The police were reportedly called after Anthony Wall, 22, got into a verbal dispute with several Waffle House workers. (Facebook video screenshot/Anthony Wall)
A North Carolina man choked and body slammed by police outside a Waffle House in Warsaw earlier this month says his life has completely changed since the incident.
Anthony Wall, 22, had just finished escorting his 16-year-old sister to prom and stopped into the popular restaurant to grab a bite to eat. It was not long before a verbal dispute ensued between Wall and a couple of Waffle House employees who called the cops. Wall soon found himself in the chokehold of a police officer outside the eatery.
Several bystanders captured the incident on video as they watched in horror.
“I’m worked up over it,” Wall told theGrio of the incident. “…I have been threatened and people are telling me what they want to do to me. I am worried about my sister and my mother, who has to travel on backroads to get from work to home.”
Wall said the drama unfolded after he, his sister and her friends left the prom and went to Waffle House for a meal. He said the table they sat at was a little dirty, but they ignored it because they all wanted to sit together. Moments later, a server arrived to take their order but grew agitated when the group complained about the filthy table.
Wall said that’s when an argument ensued, during which the server allegedly used a racial slur against the group.
“I was pretty upset, but then [another employee] called me a f**got and all kind of other names,” according to Wall. [The worker] was taking off his shirt to fight me but one of the other workers did hold him back. There was no manager on duty, it was just him watching the store. The girl called 911 and before I could get out the door, the officer grabbed me.”
Footage of the incident shows a Warsaw officer identified as Frank Moss press the young man against the restaurant’s front window before spinning him around to place his hand around Wall’s neck. Wall’s hands are clearly in the air by this time. Moments later, Moss forces Wall to the ground and attempts to place him in handcuffs.
“I was terrified and thinking if he’s doing this to me without handcuffs, what is he going to do to me once he gets the cuffs on,” he added.
The madness didn’t end there, however. The young man claimed he was then thrown into the front seat of a police car that also had a barking, growling police dog in the back. He noted there four other cruisers on the scene, yet Moss chose to put him in the one with the dog.
“I had to sit there while [Moss] went back to the Waffle House to talk to the employees about their statements,” Wall explained. “He got back, started driving and that’s when the dog got out and tried to snap at my left arm while I was still handcuffed with my hands behind my back.”
Police ultimately charged Wall with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for the argument that took place inside the restaurant. The young man acknowledged that the situation with the Waffle House workers could have been handled better but said he felt the officer’s actions were totally unjustified.
Wall is now being represented by attorneys Ben Crump and Allen Rogers. It’s unclear whether a lawsuit has been filed against the restaurant.
“We are investigating the Waffle House corporation to see if there is a pattern and practice amongst their corporate employees of discrimination based on race and sexual orientation against members of the LGBTQ community,” Crump said.
Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer has reportedly apologized to Wall for the incident.
