The LAPD released body cam footage that showed the moments that led up to 28-year-old Alex Mitchell being punched by an officer while being handcuffed.
The incident happened during a traffic stop on July 28 when officers at the intersection of 113th Street and Graham Avenue said they saw Mitchell’s car double-parked and facing against traffic. Police said they ordered Mitchell to exit the vehicle and claimed he resisted being handcuffed by “refusing to place his hands behind his back and grasping his front waistband/pocket area with his right hand.”
“An officer then struck Mitchell on the right side of his face, enabling the officers to complete the handcuffing,” LAPD said in a statement.
Richard Mendoza with the Police Protective League said the body cam footage shows that officers tried to get Mitchell to comply with their orders several times.
“He right away is uncooperative with officers,” said Mendoza. “2 weeks prior within the same geographical division officers made a traffic stop and they were ambushed.”
Mendoza said that the body cam footage also shows a crowd gathering, putting officers “in a disadvantage.”
According to Mendoza, the officers used the appropriate force to get the situation under control.
“They used a one distraction punch to the face they were able to get him into handcuffs,” said Medoza.
Mitchell’s attorney, Bradly Gage, said that the footage of the punch and the body cam video shows that his client’s civil rights were violated.
“I saw unnecessary escalation right from the beginning,” said Gage. “They immediately go to handcuff him and search him for weapons. This is not how white people are treated by the police and it’s not how black people should be treated by the police.”
Gage believes the offices racially profiled Mitchell by approaching him in the first place.
“I am confident that if Alex was white we wouldn’t be here today,” said Gage.
The LAPD said the two officers in the video have been taken off of street duties while the department investigated the incident.
