Video Allegedly Shows EP Police Officer Punching Homeless Man
An El Pasoan recorded an El Paso Police officer allegedly punching a homeless man multiple times while the man was handcuffed.
A new video on Facebook has been viewed over 8 thousand times, allegedly showing an El Paso Police Department officer hitting a handcuffed homeless man multiple times. The video was recorded by Paul Enriquez and he put the video on his profile along with his account of what happened:
This is part of the video I took earlier. I stepped outside of my work because there weren't any tables n the weather was nice. I saw 2 police officers arresting a homeless man, being very aggressive. Something told me I needed to run n get my phone. Soon as I came back and started recording this is what happened. An officer punching a man who was handcuffed, face down on the ground.
In the first few second of the video, you can see a man handcuffed on the ground, yelling out and the officer does hit the man. In a second video posted by Enriquez, the officer does acknowledge that he did hit the man but says he only did once. In the video, it's hard to make out exactly how many times the man was hit. Since the video was put up a few days ago, there have been mixed reactions with many saying the officer was out of line. Enriquez acknowledged that he would also be held accountable for his actions:
I do understand I will be held accountable for my actions. I just want to see to it that this officer is held accountable for his actions. What I witnessed was in NO way, shape, or form, right. Mind you this man that was handcuffed had to be at least 45-55 years old. Such force from two younger men wasn't necessary..... I didn't mind being held accountable. The officer was right about what I did wrong. He just needs to be held accountable for his actions. That's the whole reason I'm posting this. I'm not a victim here. But this cop is a thug with a badge. Many good cops, and plenty of bad. We need to re think the way they're trained.
Later Paul Enriquez put up a second video where he spoke to the police officer asking him why he hit the man while he was handcuffed. The officer explained that the man was uncooperative and not obeying commands. Watch the second video below and hear the officer talking about his actions.