A community in Woodson Terrace, Missouri, is outraged after three officers were seen on video letting a police dog bite a Black man who was pinned up against a patrol car during an arrest on Sept. 20, People reports.

As the man in the two-minute video repeatedly cries out for help and begs the officers to pull the dog back, the animal proceeds to bite the man's ankles. One of the officers can be heard telling the dog to "bite him" while the two other policemen pull the man to the ground.

After the officers pulled the man up, the animal bites him again. Police then bring the man back down and allow the dog to continue biting him while he's on the ground and being handcuffed. A woman named Latonya Jackson Whittier posted a video of the incident on Facebook, saying it happened outside of her home.


The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now investigating The Woodson Terrace Police Department, which confirmed that the officers responded to a trespassing call at a business and encountered the man as he was leaving the area.

"Our officers made contact with the subject and the subject immediately started threatening to kill the officers and identified as a sovereign citizen," the department said in a statement. "The subject continued yelling obscenities and telling the officers he would not comply and he 'will not obey your contract.'"

Police also alleged that the man continued to walk away from the officers despite getting several commands to stop.

"The subject failed to comply and continued to walk away into rush hour traffic," the department said.

They also accused him of being under the influence of a narcotic and injuring an officer.

"The subject continued to resist, causing minor injuries to one of the officers, so the K9 was released and the K9 gained control of the suspect's foot. The suspect went to the ground and the K9 was pulled off the subject," police stated. "After the K9 was pulled off of the suspect, the officers attempted to place the subject into handcuffs, but due to the subject being under the influence of drugs, he continued to resist and the officers were unable to restrain the subject."

The man, also accused of being in possession of methamphetamine, has not been charged with a crime. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the community spoke up for justice during a protest on Friday.

"We were outraged by the vile and despicable behavior of the Woodson Terrace police officers," community activist Zaki Baruti told the outlet.