A young woman in Phoenix has come forward with footage of a brutal assault by a police officer, one week after police of the same area got caught on camera surrounding a parked car and killing a man inside.
Mariah Valenzuela, 23, was pulled over on January 17, for a traffic violation. The recently released body camera footage of the Phoenix Ploce Department shows that the officer involved in the incident named, Michael McGillis, initially did not tell the woman why he stopped her and when Mariah stated that she did not have any ID on her, the officer tackled and slammed her on the ground, which injured her head, face, legs and hands.
The woman can be seen in the clip continuously asking the police officer to inform her about the offense she committed. But the officer stated that he asked her for the idea to which she replied she does not have. As Mariah started claiming the ID is in her car the officer did not let her go, and while handcuffing her said that her offense was that she was in the wrong lane. Mariah was then arrested.
Woman Accuses Police Officer of Manhandling
The woman and her attorney Brian Foster NW plan to sue the city of Phoenix for the action of the officer Michael McGillis. "He went 0 to 60 in literally 20 seconds. She was calm, she was cooperative, she didn't do or say anything that justified him going absolutely nuts," Foster said as quoted by the Fox10Phoenix.
However, the Phoenix Police Department claimed that the officer had no previous case to his name and that the incident was reviewed by the professional standards of the bureau and they found no violations.
The incident that took place near 7th Avenue and Indian School Road when McGillis "observed a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road, in an opposing traffic lane," the department claimed. The police further gave an explanation about the incident saying, "Due to Valenzuela failing to provide her identification as she was legally required to do, despite the three opportunities Officer McGillis provided her, the decision was made to place her under arrest for the misdemeanor violation."
Phoenix Police Department Did Not Find Any Violations
"Officer McGillis asked Valenzuela to put her hands behind her back. Up to this point, even though she refused to provide her identification, Officer McGillis and Valenzuela had a cordial exchange, and he did not believe she would suddenly become uncooperative. Officer McGillis then attempted to place her in handcuffs."
Mariah is currently facing chargers but her Valenzuela is still facing charges. She's also facing a felony for resisting the arrest charges. "I'm hoping that the city of Phoenix and situations like this don't occur. I'm looking for a letter of apology, and I'm looking for all charges to be dismissed immediately and I stress immediately with prejudice," Foster mentioned.
Police brutality has been a major issue in the United States for many years. In recent times the issue came into the opening due to the murder of black American George Floyd who was killed by a police officer named Derek Chauvin who knelt on his neck for around eight minutes which resulted in Floyd's death.
Following the death of the 46-year-old many protests around the country started and even people came out on the streets in other countries protesting against police brutality and also racism.
