Inkster police are facing an investigation into their handling of a Jan. 28 traffic stop that hospitalized 57-year-old Floyd Dent of Detroit. Dent was eventually charged with resisting and assaulting police and possession of cocaine, which Dent claim.
Floyd Dent
A disturbing video shows several white police officers in the United States beating viciously an unarmed African-American man during his arrest.
The 57-year-old black man was attacked in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, Michigan in January.
The video released on Wednesday showed police officers pulled over Floyd Dent. When he opened the door, the cops dragged him out of the car and one of them placed him in a chokehold.
The officer began to punch Dent in the head 16 times and another officer came and used a stun gun on him three times in the stomach and in the leg.
According to police, the black man who has no criminal record disregarded stop signs and refused to pull over.
The 57-year-old auto worker is accused of carrying crack cocaine in his car, but he was tested for drugs and came up clean.
Dent spent three days in a hospital with broken ribs, blood on his brain and ther severe injuries.
Speaking at a press conference, the motorist said one of the officers was "nearly choking me to death."
"I wasn't resisting arrest," he said. "When someone is beating your face, you're going to protect yourself."
"I'm just getting emotional because of where I'm at now," Dent said. "The other day was the first day I looked at the video... I just can't believe it."
“I’m lucky to be living. I think they were trying to kill me, especially when they had choked me,” Dent said later. “I mean, I was on my last breath. I kept telling the officer, ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’”
The incident sparked protests and Rev. Charles Williams II outside a Detroit-area police department threatened to shut down the city until white officers are fired.
"We will shut Inkster down until we get justice," Williams said, adding that the video "made me sick."
Meanwhile, dozens of protesters gathered outside a Michigan police headquarters Wednesday following the release of the video.
Dent is due in court April 1 on a charge of possession of cocaine after charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer were dropped.
Michigan State Police are conducting an independent investigation, said Inkster Police Chief Vicky Yost.
"This is a high priority for us," Yost said on Wednesday, adding that "appropriate action" would be taken if the cocaine possession charge has been manufactured.
Gregory Rohl, the victim’s attorney, announced that police targeted his client because he is black.
Police brutality in the United States is rampant following several other cases of officers attacking black people.
The chocking death of Eric Garner in July 2014 was recorded on videos that have been widely seen and have contributed to the public outrage.
In the video, Garner repeatedly told police officers "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"
Many protests were held across the country after a grand jury refused to indict a white police officer in the choking death of Garner.
The incident came after another grand jury refused to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson in August 2014.
The US has been confronted with a series of images of police brutality, where unarmed black men have died after encounters with police.
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