In today’s episode of Democracy Now, Air Force veteran Chris LeDay speaks about his harrowing arrest after uploading the video capturing Alton Sterling’s arrest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 5.
Last week, LeDay got hold of the video showing officers attempting to arrest and then killing Sterling from an associate. He shared that video with his collective 20,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which subsequently went viral.
Atlanta Black Star reported Monday that the 34-year-old walked into work Wednesday evening at Georgia’s Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Then LeDay was arrested by an estimated 10 assault rifle-bearing military police officers.
He says that he was carried off to a back room, handcuffed and leg-shackled. According to his testimony, the veteran was held in police custody for 26 hours.
In the 16-minute interview, the 34-year-old says that the officers did not tell him why he was being detained.
“They tell me that I have an open warrant for assault and battery in Dunwoody, Georgia as they are putting the cuffs on and somebody was reading my rights,” LeDay recounts. “Instead of me over-reacting, I stayed calm because I’m 6’3 270 pounds. I did not want to give them a reason to slam me or put their hands on me other than putting the cuffs on me … [After being detained] Officers said that ‘I fit the description’ but they never told the description for what … I was never been arrested for in my life.”
