A Georgia police officer is on desk duty after a video of him tasing and arresting a Black woman went viral.
A video of the incident showed a Gwinnett County Police officer arguing with 22-year-old Kyndesia Smith on the porch of a home in Loganville, Georgia. The altercation occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 18, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The officer, identified as M. Oxford, told Smith she needed to leave the property or she would be arrested for hindering his investigation as he tried to speak to another woman sitting on the porch.
“We can talk if we want to,” Smith said. “I’m not going nowhere.”
Oxford tried to interject, but Smith was undeterred.
“It doesn’t matter,” she continued. “You’re on our property. We did not call you.”
Oxford told Smith she was under arrest and attempted to grab her arm but she snatched it away. Every time he tried to approach Smith, she moved away. At one point, Smith stepped behind a chair another woman was sitting in so Oxford grabbed her arm and tugged as Smith held onto the other woman.
Eventually, he gave up and deployed his taser, which hit Smith in her leg and caused her to fall into nearby bushes. While Smith was down, Oxford demanded she turn around but she told him she was unable to move because of the taser hit.
The video was originally posted on TikTok, where it was viewed 3 million times.
On Thursday, Aug. 20, Gwinnett County Police addressed the incident in a statement. GPD said Oxford was there to respond to a complaint from another resident who claimed two people threw a bottle at her car and threatened to assault her and her child.
“The incident of the bottle being thrown was captured on surveillance video,” the statement said. “That video shows a woman come and retrieve the bottle from the yard before police arrived. The complainant directed the officer to the house where she believed the suspects were staying.”
When Oxford arrived to talk to the woman who allegedly threw the bottle, he was confronted by Smith, according to GPD.
“When the officer went to the house, he immediately recognized one of the women on the front porch from the video surveillance,” the release said. “He attempted to speak with her about the incident but was unable to do so because the defendant in this case, Kyndesia Smith, began yelling at him.”
Gwinnett Police claimed after Smith was cuffed, she “she kicked the officer and continued to be uncooperative.”
Smith was charged with simple battery against a police officer and felony obstruction. She was released from jail on Wednesday after posting a $5,900 bond. Oxford is on desk duty while GPD investigates the incident.
