Responding to a noise complaint, Alabama police entered an apartment filled with college students early Sunday morning and began pulling them out, striking them with batons and shooting them with tasers in a chaotic scene that did nothing to reduce the noise level.
At least two videos are now making the rounds on social media, one recorded from inside the apartment, another from outside.
The video recorded from inside the apartment begins with a cop holding on to a student’s wrist, trying to pull him outside while the students asks him to let go.
At one point, the cop manages to pull him out, only for the student’s friends to pull him back inside.
The cop then steps back inside to attempt to drag him out again as the student orders him to “get out.”
“I am respecting your authority but you are not allowed in my apartment,” the student says.
“You’re not respecting my authority,” the cop responds.
The cop then lunges at him to try to drag him out again but ends up ripping his shirt instead.
“Do you have a warrant?” one student asked.
“I don’t have to have a warrant,” the Tuscaloosa cop responded.
“Yes, you do,” a couple of students chime in.
“You’re under arrest for harassment for grabbing my arm,” the cop tells the student he is trying to arrest, the one whose shirt he just ripped. “Get out now!”
The students deny he grabbed their arm and the cop continues to order him out, telling him he is under arrest until more cops arrive, which is when he barges into the apartment and drags the student out.
Then more cops come barging in and pull another student out. And another.
“Shut your fucking mouth!” one cop yells, knowing nobody will ever enforce a noise complaint against him. “Shut the fuck up.”
“I got this on video,” a female student says.
“I don’t give a shit,” the cop responds.
At least 12 cops ended up on the scene, arresting two men and one woman.
According to AL:
At least a dozen officers quickly responded to the scene. A witness told AL.com the scene was chaotic. “They had a girl and two boys on the ground,” she said. “They were all screaming and everybody was videoing it. “
One of the young men was taken outside the apartment and then hit with a Taser stun gun, and struck repeatedly with an officer’s nightstick. Two young men and a young woman – all three students – were taken into custody.
Tuscaloosa police Chief Steve Anderson told AL.com tonight he received the video this evening. “I have forwarded the video to our Internal Affairs investigators,” Anderson said. “They will begin an investigation tomorrow.”
After the chief spoke with AL.com, the Tuscaloosa Police Department released this statement: “The City of Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa Police Department have been made aware of videos regarding an incident that occurred on November 8, 2015 at 3:19 a.m. that were a result of a loud music call. A full investigation of the circumstances that are depicted in these videos will be conducted and all appropriate measures taken to ensure the integrity of the Tuscaloosa Police Department in serving the citizens of Tuscaloosa.”
We will be updating this story throughout the morning as more information and probably videos surfaces. It’s great that students are learning their rights, especially when it comes to recording, but they could do us all a favor and start turning the phones sideways.
The post Alabama Cops Attack Students With Batons and Tasers Over Noise Complaint appeared first on PINAC.