Video depicts as many as 26 officers kicking and punching Tyree Carroll, 22, who was initially stopped for riding his bike the wrong way down his street

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Philadelphia police have opened an internal affairs investigation into the violent arrest of a young black man, one day after video surfaced that appears to depict as many as 26 officers beating the man. Tyree Carroll, 22, was initially stopped, family members say, for riding his bicycle the wrong way on a one-way street.



In the video, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times since it was posted to YouTube on Wednesday, officers can be seen repeatedly punching and kicking Carroll, and beating him with nightsticks. One officer can be heard yelling “tase the motherfucker”; another calls Carroll a “piece of shit” during the altercation.

The young man can be heard calling out for his grandmother repeatedly during the incident. According to his family, Tyree Carroll lives with her on Locust Avenue, the same street where the arrest occurred.

“I looked at it, and when I saw the cops beating him, I shut my mind off,” Nancy Carroll told the Philadelphia Daily News.

The department said it is working to gather facts and identify all officers shown in the five-minute video. Witnesses counted 24 white and two black police officers plus 11 police cars at the scene, according to a description posted with the YouTube clip. So far, no officers associated with the April incident have been reassigned or taken off the street, a police spokesman said.

Lawyer Berto Elmore, who agreed to represent Carroll after a friend sent him the video, said he was frightened and upset by the officers’ conduct.

“Arrest somebody. You don’t have to beat him like that. You don’t have to keep punching and punching and punching,” Elmore told the Associated Press. “I’m at a loss. These guys get handcuffed and still get beat.”

The Philadelphia police department has a long history of racial tension with the city’s black residents, and also owns the unsavory distinction of being the only US police department to ever attempt an aerial bombing assault on its citizens. The 1985 Osage Avenue bombing of the black naturalist group “Move” killed 11 and destroyed 250 homes.

Earlier this year, in response to a spike in officer-involved shootings, the Community Oriented Policing Service of the US Justice Department released a 188-page collaborative reform report on the department and its officers use of deadly force. Among the detailed findings was a conclusion that officers receive insufficient training on de-escalation strategies.

John McNesby, president of Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police, viewed the video of Carroll’s arrest and described it as “good policing”, in an interview with Newsweek.



“Their sole job in that moment was to police narcotics,” he said. “You’re allowed to use force at times.”

The police department said on Thursday that preliminary information about Carroll’s arrest showed he had fought with plainclothes officers who stopped him just before midnight on 3 April for a suspected drug violation.

Police said he had crack cocaine – less than a quarter-ounce – in his possession at the time.

Carroll bit one officer in the thigh, hand and arm and another on the forearm, police said. They were treated at a hospital for bleeding bite wounds and released, police said.

Family spokeswoman Margaret Prescod said that Carroll, who is asthmatic, bit the officers out of panic when he was placed in a chokehold, making it difficult for him to breathe. “He was thinking about Eric Garner,” Prescod said, referring to the New York City man whose death in police custody nearly one year ago led to international protests. “He was terrified he was going to die.”

Police said on Thursday that officers completed use-of-force reports at the time of Carroll’s arrest “indicating the strikes and control holds” they used.

Despite that, Jasmyne Cannick, the Los Angeles political commentator who posted the video, said the department appeared to take no action until the video appeared online.

“It’s videos like this that give all cops a bad rap,” she said.

Cannick said Carroll’s family sent her the video.

After Carroll was subdued and placed in a police vehicle, police said he intentionally banged his head against the protective shield. He was treated at a hospital for unspecified injuries and released into police custody.

A judge last month ordered Carroll to stand trial on charges stemming from the arrest, including drug possession, aggravated assault and resisting arrest. He remains jailed, court records show.

Elmore, the family attorney, said Carroll still is in pain.

“It’s frightening for an African American male because at any time we can be that individual getting beat,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, a lawyer or Barney the bum.”