Sheriff: Deputy on video punching Black man fired

A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been fired after being captured on video repeatedly punching a Black man during a traffic stop, authorities said Sunday.

The deputy was being let go for “excessive use of force,” the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. It did not identify the deputy but said a criminal investigation has been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.

Roderick Walker, 26, was arrested and beaten after Clayton County sheriff’s deputies pulled over the vehicle he was riding in Friday with his girlfriend, their 5-month-old child and his stepson for an alleged broken taillight, his attorney, Shean Williams of The Cochran Firm in Atlanta said Sunday.

The subsequent arrest, captured on video by a bystander and shared widely, shows two deputies on top of Walker, one of whom repeatedly punches him.