Use of force in arrest is focus of inquiry

Video shows deputies grabbing the arms of Jayvonte George, 19, a student who is Black.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has opened a “use of force” investigation in light of a viral video of an arrest of a young Black man who said he was racially profiled by deputies.

In the video, which garnered 1.7 million views on TikTok as of Friday, two deputies can be seen arresting a man who has his hands raised.

“Am I getting arrested?” the man says. “What am I being detained for? Walking?”

“We were just walking to the store,” the person recording yells at the deputies as he warns his friends to not resist. “We’re just walking.”

According to Fox 11, which first reported on the arrest, three college students were headed to a store in South Los Angeles late Monday afternoon after taking classes at Los Angeles Trade Technical College when deputies got out of their car and grabbed 19year-old Jayvonte George by his arms.

George told the outlet he did not know why he was being arrested and was trying to show deputies he was not a threat to them.

“I’ve seen a lot of things about police brutality, so I was trying to put my hands up for my safety and their safety,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that the man they arrested matched the description of suspects from two different incidents — a hit-and-run and a car theft — that had taken place earlier that morning.

“While attempting to detain the individual and resolve the detaining deputies’ reasonable suspicions he was one of the outstanding suspects involved in at least two separate crimes, the individual did not cooperate with deputies,” the sheriff ’s office said in a statement. “The incident escalated resulting in a use of force.”

George was arrested for resisting an officer, according to the statement.

The department has opened an investigation into the use of force.