Baltimore police suspend officer seen on video pummeling a man who was not fighting back

“Officers have a responsibility and duty to control their emotions in the most stressful of situations.” — Interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle

On the same day that the Baltimore Police Department graduated the city’s future men and women in blue, the agency suspended an officer who was captured on video pummeling a man on the street.

In the now-viral footage, the officer and the man, identified by his lawyer as DeShawn McGrier, can be seen talking to each other. “Don’t touch me,” McGrier told the officer, who then repeatedly punched the man. The two ended up on nearby stair steps, where the officer continued beating McGrier. McGrier fell to the ground, and the officer stayed on top of him, appearing to restrain him.

Interim Baltimore Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle immediately suspended the officer and ordered an investigation after the agency received videos of the confrontation.

“While I have an expectation that officers are out of their cars, on foot, and engaging with citizens, I expect that it will be done professionally and constitutionally. I have zero tolerance for behavior like I witnessed on the video today. Officers have a responsibility and duty to control their emotions in the most stressful of situations,” Tuggle said in a statement Saturday, just hours after he honored the city’s police academy graduates.

The officer’s suspension places fresh scrutiny on a department that is supposed to be reforming its police practices and is already facing a tumultuous year — one that has been marred by the forced departures of two former commissioners and concerns that the agency’s recruits have been receiving badges and guns without an understanding of lawful police work.

The agency has been going through an overhaul after the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama found that its officers engaged in widespread discrimination and unconstitutional policing policies that disproportionately affected African Americans. The city has agreed to a federal consent decree, which imposes rules on policing and requires monitoring of the agency’s activities.

The incident happened about 11:45 a.m. Saturday, when two officers encountered McGrier in east Baltimore. The Police Department said that one of the officers is familiar with McGrier and that “the situation escalated” after McGrier refused to give officers his ID. In the video, a second officer can be seen standing near McGrier while he was being punched. At one point, that officer, who has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is ongoing, appeared to be trying to stop his colleague.

Baltimore police said the officer who struck McGrier has been with the department for just over a year. The agency has not released his name.

But Baltimore defense lawyer Warren Brown, McGrier’s attorney, identified him as Arthur Williams and said the same officer arrested McGrier in June, when his client was charged with assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A video of the June 26 encounter showed McGrier being held on the ground by the same officer, Brown said.

Brown said that Saturday’s encounter was a “follow up” to the June incident and that the officer cornered McGrier and placed his hands on him “for no justifiable reason.”

“What went on out there yesterday was not professional; it’s personal,” Brown said Sunday. “This is not police work. This is one guy beating up another guy.”

McGrier, who was not charged over the Saturday incident, remains in the hospital. Brown said McGrier’s jaw, ribs and nose were fractured and doctors had concerns about his ability to breathe.

Brown said he is confident that the officer will be charged. The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident and has not commented.