Less than 24 hours after a Minneapolis police officer pinned down George Floyd by placing his knee over his neck, choking him to death, a new video has surfaced of police officers in Texas arresting an unarmed 21-year-old African-American by pointing guns at him and assaulting the man's grandmother when she tried to de-escalate the situation.
The video, which was captured on May 16 in Midland, Texas has just gone viral amid nationwide outrage over Floyd's death and has further fueled anger on social media. The video shows a handful of officers pointing their guns at Tye Anders as he lies face down in a yard outside his home without resisting arrest.
At one point in the video, captured by a bystander, Anders begs the officers to put down their weapons before repeatedly saying, "I'm scared." Towards the end of the clip, an elderly woman can be seen walking towards Anders attempting to de-escalate the situation. The woman was later identified as Anders' 90-year-old grandmother, who falls to the ground as officers approach to handcuff Anders as the woman behind the camera yells, "You pushed her!"
Arrested for Ignoring Stop Sign
After initially refusing, the Midland Police Department eventually released dash cam and body cam footage of the arrest to the general public. The department released a statement saying Anders was being pursued by officers for failing to adhere to a stop sign.
Authorities said they tried to conduct a traffic stop but the "vehicle began increasing its speed in an attempt to elude." He allegedly did not stop until he arrived at the residence in the video. He was later charged with evading arrest, a felony.
According to Anders' attorney his client had multiple run-ins with the Midland Police Department and had previously filed a harassment complaint against its officers. He also claims Anders was assaulted several times in the back of a patrol vehicle following the May 16 arrest.
Outrage on Social Media
The video has grabbed the attention of several users on social media who are up in arms over the racial prejudice and abuse of power demonstrated by the Midland police officers in the video. Award-winning filmmaker Ava Duvernay also tweeted about the incident on Twitter.
Some commented saying that the cops were just looking for an excuse to pull the trigger. "This dragged on for way too long for an unarmed man who was already on the floor," wrote one user. "Felt like he was being baited to give a reason to shoot him."
While others accused the police of racial discrimination, suggesting that the situation would have been different had the suspect been a white.
"He was down. Scared out of his mind with multiple guns pointed at him," commented another user. "Then. They grabbed the grandmother? Is this America now? That you are guilty because you're black. He went through a stop sign and got THIS, but white men can storm the state capital guns BLAZIN' no arrest!"
