NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The City of Northampton will pay more than $50,000 to a man who was seen on cell phone video being pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground by police. On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union announced the $52,500 settlement between the City and their client, Jonas Correia.

Correia was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest on the night of March 31, 2013. The ACLU says Correia had been using his cell phone to record police officers’ interactions with one of his friends outside the now-closed Tully O’Reilly’s Pub on Pleasant Street. An employee of the bar told Correia to back away, and a video recorded by another bystander shows a police officer then pepper spraying him, with another bringing him to the ground.

That bystander’s video was uploaded on YouTube and titled “Northampton Massachusetts Police Brutality.” It has been viewed nearly 87,000 times.

The charges against Correia were reduced to a civil infraction, and then later dropped altogether.

In a statement sent to 22News, Correia says that he is thankful for his attorneys and for members of the community who backed him following the incident. He says that without the exposure the video received, he likely wouldn’t have been able to make his case.

“Without that cell phone recording, I would have been just another black man going to court, where it would have been my word against the police story. 9 out of 10 times, the police story would have been believed, I would have ended up convicted, and innocence would not have mattered,” Correia said.Click Here to read a statement from Mayor David Narkewicz, and to read the Settlement Agreement.The video of the incident is below- note that some of the language and content may be offensive to some viewers. If you cannot see the video, click here.