SACRAMENTO — Sacramento police on Tuesday released the dashcam video of the violent arrest of Nandi Cain Jr. on Monday in Del Paso Heights.
This video is the first that’s been released that shows the arrest from the police department’s perspective. Police released dashcam video from three different vehicles.
The take down has sparked anger and demands for answers from the Sacramento Police Department.
WARNING: Video contains explicit language
You can see more police footage, here.
“I saw him with his hands on his gun, and when he started pushing up on me like that. I’m like, I’m not gonna give this man any reason to kill me,” Cain said.
Cain said he feared for his life after the officer involved started beating him, refusing to answer why he was being stopped.
The department maintains the 24 year old had refused to stop walking for the officer for some time and that the removal of his coat and low show of hands amounted to assuming a fighting stance — something Cain denies.
The arrest was a hot topic at Tuesday night’s Sacramento City Council meeting.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg had planned on skipping Tuesday night’s meeting because of Passover, but he came and started the meeting by sharing his thoughts on the arrest.
“What is wrong…is wrong…is wrong,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg asked what would have happened if no one caught the incident on camera, and called the arrest video “disturbing.”
Nineteen people spoke out about the violent arrest during the public comment portion of the meeting, including the woman who first shared her video with FOX40. She brought her emotional dismay at what she sees as an injustice.
“I am so hurt. I am so distraught. I am so confused. I am so traumatized,” she said.
Those who have fought the city and officers over the lost lives of black men at the hands of police are unimpressed.
“I don’t trust anything that they do right now. We saw what we needed to see. Not only does that officer need to be fired, but he needs to be held accountable with the law for what he did,” said Tanya Faison with Black Lives Matter.
Police said the actions reflect poorly on the department.
The “disturbing” and unreasonable actions of the officer, a two-year veteran of the department, were not within policy, Sacramento police said in a statement Tuesday.
The responding police sergeant said when he reviewed the dashcam video after the incident, he was troubled by what he saw and alerted superiors.
The officer was already on unpaid administrative leave as a result of the incident and will now be subject to a criminal investigation.
Sacramento’s police chief said the department is conducting a criminal investigation of the officer. The chief said they will turn the results of the investigation over to the Sacramento County DA’s office, and the district attorney will make a decision on whether charges will be filed.
