On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the police civilian oversight panel in Providence, Rhode Island, released footage of an officer dragging a Black man out of a car before kneeling on his neck during an April incident that has resulted in the officer facing an assault charge.
Providence Sgt. Joseph Hanley can be seen dragging 28-year-old Rishod Gore out of a vehicle, before punching and kicking him while he was in handcuffs, and kneeling on his head during an arrest on April 19 in the Federal Hill neighborhood.
Footage of the incident was captured by one officer’s body camera, and by a bystander.
The state attorney general’s office noted that Hanley kicked Gore in the ribs, punched him while kneeling on his head, and bounced up and down on his head while pinning his knee against the side of Gore’s face and neck.
Hanley also walked on Gore’s legs, and kicked him in the head.
He has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault, which he was charged with in May. Criminal proceedings are ongoing. Hanley remains suspended without pay.
The incident began when officers responded to a domestic dispute near where Gore was.
As police were putting the man involved in the dispute in a police cruiser, police found Gore sitting in a vehicle, removed him from the car, and placed him under arrest.
Police didn’t say why Gore was arrested, but he was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
In the video, officers approach a vehicle, where Gore is sitting in the passenger seat. The officers then struggle to pull Gore from the car.
“Why are you pulling me like that?” Gore asked at one point.
“Get out of the f-cking car!” one officer yelled. A woman in the vehicle can be heard screaming as officers dragged Gore out of the car, before pinning him to the ground, and putting him in handcuffs behind his back.
Hanley struck Gore multiple times while he was pinned to the ground.
“What did I do?” Gore asked repeatedly.
“You act like an a–hole from a block away and then all of a sudden you don’t want to act like an a–hole,” an officer said.
The charges against Gore were dropped in August. To settle potential legal claims against the city, Gore received $50,000.
Jose Batista, executive director of the Providence External Review Authority, said he decided to contradict the authority’s vote against releasing the footage, even though it may cost him his job.
“I want to be equal partners with them in the investigation,” Batista told the Providence Journal. This is the first case the authority has investigated.
The city and state also opposed the release of the video.
