NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police released body camera video from an arrest that has neighbors upset.
It shows a baby fall to the ground during the incident. We want to warn you it is tough to watch at times.
The arrest happened last Thursday in Covington.
What begins with a Covington police officer speaking to a mother about her active warrants, quickly escalates into a situation where the mother drops her baby before an arrest.
"Let her take the child, OK? What are you doing to my baby?" the woman can be heard asking the officer.
A witness' cellphone video shows the officer slam Breonna Bell to the ground with her pants down in the Nelson Heights community.
The video posted on social media sparked outrage and activists have planned a demonstration at police headquarters Tuesday.
Channel 2's Matt Johnson spoke with Capt. Ken Malcolm with the Covington Police Department who said the officer did nothing wrong.
"He did not violate departmental policy," Malcolm said.
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The department released body camera footage Monday in an attempt to show how the officer attempted to let Bell give the baby to a passenger.
"Well over 20 times, he asks for her to comply and stop resisting and stop fighting and allow him to handcuff her," Malcolm said.
Police said that once a backup officer arrived, other officers helped Bell put her pants back on. They said no one was injured and the whole incident should have been avoided.
"The officer gave lawful orders in this situation and Ms. Bell failed to comply with those lawful orders," Malcolm said.
Ball had warrants out for her arrest for shoplifting at the time. She is currently in jail, facing new charges of obstruction and cruelty to children.
About two dozen people gathered on the lawn in protest of the arrest on Tuesday morning. It included her family members and her friend who was there and witnessed what happened.
The head of the New Order Human Rights Organization held the event to draw awareness to what he calls excessive force and says it could have been handled much differently.
“This girl was unarmed, there was no danger, but the way they treated her, that’s what I’m concerned about and the warrants are misdemeanors,” said New Order Human Rights’ Gerald Rose.
Below is the raw video taken by the body camera and taken by the witness' camera. (WARNING: This video may be difficult to watch)
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