A viral video showing a Black man with his hands in the air before a Michigan sheriff’s deputy knocks him to the ground is generating outrage online.
But the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage saying deputies used force after Derrick Tinsley, 35, did not comply with commands to get on the ground.
“I’m going to f–k you up, bro, get on the ground!” the deputy tells Tinsley, who remains standing with both hands in the air.
“Get on the f–king ground. I told you to get on the ground,” the deputy says before shoving him down.
Watch the video below.
‘Get Your F–king Hands Up!’
The incident unfolded Aug. 28 after Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies responded to a domestic violence call from a woman who accused her boyfriend of trying to shoot her.
Authorities said the man barricaded himself inside a home with children, prompting deputies to establish a perimeter with police vehicles and crime-scene tape.
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Meanwhile, Tinsley, who was not the domestic violence suspect, drove into the perimeter, breaking through the tape, authorities said.
“Stop the car, get out the car now,” a deputy tells Tinsley, who had his children in the vehicle.
But Tinsley drove forward and ran over a tire-deflation device deputies had placed in front of his vehicle, forcing him to stop.
“Let me see your hands, get your f–king hands up!” the deputy yells as he runs toward Tinsley’s vehicle.
Tinsley stands next to his vehicle with both arms in the air as the deputy orders him several times to get on the ground.
The deputy then shoves him to the ground and handcuffs him.
Tinsley was charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police officers and two counts of child abuse in connection with the incident, according to local reports. Authorities initially suspected him of operating while intoxicated. WXYZ reported that he spent the weekend in jail before his release on a $20,000 personal bond.
The Sheriff’s Office said the children connected to the original domestic violence call were safe. Public reporting reviewed for this story did not establish whether authorities arrested the domestic violence suspect.
“Based on the nature of the concerns raised and my preliminary review, I have directed Internal Affairs to conduct a formal investigation of the incident, including the force used during the arrest,” Sheriff Alyshia Dyer told local media.
‘I Was Scared to Death’
Tinsley’s mother, Cheryl Stewart, told local media she woke up Saturday morning and saw the video spreading online alongside rumors that her son had suffered a concussion after his head struck a curb during the takedown.
The body camera footage shows Tinsley’s head coming close to the curb, though the footage does not conclusively establish whether it made contact. Sheriff Dyer said the agency’s review could not clearly determine whether his head struck the curb.
“It was heart-wrenching,” Stewart said.
“I instantly jumped up, and I was scared to death, ya know, because I heard his head hit that curb and I am like ‘he’s gotta be hurt.’”
“If my son did something wrong, I do respect the law, and I understand they have a job to do, I just feel that it is excessive to hit somebody to where they hit their head that hard on the ground,” she continued.
“His blood pressure has become very high, which he never had high blood pressure before. That can be a sign, you know, part of a concussion or a sign of other brain injury,” she said.
The Sheriff’s Office said Tinsley suffered a minor knee scrape and did not sustain serious injuries.
Rumors also spread that Tinsley had died. The Sheriff’s Office rejected those claims as “false and inaccurate” in a Facebook statement.
Tinsley’s mother also pushed back on the child-abuse charges, saying her grandchildren were traumatized after watching deputies arrest their father.
Stewart said a detective told her the following day that deputies had initially suspected Tinsley was involved in the domestic violence case.
“My question is, even if he was that suspect, once the person surrendered and put their hands up, why would you have to use excessive force?” Stewart said.
