Greensboro police chief will petition courts to allow release of body camera footage of viral arrest

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The Greensboro Police Department held a press conference on Thursday after video of an arrest circulated online this week.

On Wednesday, police shared details of an arrest after a video began circulating, where they say a man that they were attempting to arrest under suspicion of drug charges resisted arrest and allegedly assaulted an officer during the course of the arrest.

A video showed the officer striking the man, which the Greensboro Police Department stated were suprascapular strikes, which is “a blow to the suprascapular nerve, which can cause immediate pain and temporary paralysis of the arm,” to the man’s back shoulder area to get him to release his arm after he freed himself from handcuffs while struggling.

“It actually refers to a method of a hammer fist strike, which is similar to what you saw in the video. You’re coming down with the fist, making that striking motion onto the individual,” Thompson said. “In this particular case, from what I have seen, … the terminology is to stun that nerve … What you do when you stun that nerve is you kind of incapacitate that arm temporarily, allowing officers to gain control of that arm. That’s a method that is approved and taught … It is something we do train on in our agency.”

Chief John Thompson said during the conference on Thursday that they would be petitioning the court to allow the release of body-worn camera footage in this arrest. If the court grants this request, the video would be released to the public.

Thompson said that the suspect was not struck in the head, nor was the responding officer kneeling on his neck. He was taken to the hospital after complaining of chest pains that officers believe were connected to the consumption of narcotics.

Thompson says that the investigation is ongoing and more details will be released if the judge allows for the release of body camera footage. The interaction lasted about 30 minutes, while the clip that circulated was around 30 seconds.

“We can’t be irresponsible in our response to the community,” Thompson said during the presser.

The man was charged with the following in connection with the incident:

• Two counts of felony assault on a law enforcement officer
• Felony destruction of evidence
• Misdemeanor possession of marijuana
• Misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia for marijuana
• Misdemeanor maintain a vehicle/dwelling/place for controlled substance
• Misdemeanor esist, delay, obstruct
• Misdemeanor communicating threats

He spoke to FOX8 on Thursday as he got out of jail.

He said he refused to exit the vehicle, however, he does feel excessive force was used during the incident and said he did not understand why they wanted him to get out of the car.

Thompson formally invited the man and his attorney to watch the body-worn camera and vehicle-mounted camera footage.

FOX8 is not sharing the social media clip because we did not receive permission from the poster.

Thompson was asked if he could say without a doubt that the officer didn’t put their knee on the man’s neck or punch his head, and he replied, “Correct.”