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Milwaukee police officers hitting handcuffed man carrying gun, MPD reviewing incident
The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating if the officers in a viral video acted appropriately. The video shows officers repeatedly hitting a man who was carrying a gun.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police are investigating if the officers in a viral video striking a man acted appropriately. The young man featured in the video is now facing his own charge of carrying a concealed weapon.
The cell phone footage shows MPD officers hitting a handcuffed Nicholas Beamon, who the police union says was carrying a gun in his hooded sweatshirt. Now, prosecutors have charged Beamon with carrying a concealed weapon.
The incident was last week, October 8, after a traffic stop for a missing front license plate. MPD says the 24-year-old man resisted officers.
"Officers attempted to engage in dialogue with that subject to advise him that he was being detained for the safety of the officers on scene. Instead of following those commands, the subject became combative and began pulling away from officers, while still armed with the firearm," MPD said. "While in handcuffs, the subject continued to resist officers, disregard their commands, and was attempting to reach for the front of his sweatshirt, where the firearm was observed. Officers directed the subject to the ground, but the subject was still attempting to reach for the front of his sweatshirt."
Video shows Milwaukee police officers punching handcuffed man
It's just 35 seconds long, but a lot goes down quickly. A video making its rounds on social media shows Milwaukee police officers forcefully grab a man who's already in handcuffs. They then push him to the ground and repeatedly punch him.
Beamon appears at news conference
What To Know:
On Oct. 14, the 24-year-old, his family and his attorney, B’Ivory LaMarr, spoke to the media outside the MPD District 5 police station.
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"As a mother, I stand here before you guys. I want answers, accountability, and justice for my son. There was no reason for excessive force. After this incident, my son has been experiencing knee pain, back pain, neck pain, ringing in the ear. I want those officers fired," Sirseal Wright, Beamon's mother, said.
LaMarr represents the man and called for the immediate release of the body camera footage.
"If for all the naysayers out there on the internet saying, ‘Oh, what happened five minutes before?’ You would be, your mind would be blown to understand what led up to this situation. So, that's why we want every single body camera released. Because when you see the gun that was pointed in his face for riding in the back seat of a vehicle, doing nothing wrong at all, this should shock the conscience," LaMarr said.
Police union defends officers
The other side:
The police union defends the officers.
"The subject in question, he is handcuffed, but he also has a firearm in the front pocket of the hoodie. The officers know that and if you watch the video, the suspect is reaching around on his back to his front. The officer was worried that he was able to reach the firearm that was in his front pocket of the hoodie or the gun could fall off. So, the officer yelled out for help that the subject had a gun and that’s when you see the third officer kind of come in the picture and give some focused strikes. The officer told him to stop because they got him under control. And the officer stopped," Alexander Ayala of the Milwaukee Police Association said.
MPA President Alex Ayala
The attorney said Beamon is a legal gun owner. However, prosecutors charged Beamon on Oct. 13 with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon.
MPD reviewing if officers acted appropriately
Dig deeper:
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said the department is doing a multi-level review, including internal affairs. He said it will wrap as soon as possible, at which point he will make any decisions, he said.
"Let's be clear about what the video is: a snippet, not the entirety of it. And so one of the things that I really have a concern with is in regards to those who make decisions. And time and time again, especially with the media, we're falling on unfortunate false narratives based on snippets of things. We do have multiple different sources of video. It will be reviewed and it is part of that thorough review," Norman said.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman
MPD Chief Norman hasn't seen the video
What they're saying:
The chief himself said he has not seen the video. FOX6 News asked the chief why he had not watched it. He said he was waiting for the completed investigation to come before him.
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"For myself to make sure that once that becomes before me, if there is anything to be handed out or have to be decided, that I'm doing it objectively. I'm doing it with all of the information and not making any knee-jerk reactions in regards to, again, snippets of what's being shown, commentary that's being out there. We all are deserving, especially whether you talk about the criminal justice system or our own internal system, due process. To ensure that you're making decisions with the right mindset, with the eyesight of being objective. And, so it is important for me to keep to that integrity," Norman said.
"I am not against the police, I embrace them. They play a very important function in a city that is ridden by crime," responded LaMarr. "But when you have a chief, please take time out of your schedule to take 30 seconds to look at this video."
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Sirseal Wright, B'Ivory Lamarr, the Milwaukee Police Association and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.