Black woman attacked by teenagers and then assaulted by New Orleans sheriff's deputy
New Orleans, Louisiana – More disturbing evidence of police brutality toward Black Americans has surfaced after a New Orleans officer detained a woman with excessive force – after she was already attacked by teenagers.
On September 20, Shantel Arnold was beaten to the ground in broad daylight by teenage boys, according to Raw Story.
The teenagers first made fun of the 34-year-old's appearance and then attacked her.
According to the report, Arnold tried to defend herself with a stick, but she was unable to stop the three boys, who knocked her to the ground in front of a laughing crowd.
Finally, a 71-year-old acquaintance of Arnold intervened. The teens left, and Arnold was able to get up and head home with minor bruises from the attack.
By this time, the police had already been alerted. Shortly after the attack, an officer from the local sheriff's office arrived.
The officer stopped the woman from going home, calling out to her from the open car window, "Come here!"
Arnold replied that she had just been beaten up and now wanted to go home and started walking again.
The officer got out, walked up to Shantel Arnold, grabbed her, and threw her to the ground, but he didn't stop there.
Arnold assaulted by officer
A witness described the brutal moments in the report: "She didn't have a chance to back away because this guy was strong. He grabbed her arm and all it took was one move to take her to the ground."
The man couldn't stand by any longer and wanted to intervene, "So I went up to him and he told me, 'If you come any closer, I'm going to kick everybody's ass out here.'"
"You don't have to use that kind of force on this little woman, she's a midget," the man allegedly retorted. Arnold is 4'8".
Another pedestrian recorded a short clip, in which the officer can be seen repeatedly grabbing the woman by her hair and arms and throwing her around. He uses enough force to yank her off the ground, slam her down again, and even flip her over, before kneeling on her back.
Arnold was taken to a hospital by an ambulance after the unwarranted attack. She suffered multiple bruises and scratches and a busted lip and continues to have recurring headaches.
According to an investigative report, Arnold stated that all of these injuries came from the officer's attack.
Trigger warning: the following video contains disturbing content
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office in the state of Louisiana is now investigating the officer who assaulted Arnold.
Cover photo: Montage: 123RF/jovannig, Screenshot/Twitter/Winslow19Don