The widespread use of cell phone and body cameras mean that few police officers are able to do anything without it being captured on video.
It's unclear if that is what triggered a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy last week. When he saw a woman filming him, he threw her to the ground, KABC News reported.
The woman, was filming as her husband was being handcuffed. But off to the side were others filming the incident.
"In the cell phone video, the deputy was placing handcuffs on a man before approaching a woman who was recording the encounter," reported KABC. "The woman told the deputy not to touch her before he grabbed her and slammed her onto the ground. The man who was being arrested then yelled, 'Don't slam her down like that,' and said that the woman has cancer."
Others recording the incident yelled at him to stop attacking her.
"I was disheartened. That could've been my grandmother, my aunt, my sister. As you see, the lady in the video was just simply recording her husband's interaction with the deputies, and they came over and attacked her. I would say attack - he grabbed her by her neck and slung her down," KABC reported, speaking to observer Raycine Ector.
"The point is you see two senior citizens, and you are acting like you are in fear of your life. You see their whole person, you see their whole body. You see her hands up video-taping - she is of no threat, but he walks over, grabs her by the neck, slams her to the ground, puts his knee there, and this ground is hot," said Waunette Callors.
An investigation has now been announced into the officer's actions. Local activist group Cancel the Contract rallied outside of the grocery store where the incident occurred, demanding that the department fire the deputies in the video.
According to one of the leaders of the group, Raquel Derfler, the man was accused of shoplifting an entire cake.
"That was the allegation - that they had shoplifted a cake. So let me be clear, nothing has been proven, but it was alleged... and that's how they came in hot like that, as though they were brandishing firearms or attacking or assaulting members of the community when it was simply a cake," she said.
The report gained steam when comedian and actress Leslie Jones posted the video online. She confessed that if it was her, she likely would have been shot because she would have flattened the cop.
No cake was seen in the videos.
The LA Sheriff's Dept said in a statement:
"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has opened an investigation into this incident. While the Department does not make statements related to ongoing investigations, Sheriff Luna has made it clear that he expects Department personnel to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and that personnel who do not uphold our training standards will be held accountable. In the interest of transparency with our community, the Sheriff's Department is releasing body-worn camera video from the incident."
See the video below
