A video of New York Police Department officers tackling an unarmed Black man and piling on him is causing outrage on social media.

A woman captured the encounter on her smartphone around 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday in Brooklyn, New York. In the video, a young man is being held up against a wall by an officer in plain clothes. The woman, who identifies as Velvet, tried explaining her account of how the event unfolded in a thread on Twitter.  

“I’m walking home from work and this undercover cop was holding this man. The guy asked for the cop to identify himself, he ignored that. He asked what crime he commit, he ignored that too. I pulled out my phone. You can hear the guy screaming ‘I never thought it would happen to me,’” she tweeted.  

The video shows the young man asking what he did wrong several times, but the officer never answered or identified himself. Velvet suggested he ask if he was being detained and why. 

“What crime did I commit?” the man asked. 

Velvet spoke to the Atlanta Black Star about the incident and said she thought it was a misunderstanding between two civilians. 

“One guy was pinning the other by this chest and the other with his hands up. I was about to cross the street when I thought maybe the guy needs help,” she said via direct message.

Once more officers arrived on the scene, they descended upon the unidentified man and piled on top of him. He screamed for help as the officers overpowered him with his hands held above his head. The video doesn’t show him being read his Miranda rights or even being told why they were detaining him. 

“I’ve never been arrested a day in my life,” the man yelled while the officers were on top of him.

“Why do you have to stomp him like that?” a bystander asked in the second clip. 

The NYPD released a brief statement regarding the incident.

“The officers observed two males inside the park smoking a lit marijuana cigarette and as the officers approached the individuals they fled the location,” spokeswoman Detective Denise Moroney said in an email to the Atlanta Black Star. “Upon apprehension, one individual was arrested and the second individual was issued a summons. This incident is currently under internal review.”

A friend of the young man’s family reached out to Velvet to identify him. They shared with her that the family is waiting for the young man to get out of the precinct.  

People following the situation on social media expressed how difficult it was to watch the video and how this is a national issue that doesn’t seem to be given priority. 

“Is there a list being maintained anywhere of cops that engage in these types of violations? There should be a national list,” another Twitter user wrote. 

Although Velvet has been transparent about the incident, she tweeted that she’s received warnings not to be too aggressive in regards to police matters.

According to Velvet's latest tweet on the incident, the young man has been released. 

Brooklyn, New YorknypdPolice brutality