The Jacksonville Police Department has released body camera footage showing new details of a scuffle between officers and fans during Saturday's Georgia-Florida contest. That included one fan threatening to “kill the cops” and using racial slurs.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said the department's professional standards division found that his officers did not violate department policy in the altercation that led to the arrests of the four men.
“In this case, the cellphone videos that have been circulating since Saturday do not provide a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding these cases, and that is not surprising.” Mr Waters said:.
Warning: Video contains disturbing language
The initial arrest and incident involved two police officers and a male fan.
Body camera footage from two officers showed them leading one fan, identified as Walter Brown, who did not want to leave, to the roof of Everbank Stadium to help him leave.
“You remember I said either you kill the officer or you don't leave. Either,” Brown told the woman who was standing in the upper row.
As the Taser holster was drawn, the fan said, “Taser please.”
One of the officers calmly tried to persuade Brown to leave, but Phan countered that she had done nothing wrong and that she was following the law and that the woman had tried to kidnap the children.
Mr. Brown said he did not intend to leave with all five children present, but the officer responded that he did not care if he left with the children or went to jail.
“I’m going to Jai,” Brown said, identifying the officer by his uniform name.
One of the officers touched the man during an argument with the man, and the man made a racial slur toward the officer.
That officer then taped Brown and another person unsuccessfully tried to handcuff him.
Brown became angry and yelled several racial slurs while telling the officer to pull out his gun. A man and a woman behind him tried to calm the fans down, but to no avail.
The incident turned physical as another Taser startled Brown and officers attempted to handcuff Phan.
One video released by police showed Brown grabbing an officer's gun during the melee, but was unable to pull it out.
During his arrest, Brown reportedly said, “I'm going to get sued'' and “I'm studying to get rich.'' Afterwards, he repeatedly claimed he had done nothing.
Some fans of the section then started taunting the officers, claiming they would lose their jobs.
The second incident occurred at the field level.
A Georgia fan said he approached one of the officers and asked him to send someone over, and one fan told the officer, “Help this guy,” as he walked toward the person in question.
A person believed to be a security official said the three fans had to be removed.
One fan, who identified himself as Michael Long, said they were just “having fun” and tried to shift the blame onto other fans.
“We've always been great guys,” Long said. “That's not us.”
Three police officers eventually arrived on the scene and the situation was quickly resolved.
The police officer told one of the fans, “Don't touch me,” and Long asked why he was being removed. Then he walked away and returned to his seat.
One of the officers then descended and grabbed Mr. Long, who resisted, after which a small scuffle broke out.
The officer then appeared to start swinging at Long.
Another fan, identified as Alexander Long, wrapped his arm around another officer, eventually pinning the fan to the ground.
Michael takes several more blows as fans scream in shock.
One of the officers was heard saying, “Don't swing.”
The officer pinned Alexander down, told him to put his right hand on his back and threatened him.
“You better get your hands back because you're about to tape it,” the officer said.
As he was handcuffed, Alexander kept repeating, “I can't move” and “I'm not doing anything.”
Afterwards, a police officer said one of the fans made a move on the officer.
A third fan appeared to place his hand on one of the officers, and then another fan actually grabbed the officer by the neck from behind and pulled him backwards onto the seat in an attempt to incapacitate him.
That fan was also handcuffed and removed.
