x

Society

3 Arkansas Officers Suspended after Video Captures Beating

August 22, 2022

MULBERRY, Ark. — Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been suspended and a state police investigation launched after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a suspect while a third officer held him on the ground.

The officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma, authorities said.

The video shows one officer punching the suspect with a clenched fist, while another can be seen hitting the man with his knee. The third officer holds him against the pavement.

Two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and one Mulberry police officer were suspended Sunday, city and county authorities said.

Arkansas State Police said the agency would investigate the use of force. State police identified the suspect as Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment Sunday then released and booked into the Van Buren County jail on multiple charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats, state police said.

Worcester is white, according to jail booking information, and the three officers involved also appear to be white.

Authorities have not released the names of the three officers.

“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the community and the department take the matter “very seriously.”

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Twitter that the incident “will be investigated pursuant to the video evidence and the request of the prosecuting attorney.”

Cellphone video of often-violent police interactions has put a spotlight on officer conduct in recent years, particularly since the 2020 killing of George Floyd while he was being arrested by police in Minneapolis.

The resulting nationwide protests called attention to officer brutality that often targets Black Americans.

Mulberry is a small town of 1,600 people in western Arkansas right off Interstate 40, a major corridor that runs from California to North Carolina.

 

RELATED

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday will survey the devastation inflicted on Florida's Gulf Coast by Hurricane Milton as he urges Congress to approve additional emergency disaster funding.

herald

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

1 Person Dies and 12 are Rescued after Elevator Malfunctions at Colorado Gold Mine Tourist Site

DENVER (AP) — One person was killed and 12 people were rescued after being trapped for about six hours at the bottom of a former Colorado gold mine when an elevator malfunctioned at the tourist site, authorities said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday will survey the devastation inflicted on Florida's Gulf Coast by Hurricane Milton as he urges Congress to approve additional emergency disaster funding.

NEW YORK (AP) — “Big Spender” is the theme music for baseball’s final four.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanians voted Sunday in the first round of parliamentary elections that could lead to the center-right governing coalition being replaced by the opposition Social Democrats and smaller center-left parties.

Tourists to Greece often don’t drive, but if you’re thinking of it, there are rules you should know about moving around in a vehicle and parking, which you won’t find from the Tourism Ministry as its target is the super-rich who have drivers.

espa

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.