KANSAS CITY, Mo. (NewsNation Now) — Kansas City police are investigating after new surveillance video allegedly shows an officer kneeling on the back of a pregnant woman while handcuffing her during a confrontation.
Social media video of the arrest, which many argue shows an officer putting his knee into the woman’s back as he takes her into custody on the ground, has prompted calls for justice in the community.
Police said they released the 30-minute surveillance video to show why they were called to the gas station where the arrest occurred. But the woman’s arrest isn’t actually captured in the new footage.
See the footage in the video player above.
Kansas City Police Department Capt. Dave Jackson said officers were dispatched to the area after a security officer at the gas station called 911 for help. There were 10-20 people fighting on the property, and the owner wanted everyone to leave, Jackson said. Police cleared the area but a man refused to leave and the woman who is shown in the video would not stop interfering with the arrest, NewsNation affiliate WDAF reported.
The video released doesn’t show people brawling, but they are arguing and, at times, shoving. At one point, you can see a man in a blue shirt lift the pregnant woman off her feet and hold her onto the hood of a car. There is no audio in the video.
The officers were arresting a man Wednesday night when the woman “grabbed and touched” the officers, police spokesman Capt. Dave Jackson said Thursday.
The actual moment where the woman was taken to the ground and arrested are not shown in the video as they were out of the camera’s frame.
In the video, you can see the pregnant woman lying on her stomach briefly before being turned to her side. Jackson said after that, the officer moved the woman to a seated position.
“The officer who arrested the woman said he took care not to apply pressure with his legs,” Jackson said Thursday.
Medics took the woman to the hospital where she was evaluated and released. Jackson did not say if she was injured.
Civil rights attorney Stacy Shaw posted the video to social media Thursday.
“It’s just an example of how the police have no regard for anyone,” Shaw said. “If they are going to do this to a visibly pregnant woman, imagine what they’re doing to the kids out in the street.”
The Associated Press and NewsNation affiliate WDAF contributed this report.
