Watch: Brutal Arrest of Unarmed Black Man by Chicago Officer Launches Internal Investigation

Chicago police have launched an internal investigation after an officer was caught on video Sunday punching a man claiming to be the victim of a robbery in the city’s Chatham neighborhood.

According to Chicago’s WGN News, the man in the video is 22-year-old Robert Foreman. He was released from custody Monday after being charged with resisting arrest and public drinking.

In the video posted by Facebook user Maurice Fulson, Foreman is on the ground screaming for help as an arresting officer tells him to cooperate. Foreman pleads with the officer to let him go because he claims to be a victim of a robbery that happened earlier.

“I’m not fighting,” Foreman tells the officer. “I’m not fighting … I was just getting robbed.”

Then the officer punches and elbows the man in the face several times before asking for backup.

Since its posting, the video has garnered a response from the Chicago Police Department. The CPD released this statement Monday:

“Based on this video, CPD has opened an internal affairs investigation into this incident and will be forwarding the video and all relevant reports to the Independent Review Board for investigation. We are committed to the highest levels of integrity and professional standards and look forward to IPRA’s review of this incident.”

This latest investigation comes a week after a white officer was caught on tape stomping on the head of a Black man during an arrest in North Lawndale.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top