 

The investigation then concluded that the six other officers involved in the violent encounter used necessary force on the woman. 

The bodycam video starts off with one cop approaching Pierre and a male sitting on park bench near the highway. 

The officer says: ‘What’s up guys? You guys hanging out?’ 

‘Just got off of work,’ Lee says. 

Pierre then says: ‘What did we do wrong?’ as a another officer approached them from behind. 

‘It smells like you’re smoking weed,’ the first officer says. 

‘It’s the stuff from the store, they sell it in the store. The THCA,’ Lee says. 

The second cop then steps in front of them and says: ‘You smoking weed? You guys smoking weed?’ 

With the joint in her hand, Lee says: ‘We got it from the smoke shops.’ 

That’s when the one cop proceeds to grab the man by his wrist and Pierre steps in and says: ‘Woah, what are you doing?’ 

The first responding cop then snatched the woman by her shirt and pulls her from the bench. 

As she tries to get back to the bench to grab her belongings and check on the man, the cop handling her pulls her by her arm and says: ‘Ma’am you’re under arrest’ as she tries to fight him off. 

The video then cuts to the woman pinned to the ground as multiple cops restrain her. 

With one cop’s right leg on the back of her leg, the others grab her and one says: ‘Put you hands behind you back’ as he repeatedly kicks he with his knee in the back of her leg. 

Pierre was arrested and charged with assault on a government official, resisting officers and marijuana possession. All of her charges, along with Lee’s were dropped 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XfxAw7DJEx4%3Frel%3D0

Pierre was pulled off of the bench after one cop viscously grabbed her coworker by his wrist to arrest him. She was then thrown to the ground where the rest of the violent encounter took place 

That same officer then takes his fists and starts to pummel her in the leg as the other officers continue to restrain her on the grass. 

‘Stop resisting,’ the officer who punches her says as the women cries out. 

The video then cuts to the woman being taken to the police car as she screams: ‘What is going on? What did I do? What did I do?’ 

With a slightly bloodied face, the group of officers then try to seat her in the vehicle, as one comes in from the other side and grabs her arm to get in. 

Pierre hit one cop in the face as they moved to arrest her, while Lee was armed with a 9mm handgun, according to the department. 

CMPD said Pierre began ‘laying on her hands and not allowing officers to arrest her’ – so one cop began striking her thigh and shouted at her repeatedly to ‘stop resisting.’

The officer struck Pierre using a trained technique in an attempt to gain her cooperation, police said – though the incident is under internal investigation. 

Authorities say Pierre was kneed and then punched ten times by the officer to get her to stop resisting arrest.   

‘These are tense situations that have the potential to escalate quickly,’ CMPD said in a statement. 

‘Police use of force is never easy to watch. Officers are trained to strike large muscle groups in order to gain compliance during an arrest.’ 

Photographs show Pierre suffered heavy bruising to the left side of her face during the incident.

Pierre is seen screaming as the group of officers transport her to the vehicle.  In the video Pierre said: ‘What is going on? What did I do? What did I do?’

The officer struck Pierre using a trained technique in an attempt to gain her cooperation, police said – though the incident is under internal investigation

Residents in the area have said the social media video was upsetting to watch.

‘It doesn’t really matter, unless someone takes a gun out and points at you, you shouldn’t be beating on anyone,’ local man Abdul Evans told WSOC-TV. 

‘It took 17 blows to get her to complain. That’s insane to me,’ activist Kass Ottley told the broadcaster. 

‘The use of force does not fit the situation and they are supposed to deescalate the situation,’ she added.

‘Like many other Charlotteans, we were shocked and saddened by the video of an incident between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police and a Bojangles employee,’ the fast food chain said. 

‘While we wait to learn more of the details of what led to the incident, we plan to cooperate fully with any investigation.

‘We can confirm that the individual in the video and her partner had recently clocked out from their shifts at Bojangles and left the property. 

‘They both remain employed by Bojangles at this time.’ 

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