The police officer and the man involved in a physical confrontation captured on a video widely shared on social media this weekend have been identified, according to a spokeswoman for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which has launched an investigation.
Officials also were able to identify when and where the altercation happened: Sunday in Lawndale, said Jennifer Rottner, director of public affairs for COPA.
“We have identified both the involved CPD member, as well as the individual seen in the video,” Rottner said. “COPA investigators have begun the process of reaching out to the involved parties and canvassing for additional witnesses.”
In the video, a group of about five or six men is seen standing on the sidewalk facing several police officers in the 1400 block of South Trumbull Avenue.
Words are exchanged between the group and police officers. At one point, a man in a white shirt shoves a man in a blue shirt. The two appear to briefly argue and squabble while moving away from officers.
Then their attention turns to the officers in front of them. The man in the white shirt appears to yell at one of the police officers, who approaches. Not all their words are clear, but as one officer and the man in the white shirt begin focusing on one another, the man in the white shirt appears to challenge the cop, suggesting the officer won’t do anything.
It sounds as if the police officer replies, “Oh, really?”
He charges toward the man in white. But the man in the blue shirt holds back the man in the white shirt and stands between him and the police officer. It looks as if he’s trying to stem the conflict.
Instead, as the officer pushes toward the man in white, he and the man in blue collide, appearing to push each other. Then the police officer began throwing punches, hitting the man in blue — who had tried to intervene — multiple times in the face, according to the video.
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Rottner said COPA opened an investigation into the video after they received it Sunday night. As of Tuesday, Rottner said they are still working to identify the source of the video.