Philly Cops Allegedly Tased This Black Man for This?!

A video of a heated interaction between a Philadelphia cop and a Black man is going viral on social media. The public is shocked at how a Black man standing on the street garnered such a violent response from the police. Now, local officials are leaning in to take action. 

The video, posted this weekend by a woman named Charlie, shows two officers walking swiftly up to the man, identified as Daron. Daron was seen standing in the crosswalk of the street, not appearing to bother anyone or any drivers. However, the two officers immediately met him with smoke. 

“Get on the sidewalk. I don’t care where you stand, get out of my street. You’re standing in the middle of the street,” said one cop in the video. 

Before Daron could even respond, the second officer immediately began pushing Daron toward the sidewalk. 

“You don’t have the right to put your hands on him bro!” shouted one bystander off camera. 

Daron and the officer were seen face to face in a shouting match as Daron demanded the officer not touch him. The officer ordered Daron to turn around as Daron continued repeating himself, the video shows. The officer then reached for Daron again and told him he had the right to remain silent, initiating an arrest. However, Daron snatched his arm away, nudging the officer off and continued demanding the cop to stop touching him. 

“If you touch him one more time, you’re going to jail,” said the first officer toward Daron in the clip.

“I didn’t touch him!” Daron responded as the second officer pushed him again. 

The cop kept pushing Daron onto the sidewalk, revving up his Taser and pointing it at Daron's chest, per the video. After the officer shot the Taser, Daron winced in pain and walked away from the officers who both followed him across the street struggling to get a grip on him. Daron put his hands up as he was pinned to the side of a car as bystanders shouted that Daron didn’t do anything. 

“He just tased him for nothing,” said the man behind the camera as an officer approached him as well to keep him from coming any closer. 

Charlie, Daron’s girlfriend, identified the officer as Christopher O’Donnell in the caption of the video and accused the police department of hiring suburban cops and “dropping them into communities they don’t understand.” The department hasn’t responded yet to the incident but local officials dropped comments under the video vowing to take action.

“Yeah this ain’t cool! I’m on it!” wrote Philadelphia Council President Kenyatta Johnson. 

“Thanks for sharing. I’m the Chair of the PHL Commission on Human Relations and I’ve tagged several Members of City Council. I will also ask the Commission to look into this and connect with the community,” wrote PHL Commission Chair Kareem Thomas. 

Meanwhile, Daron’s community and all the outraged social media spectators are calling for the officers in question to be terminated. It’s unclear the exact aftermath of the incident or if Daron was charged with any offenses but Charlie clarified that he is currently not behind bars.

“Daron was released the following morning. He has retained legal counsel and we are taking all the appropriate steps to ensure this situation is addressed properly,” she wrote in a separate post.