New Video Shows North Carolina Woman Caught Smoking Pot Held Down by Four Cops While Fifth Hits Her Nearly 20 Times

A North Carolina police department is facing community backlash after a video was shared on social media showing a male police officer repeatedly punching a Black woman while multiple bystanders urged the officer to stop.

The video – which has garnered almost 2,000 likes – was shared on Instagram with the caption, “CMPD beat Bojangles employee for no reason.”

The graphic video, which was filmed by a bystander on Monday afternoon, shows four police officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) apparently holding the woman to the ground, while the fifth officer repeatedly strikes her. Multiple witnesses can be heard admonishing the officers, before the woman was pulled into a police car.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Corine Mack described the video footage as “triggering.”

"It reminded me of George Floyd and immediately I began to weep,” she said, according to WCNC.

The police report indicated that the woman had scratches and bruises on her face, according to WCNC. CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings told reporters that he thought the injuries were the result of an initial struggle but added that the officer’s body camera was “knocked off” at the time. 

The CMPD alleges that the officers confronted a woman and a man who were smoking marijuana near a bus stop.

“The officers stopped, engaged the two individuals, and stated that they were under arrest. The female subject became combative and struck an officer in the face,” the CMPD said in a press release.

“The female subject continued to resist arrest and after several repeated verbal commands, one of the backup officers administered compliance strikes to the subject’s right thigh in an effort to gain control and prevent further assault.” 

The CMPD also alleged that the male subject concealed a loaded 9 mm handgun in his bag.

Jennings addressed the incident in both a Tuesday social media statement and a Wednesday press conference.

He described the footage as “not easy to watch” but added that police body camera footage “tells more of the story than what is circulating on social media.” The body camera footage has not yet been released to the public.

Jennings said that the CMPD had “changed a lot of policy” since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

"I don't want our community to feel like that's what happens here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and we've made some great strides over the last three or so years since 2020, we've progressed," he said, according to WCNC.