HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — A family is calling for change after their son’s arrest this weekend, saying he was stunned and pepper sprayed after officers placed him in handcuffs.
Video captured the end of a traffic stop in Brownsville, Tennessee on Sunday morning, as Isiah White was arrested. Police pulled him over.
“I’m not going to lie, I got out and I ran. I was in the wrong for that,” White said.
But his issues start with what happened next. (Warning: Graphic content in video)
“Once I actually stopped and I surrendered to them, they Tased me twice while I was on the ground,” he said.
White says he was pepper sprayed too — after he was in handcuffs.
His mother witnessed the arrest. She’s upset, and questioning the officers’ use of force.
“It was just heartbreaking and I hated seeing him like that, and everybody was saying, ‘Why are ya’ll doing him like that and he’s already in handcuffs,’” Bridgette Wills said. “The police are supposed to be here to help us and every time you look around it’s always something.”
Brownsville Police didn’t want to speak on camera because of the pending investigation, but the assistant police chief said White was “drive-stunned”after refusing to get in the car. He says it’s a compliance technique that uses less force than a regular stun gun.
The family says this is another example of the fractured relationship between police and this community.
They hope this leads to change, and they want all the officers involved in the arrest to be fired.
“I just want something done about it. I just want people to open their eyes and look at things that need to be changed,” said White’s father, Charles White.
Brownsville Police say they’ve launched an internal investigation and are reviewing body camera video.
