A Wisconsin police department has launched an internal investigation after a video was shared on social media appearing to show an officer repeatedly punching a man that officers incorrectly suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run. The man, who is Black, was holding a baby as he dined at an Applebee’s in Kenosha on July 20 when officers took the baby off him and threw him to the ground during the arrest. Kenosha police said officers had been told two Black males and a Black female—who was also said to be carrying a baby—had fled the hit-and-run on foot toward the Applebee’s, and an employee there told cops “suspicious people” were at the restaurant. The car crash suspects were later found hiding in the Applebee’s bathroom. Although the man in the video was determined not to be involved in the hit-and-run, police said he was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting, and obstructing an officer, while the female with him was also charged for the same offenses as well as cannabis possession.
