Euclid Police Officer Seen on Video Beating Man in Street After Traffic Stop

Precisely as the world turned its eyes to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend, a Northeast Ohio woman posted video of a Euclid police officer beating a black man’s head against the street. Dash cam footage of the incident was released soon after.

Cleveland resident Richard Hubbard III, 25, was pulled over Saturday morning for driving with a suspended license. Hubbard got out of his vehicle to be arrested after a brief conversation about his license and his failure to stop. According to the police department’s press release, Hubbard did not face away from the officer when asked (in order to be handcuffed) and a physical struggle began.

Dash cam video, seen here, shows that the sequence of events was extremely fast.

The as-yet-unidentified officer almost immediately pushes Hubbard against his vehicle, then spins him around and pushes him into the street.

Early portions of the incident take place off-screen, though at one point an officer and Hubbard are seen falling onto the asphalt. The struggle becomes fairly chaotic, as a woman gets out of Hubbard’s car and begins screaming at him and the two white officers. She tells Hubbard to “Listen!” One officer squats on Hubbard’s stomach and continues to punch him repeatedly; the woman insists multiple times that he is unarmed.

At one point, the main officer tells Hubbard to roll over onto his stomach. (He is still pressing the full weight of his body onto Hubbard.) With what appears to be no provocation, the officer begins punching Hubbard’s head again. Hubbard shields his head with his arms.

Later, the woman from Hubbard’s car is brought to the ground and arrested. “Why am I under arrest?” she screams.

Across the street, a nearby woman captured the beating on video, which has since been viewed more than 4 million times. A young boy is heard in the video, asking what the police are doing. (Warning: The video, of course, depicts violence.)

The officer who did the punching has been placed on administrative leave. “It is the mission of the Euclid Police Department to provide professional and transparent service to the residents, business owners, and visitors to the City of Euclid,” according to the department’s statement. “This entire incident will be reviewed, in detail, so that the public can have a full and open understanding of the series of events that eventually led to this violent encounter.”

The Euclid Police Department is the same agency that has remained silent on the shooting death of Luke Stewart earlier this year. A police officer entered Stewart’s car during a “suspicious vehicle” report and killed him.

This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2017.