Queensland Police have been forced to sit up and take note of public anger after a video that shows members of the force being *very* heavy-handed with a woman went viral.
The clip shows local mum Natasha King being pushed back repeatedly by police as her 16-year-old son was arrested in Brisbane‘s Boondall on Saturday night, after police apparently entered the house on an anonymous tip-off about a domestic violence incident.
It was shared on Facebook by NITV journalist Danny TeeJay Johnson, whose sentiments that repeatedly shoving a woman in her throat was an example of police brutality, racism and violence against women were shared by a bunch of the 605K people who have viewed it in the days since.
He also says the anonymous tip turned out to be totally false, and that the family was “just having a sing and a dance like most Australians do on a Saturday night” when officers showed up (he doesn’t know the King family, but was tagged into a post by Natasha’s sister).
Facebook apparently initially took down Danny’s post about the video, but he put it back up a second time.
Let’s see if Facebook takes it down. If they do I’ll keep putting it back up. This is how #deathsincustody start. We…
Posted by Danny TeeJay Johnson on Sunday, January 17, 2016
Four members of the family, including Natasha’s sister, daughter and son, claim they were sitting handcuffed in the back of police cars for 20 minutes before being issued charges of obstructing police.
Unable to ignore the public furore about the video, a QLD police spokesman has confirmed they would be reviewing the footage in an investigation into the incident, and explained their side of the story a bit more.
“Police spoke to occupants of the residence and upon hearing further screams from a female occupant, exercised powers under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act to enter the house in order to ensure the safety and welfare of all present,” the spokesman said.
“It is alleged that whilst investigating the matter, police were both obstructed and assaulted by persons in the house, resulting in four persons being detained.
“Queensland Police are yet to receive a formal complaint in respect to this matter, however, as a matter of course, police will review all available evidence.
“This review will encompass legislative and procedural compliance in respect of this incident, including the appropriateness and nature of use of force options exercised by police in this matter.”
Danny continues to share the media’s coverage of the story on his Facebook page.
Source: Yahoo.
