Grand Rapids police release bodycam in response to viral video of an arrest

Finding videos takes time and effort, keep me motivated by donating to https://paypal.me/thisisbutter
-----
Grand Rapids, MI - A video circulating on social media of a Grand Rapids police officer appearing to punch a man was lawful use of force, according to the police chief.

The video seems to show GRPD officers using physical force against and then arresting a man during the arrest of another person. At a news conference Monday afternoon, Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom said the clip that went viral doesn’t show the whole situation.

Winstrom said officers were on Kalamazoo Avenue near Boston Street in Grand Rapids around 9:15 a.m. Friday after someone flagged them down saying they saw an armed man go into the Walgreens. Officers began investigating.

“A very scary situation where an individual seen going in verified, he comes out, he has an AR-15 around his neck, he has a 9 mm handgun on his hip. From an outsider’s point of view, you could look at it as a potential active-shooter situation, mass casualty incident, we recognize that we have to do the full investigation,” Winstrom explained.

He said the armed man was accompanied by two other people, who all complied with police orders.

Video shared by Winstrom shows compiled clips from body cameras worn by GRPD officers, who repeatedly ordered bystanders to clear the area.

“Get back over this way. Everyone! Please! Let’s go!” another officer says to some people standing behind the drugstore. “We need to get you back, just because you’re in the background of what could be a bad situation.”

Winstrom said the orders to move were for the safety of the bystanders and officers.

“This is your last chance, you’re going to jail, back up now,” a different officer says.

When bystanders didn’t move away and instead interacted with police, one man was arrested. As he was being put in cuffs, a fight broke out between another man and an officer, who eventually used a Taser on him, the video shows.

“People need to recognize that officers have the lawful right to put their hands on you,” Winstrom said. “When that officer put just his fingertips on that person, let him know, ‘This is a very serious situation, this is not a request, you will back up’ — for the ninth time — and he hit that officer, now he became an active aggressor. … That’s why it escalated to a point where eventually that individual was Tasered.”

That man was also taken into custody. Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack identified him as the president of the Boston Square Neighborhood Association.