There was an exhibit at The Whitney years ago that featured an installation about Rodney King’s beating in 1992. You walked inside a black box that sat in the middle of the room, with just enough space for one person. Inside was a video of the incident and photographs of King’s face, beaten and bloodied.
I left the installation hysterical and the closest security guard, a Black man, calmed me down, knowing exactly what I had seen. Now, I feel like I’m reliving that moment.
Brandon Calloway, 25, was brutally arrested in his home for an alleged traffic violation, according to NBC News. Reports say police chased him into the house, shocked him with a Taser and beat him with batons until he was nearly unconscious. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said they were looking into the incident.
More on the incident from The New York Times:
According to the affidavit, about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Mr. Calloway “failed to stop at the stop sign, and did not stop until he was in the turn” for another street. He then “sped away,” documents say, reaching 32 miles per hour in a 20 m.p.h. Zone.
An Oakland police officer, referred to in court documents only as D. Jackson, “attempted to initiate a traffic stop,” but was unsuccessful. He continued following Mr. Calloway, who, the affidavit says, was “refusing to stop.” Eventually, documents say, Mr. Calloway stopped in a driveway, where he “jumped out of the driver seat and started running to the house while reaching into his pockets.”
Just before 8 p.m., a second officer, referred to only as Richardson, arrived at the house, where the two ultimately “made entry by kicking in the front door,” said the affidavit, adding that Mr. Calloway “ran up the stairs and locked himself in his room.”
In video footage shared by Mr. Calloway’s legal team that they said was taken by his girlfriend, Tamia Caldwell, two police officers can be seen running up a staircase — one holding a baton, the other a Taser.
In the video footage, Calloway’s girlfriend is heard asking the officers why they’re hitting him and confirming that Calloway was not armed. Later, Calloway is shown bloodied on the ground and with an officer’s boot on his neck.
Attorney Andre Wharton described the officer’s actions as vicious.
“We don’t treat animals like that; but we certainly don’t treat human beings like that. To add insult to injury, you have an officer, just two years out of the George Floyd incident, who is putting his foot on the neck of a clearly disabled suspect at that time,” he said, via the Times.
Wharton also claimed Calloway didn’t know police were trying to pull him over. Reports say Calloway was charged with evading arrest, resisting, disorderly conduct, failing to stop at a stop sign and speeding. The TBI is launching an investigation into the incident by request of 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson.