Georgia cop fired after tasing unarmed woman in viral TikTok video
A Georgia cop has been fired after he was caught on a viral TikTok video tasing an unarmed black woman on her front porch, officials said Friday.
Michael Oxford, formerly of the Gwinnett County Police Department outside of Atlanta, was first placed on desk duty following the Tuesday incident and was fired Friday after an internal probe, the police department said in a statement.
“The investigation in this case has shown that Officer Oxford violated our policy and did not meet our core values,” the department said.
“We strive to conduct ourselves in a manner that promotes mutual respect within the community and our peers.”
The incident unfolded Tuesday evening when Oxford responded to a home in Loganville after receiving a report for a damaged car. The complainant told cops a group of people threw a bottle at her car, which left behind an unknown liquid on the vehicle, AJC reported.
The incident was captured on the homeowner’s surveillance system and after police reviewed the video, they recognized Aytra Thomas, who was on a porch across the street.
When Oxford approached Thomas to speak with her, a group of women, including Thomas’s daughter Kyndesia Smith, 22, began shouting at him, the outlet said, citing an internal police report.
Oxford said the shouting made it “difficult to speak with Aytra and further conduct my investigation” and told Smith she needed to pipe down or move away if she didn’t want to be thrown in jail on obstruction charges, the police report states, according to AJC.
In a video of the incident, which has racked up millions of views on TikTok, Smith can be heard saying “I’m not going nowhere” and “You’re on my property. We did not call you.”
When Oxford tried to place Smith under arrest, she stood behind her mother, leading the former cop to start grabbing her, the video shows.
When Smith refused Oxford’s orders to “get on the ground,” he tased her, sending her falling into bushes beneath the porch, video shows.
Smith, who police say kicked Oxford when she was eventually placed under arrest, was charged with felony obstruction and simple battery against a police officer and was released Wednesday after posting a bond.
Oxford has worked with the department since February 2019 and had no disciplinary history, according to records.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/08/21/georgia-cop-fired-after-tasing-woman-in-viral-tiktok-video/
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