Viral Video Shows Group Of LAPD Cops Aiming Guns At Kneeling Black Man
A video taken by a woman in Los Angeles is going viral after it shows at least four police officers pointing their guns at a Black man kneeling on the sidewalk and facing away from the cops with his hands in the air.
Filmed on Friday (June 7), the video was shot in the city of Hawthorne, California and progresses to show more officers arrive as the woman filming, Sky Holsey, begs the officers to put their guns away. The man they’re pointing their weapons at can be heard yelling he is unarmed.
“Is all that really necessary,” Holsey says to the officers in the video. “Is all the guns drawn on him necessary?”
After more than two minutes through the video, police apprehended the man. One officer approached Holsey, telling her they were responding to a robbery and that the man “loosely matches the description” of the suspect.
“We’re not saying he’s a suspect, but we’ve got to figure out what’s going on,” the officer told her in the video. “It says a weapon was involved. That’s the only reason he gets held at gunpoint.”
According to Holsey, the incident occurred at a busy intersection in Hawthorne. The man kneeling, later identified as 24-year-old William Ewell, ended up being arrested, police records show. According to a news release, the arrest was in connection with an alleged argument Ewell had with a gas station employee over a prior purchase.
After the video went viral, many were outraged how the incident played out. Some are also praising Holsey for her video, which they believe could’ve saved Ewell’s life.
