Newly released video from a Los Angeles police officer’s body camera shows two officers grappling with and arresting a Black man outside his Hollywood home as they responded to reports of a domestic violence incident in which the suspect was the white boyfriend of a neighbor.
A federal magistrate ordered the public disclosure of the video Friday as part of a lawsuit alleging racial profiling and civil rights violations brought by music producer Antone Austin, known as Tone Stackz, who was arrested in May 2019 despite not being the suspect in a domestic violence call. Austin and his girlfriend Michelle Michlewicz were taken into custody for resisting arrest.
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office had said in a court filing that it did not want the Los Angeles Police Department video released publicly because it would “be contrary to LAPD policy and may have a chilling effect on future LAPD investigations.” However, U.S. Magistrate Jacqueline Chooljian agreed with an attorney for the producer and his girlfriend that the 11-minute video should be released.
The video footage shows the two being physically detained by officers as they proclaim Austin’s innocence. But it begins with an unusual admission that the officers weren’t sure Austin was the man cited in the domestic violence call.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.