A police officer in Georgia has been fired after a video showed him hitting a Black man numerous times during an arrest. The incident happened on Friday (September 11), after the officer pulled over a rideshare vehicle for having a broken taillight.
The officer asked Roderick Walker, 26, who was a passenger in the vehicle along with his girlfriend, Janita Davis, and their 5-year-old son, for identification, but he refused and was pulled out of the car. Cellphone videos recorded by bystanders and posted on social media showed the officers striking Walker multiple times while he was pinned to the ground.
Walker's attorney, Shean Williams, said his client lost consciousness at least two times during the ordeal. Officers eventually handcuffed him and put him in the back of a squad car.
"He informed them that he did not have any ID and that he didn't need any since he was not driving a vehicle," Williams said. "When they didn't like his question, they then demanded that he get out of a vehicle that he wasn't driving. It escalates to him being beaten on the ground, being tased, and almost dying. And they take him to jail."
Walker remains in jail on an outstanding felony probation warrant for cruelty to children and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as well as another warrant for failure to appear. Williams demanded that officials release Walker.
"Roderick Walker is in jail solely because he was illegally arrested after being assaulted by Clayton County Sheriff deputies, not because of anything he did during that incident or in the past," Williams said. "Mr. Walker would not be in jail if it were not for this unlawful arrest that violated his legal and constitutional rights."
After reviewing the video footage of the arrest, officials decided to terminate the officer involved and have launched a criminal investigation into the matter.
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