City management officer suspended for whipping fruit vendor on street

An urban management officer, chengguan, in Taiyuan, North China’s Shanxi Province, was suspended after beating up a middle-aged fruit vendor in the street with a whip-like tool on Tuesday, news site thepaper.cn reported Wednesday.

Video footage circulated online shows an angry urban management officer An Junwen whip the vendor as a colleague tries to intervene. The hawker was illegally occupying the street, a police officer said.

The dealer, who was not injured by the beating, did not fight back but tried to dodge the lashes while being beaten to the ground, the video showed.

Authorities of Wanbailin district have ordered law enforcement bureau to investigate, thepaper.cn reported.

An employee of the district government said information would be released to media right after verifying and investigating the case.

The video sparked a controversy on Sina Weibo, China’s popular social media platform.

“I really want to know if the investigation is into why he beat up the fruit dealer, or why he hit him, or who ordered him to do that?” a user under the name “ruixiaoyang” wrote on a repost.

According to an announcement of law enforcement bureau quoted by thepaper.cn, the bureau immediately called a meeting to discuss the case and decided to suspend An.

The bureau also held a meeting of chengguan officers and asked them to avoid similar cases, said the announcement, noting the district’s discipline inspection commission has been involved in the probe.