VIRAL VIDEO PROMPTS INVESTIGATION— Federal authorities say they have started a civil rights investigation after a video posted on social media showed two Arkansas police officers beating a man while a third officer held him on the ground. A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said Monday that the federal investigation would be separate from the Arkansas State Police investigation of the arrest.
Authorities said the officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma. During a press conference yesterday Governor Asa Hutchinson made these comments concerning the incident.
“This is not what our law enforcement community represents, it’s not the proper response,” Hutchinson said.
![Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson shared his concerns over the beating incident during a routine press conference on Monday.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/761a3f7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/756x593+0+0/resize/880x690!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4e%2Fee%2F9880d5294668ab42a826b28649e4%2F1-hutchinson-082322-police-beating.jpg)
The video that went viral on social media Sunday shows three law enforcement officers repeatedly punching and kneeing a man, as well as slamming his head to the pavement. The man was later identified as 27 year old Randall Worcester of Goose Creek, South Carolina.
The video also shows police telling a bystander responding to the incident to get away from the scene. An attorney for the two deputies says Worcester attacked one of the deputies, giving him a concussion. The three officers have been suspended with pay.