The woman who captured a viral video of a man being brutally beaten by a trio of cops outside an Arkansas convenience store insists the suspect didn’t strike officers first—contradicting the police’s version of events, the witness’ sister said.
Instead, the witness has told FBI investigators that “at no point” did she see 27-year-old Randal Worcester attack officers, her sister Naomi Johnson told the Daily Mail.
The witness said she watched cops and Worcester talk “calmly” as he sat on the curb—unaware of what was about to happen, Johnson explained. She said the officers then erupted, pinning Worcester to the ground and wailing on his head and face. Johnson said that’s when her sister began recording.
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“At no point did she see him attack an officer,” Johnson said. “My sister has said that in her witness statement to the FBI, which she gave on Monday.”
Cops, meanwhile, allege that the beating was preceded by Worcester pushing a deputy to the ground and punching his head. An attorney for the cops, Russell Wood, has echoed the same story, saying Worcester “viciously attacked” officers.
The viral incident took place Sunday morning outside a convenience store in Mulberry, Arkansas, near the Oklahoma border. Wood says they were trying to arrest Worcester after he “threatened to cut a woman’s face off.”
Tens of millions have since viewed the disturbing video on social media—even with messages posted at the video’s start warning of its graphic nature.
The video, which begins with Worcester already pinned, shows a pair of sheriff’s deputies and a Mulberry police officer attacking the 27-year-old, striking his head repeatedly while he’s unable to defend himself.
“Shit, dude,” a bystander is heard saying. “This is bad.”
A second officer is then seen striking Worcester repeatedly with his knee. Seconds later, an officer lifts Worcester’s head off the ground by his hair and slams it into the concrete.
Bystanders can be heard screaming at the cops to stop, at which point they shout: “Back the fuck up!”
The three cops involved are Zack King and Levi Garrett White of the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, and Thell Riddle of the Mulberry Police Department.
“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Sheriff Jimmy Damante said in a Facebook post.
All three officers have been suspended with pay as Arkansas State Police leads an investigation into the incident.
Wood, who is representing White and King, claims that he’s seen an unreleased dashcam video from one of the officer’s patrol cars. That video, he said in a statement on Monday, shows Worcester pick up White by his legs and “body slam” him to the ground—concussing him—after the deputy asked Worcester to identify himself.
The officers’ violent response was a “necessity” given Worcester’s alleged resistance to arrest and assault, Wood said, which included him biting and spitting on officers during the struggle.
“The amount of force authorized under the law is always relative to the offense the suspect commits,” Wood said. “In this case, this violent suspect showed his willingness to commit serious violence and then he continued to resist arrest.”
Wood says the “compliance strikes”—or punches—by officers were effective and necessary. The attorney said he’s asking officials to release the video to the public but hadn’t received a response as of Monday. Wood could not be reached by The Daily Beast on Thursday.
“I understand that edited, video snippets are the new rage for social media and the news channels, but these deputies deserve the full truth to come out,” Wood said Monday.
Johnson explained that they come from a family of law enforcement and her sister, who requested anonymity because she lives in the small town of 1,500, didn’t share the video as part of a vendetta against police.
“I was the first person my sister talked to after witnessing the attack. She was shocked and horrified,” Johnson said. “She said to me, ‘I’ve always been nice to police officers. They’re in our family.’”
Johnson said her sister watched the incident unfold as she put air in her tires. Once things got violent, Johnson said her sister approached the cops while recording, but eventually fled herself out of fear she may be attacked next.
“Her girlfriend told her to get in the car and they needed to go,” Johnson said. “Because they were afraid, my sister said she was afraid the officers were going to come after her, like the way they did Randal.”
Johnson said her sister was ordered by the FBI to avoid interviews with the media because it would nullify her statement to the feds in court.
“My sister does not want her name revealed. She’s told me, ‘don't give it out because I live here.’ She’s still feeling scared,” the sibling added.
Worcester was briefly hospitalized before he was taken to the county jail. He posted a bail of $15,000 and was released after being hit with a slew of charges, including battery, assault, resisting arrest, criminal trespassing and more.
The 27-year-old’s family shared their outrage over the incident exclusively to The Daily Beast on Monday, with his step-father Eric Wedding saying he hopes the cops involved “burn.”
