The Oklahoma City police department is facing criticism following the release of body-camera footage that shows a police officer forcefully throwing an elderly man to the ground last month.
The city’s police department released body-camera footage last week from 27 October that shows a police officer violently arresting 71-year-old Lich Vu after pulling him over during a traffic stop. The officer has been identified as Joseph Gibson, according to USA Today.
Gibson pulled Vu over for an illegal U-turn on the NW 39th Expressway, according to police. In the initial minutes of the video, Vu, who is seated in his car with the door open and accompanied by his wife, can be seen communicating with Gibson amid an English language barrier.
“I didn’t U-turn,” he says.
Gibson then asks Vu to sign a citation for an improper U-turn, saying that it is not an admission of guilt but rather confirmation that Vu will take care of the ticket at a later date.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vu replies, adding that another driver hit his car. “Me? Citation? She hit me and I got the citation?” he says. Shortly after, Vu gets out of the car and gestures to the road in an attempt to further explain the situation to Gibson. Gibson then says they are “done arguing about this”.
Vu replies, “I want to show you,” to which Gibson says, “We argue in court … If you don’t sign this, you go to jail.”
“I’m ready to go to jail,” Vu says. Gibson then says, “You’re ready to go to jail? Ridiculous.” He proceeds to head over to the other driver involved in the incident and issues her a ticket before returning to Vu.
The two men continue arguing and at one point, Vu appears to tap Gibson’s chest with the back of his hand. Vu then brings his index finger up to his mouth and says, “You shut up.” Gibson then grabs Vu’s arm and twists it before pinning him on to the ground. Separate surveillance footage from nearby businesses shows Vu’s head forcefully hitting the ground as Gibson places handcuffs on him.
KFOR reports that Vu, who has bone cancer, suffered from a brain bleed and had to undergo surgery. He has remained in the hospital since the incident and is “in and out of consciousness, but stable”, according to family members who spoke to the outlet.
Following the incident, Thuan Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese American Community of Oklahoma, called for Gibson to be terminated.
“We don’t want our police department nor our [district attorney] to take it lightly. We want justice to be served,” Nguyen told NBC, adding, “We are always the last to be heard … so no matter whether we’re the person that is at fault or not at fault, our statements are always last … And so in certain cases, that indicates implicit bias.”
In a statement on Facebook, the Oklahoma City police department said that “an investigation was immediately initiated and the officer was placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation”.
“The Oklahoma City police department is dedicated to transparency and accountability. We want our community to know that this case is being thoroughly investigated, and the review process will take time to complete,” it added.
