Austin police release bodycam footage after viral video shows trans-woman being taken to the ground
By: -----
Austin, TX - After a video was posted online, which posters claimed was of a transgender woman being taken to the ground by law enforcement, the Austin Police Department (APD) issued a response and posted body camera footage. You can watch the footage here.
APD said on March 2, around 2:30 a.m., APD officers “observed a physical disturbance in a crowd of people. Officers identified an intoxicated individual in a black dress that was attempting to engage in physical confrontations with other pedestrians in the area.”
APD said officers blew their whistles, and the crowd began to disperse. Then, APD said the “subject in the black dress”, which matches the description of the person in the fast-spreading video on social media, moved to the side of a building and started swinging “a closed fist twice at the face of another individual.”
Officers approached the person and attempted to detain that individual, according to APD.
“An officer grabbed the subject’s left arm and attempted to turn the subject around by pulling them back. As the officer pulled the subject’s arm, the subject went to the ground on their knees and then hit their face on the ground. The subject was detained in handcuffs, evaluated by Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) and arrested for Disorderly Conduct – Fighting,” APD said in a news release.