Police released bodycam footage that captured the moments before a white cop began to tackle a black woman who was walking her dog in a nearby park – allegedly unprovoked.
COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability) released the bodycam footage last Thursday as they were investigating the incident.
Keenan Saulter, the black woman’s attorney, said, “Ultimately. we want him fired, given this incident and his horrible disciplinary record,”
COPA further stated to ABC News that once the investigation ends, they will send suggestions to David Brown, Chicago Police Superintendent, for review.
On Aug 28, a black woman named Nikkita Brown gave a statement that a white police officer followed her while she was walking with her dog in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and asked her to leave the place immediately. The incident occurred while she was heading out on the officer’s command.
The video revealed, the white officer took out his badge at the woman’s request. The video also showed that the black woman kept pleading with the officer to stay 6 feet away to prevent the potential risk of contracting Covid.
Brown said, “Please don’t. Please respect my space. It’s COVID. Six feet,” to which the officer replied, “Respect your space? I’m about to put handcuffs on you,”
Even though the woman kept telling the officer that “I’m leaving” “I’m walking away,” he didn’t stop and got out of his car to follow her by walk.
Brown, who recorded few pieces of the incident, showed the video in which the officer shouting at her, saying “You can go to jail,”
Later, Brown’s attorney unveiled the officer’s id and identified him as Bruce Dyker.
This month, a spokesperson from the Illinois police dept stated to ABC News, “The officer in question has been placed on desk duty as the COPA investigates the video.”
The tensions between the two continued for at least a minute or more before the white officer left without making any arrest.
As per Brown’s statement, she was attacked because she’s Black and added, “I walked past four kids that were behind me … white males. As soon as I saw the car pull up, I looked behind me to see if he said anything to the kids. He didn’t,”
The white officer named, Dyker has already been charged 24 times for misconduct – three of them were resolved.