A 34-year-old registered nurse and mother was brutally body-slammed to the pavement by two male Los Angeles Police Department officers after being pulled over for talking on her cellphone, ABC4 reports.
SEE ALSO: Bank Executive Brutally Beaten By Cops
Michelle Jordan‘s (pictured) Aug. 21 takedown was caught on surveillance video from a Del Taco restaurant, not too far from a where she was stopped. The video shows her stepping out of her vehicle after she parks–a move that, traditionally, is not advised. It is commonly understood that a person who is pulled over should stay seated in their car with the ignition turned off and their hands placed firmly on the wheel to show they are not an immediate threat.
RELATED: Police Officer: ‘Black People Could Care Less About Me, Until They Need Me’
“She made some unwise moves,” said her attorney Sy Nazif. “But certainly nothing that warranted a physical assault from the LAPD.”
In the video, Jordan is shown being handcuffed. According to Jordan’s account, she had an argumentative exchange with the officers. Moments later she is shown being slammed, head first, onto the pavement. A few minutes later, she was slammed to the pavement again.
A witness, Raymond Branch, feels the officers had a right to arrest her for what he feels was resisting, “but the second part was overboard.”
Jordan was charged cuffed “on suspicion of interfering/resisting arrest and released on her own recognizance.”
Want to Keep Up With NewsOne.com? LIKE Us On Facebook!
Here is more from ABC4:
Jordan and her attorney say the move caused her serious injuries to the head and upper body, which they have documented with photos, as shown below.
“At no point was she a threat to these officers, and she was in cuffs,” Nazif said. “We give them authority and power. If somebody says the wrong thing, they can’t use that , use that authority to physically attack her.”
The LAPD says a use of force investigation has been launched in the case and both male officers — one with 22 years of service, the other a probationary officer with 10 months on the job — have been taken off the street until the probe is complete.
The case has made its way to the desk of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
“My initial review of the officers’ statements and the recorded video cause (sic) me to have serious concerns about this Use of Force,” Beck said in a statement. “We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions.
Jordan’s case is not the only one to draw national media attention to the LAPD.
Brian Mulligan, managing director and vice chairman of media and telecommunications for Deutsche Bank was a victim of police brutality back in May. This month, 20-year-old Ronald Weekley was punched in the face by cops after being handcuffed and held to the ground by four officers.
Though I have to wonder if the LAPD will move a bit faster on Jordan and Mulligans’ cases because of they have the right skintone? It is sad to offer such a thought but, in reality, being a Black victim of police brutality tends to position us on the wrong side of justice.
