LA MESA, Calif. (AP) - A widely-seen video of a white police officer pushing a black man was taken after the officer stopped him for smoking on a trolley platform, authorities said Wednesday, providing additional details on what led to widespread damage during a protest days later.
Neighboring Chase and Union banks and a sleek office building burned to the ground during Saturday night’s unrest in La Mesa, a suburb east of San Diego. Many storefront windows were smashed in a quaint downtown. Mayor Mark Arapostathis said City Hall caught fire but the blaze was extinguished.
City officials released police body camera footage Wednesday in their first extensive comments on the May 27 confrontation with Amaurie Johnson, 23, who was charged with a misdemeanor of resisting arrest and released. He was not cited for smoking.
The officer, who has been on the force for three years, has been placed on administrative leave. City officials have yet to reach conclusions about what happened and plan to issue a timetable to complete its investigation by Friday.
A witness’ video shows the officer push Johnson onto a bench. The man is argumentative and at one point tells the officer to “shut the (expletive) up.” At one point, the man says he is being arrested because he’s black. “That’s what the issue is,” he said.
Body camera footage shows the back-and-forth continued on the drive to the police station.
The officer says, “Did I feel threatened when you put your hands on me? No, because I’m not scared of you but I’m not going to let you put your hands on me.” Johnson denied the allegation and says he was trying to get the officer’s hands off him.
The incident coincided with nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, catching officials in the suburb of 60,000 people off-guard. The mayor said the city asked the California National Guard for support Saturday night but the troops were busy in Los Angeles.
“We were totally overwhelmed by the situation,” Arapostathis said.
Another police officer shot a protester between the eyes with a bean bag round Saturday. Police Chief Walt Vasquez said officers are trained to aim for the torso but the shot misfired. That incident is also being investigated internally.
La Mesa has imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. until Monday morning.
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