Once again a police officer has been caught on tape using excessive force, this time in Arlington, Texas. Latasha Nelson of Dallas recorded the encounter where Arlington Police Officer Chad Haning arrested her 14-year-old son Trayvon and then violently assaulted and handcuffed her 16-year-old son.
When an emotionally upset Nelson asked Haning where he was taking her son, he refuses to answer. Instead, he strides menacingly toward the Black mother and calls for backup stating that she was interfering in his investigation. But Nelson stood strong and refused to be silenced while Haning abused his authority as a police officer. When Nelson told Haning she was recording the encounter and his actions, he responded “outstanding.”
He then tells Nelson to give him her phone and stated that it was evidence. Nelson said that Haning allegedly told her that if she deleted the video, the charges would be dropped. The phone is now in police custody, but the video was being uploaded to the cloud during the encounter with Haning.
Now that the video has emerged, the Arlington Police Department issued the following statement on July 13, 2017:
“The Arlington Police Department is aware of the video that shows the arrest of a 14-year-old on July 3, 2017, for burglary of a motor vehicle. The video only shows a portion of what took place and a thorough investigation is being conducted to obtain all the facts regarding this incident.”
Nelson told her full story to the Next Generation Action Network, a Dallas-based group that lobbies against police violence. The organization uploaded the video to its Facebook page and it can be viewed below:
https://www.facebook.com/NextGenAction/videos/1792293154132210/
