San Jose police release bodycam footage showing smiling cop taunting George Floyd protesters
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San Jose police released body cam footage worn by officers during several tense faceoffs with protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s death, including one incident where a cop was seen taunting demonstrators with expletives.
Officer Jared Yuen was filmed screaming ‘let’s get this motherf***er’ and ‘shut up, b****’ after protesters filmed him smiling and licking his lips.
The initial video of the incident went viral and sparked an intense backlash, prompting the San Jose police to launch an internal investigation amid calls for Yuen to be fired.
One clip of Yuen shows him smiling, licking his lips and bobbing side to side all while clutching a gun in his hands.
An outraged protester shouts ‘this is funny to them, they’re smiling’.
San Jose cop Jared Yuen is being investigated after screaming ‘let’s get this motherf***er’ and ‘shut up, b****’ as he faced off with George Floyd protesters in California on May 29
The San Jose Police Department on Friday released bodycam footage showing Yuen taunt protesters (above) as they stood opposite a line of officers
As protesters yelled at officers, Yuen is heard taunting them by saying ‘let’s get that motherf****r’ and ‘shut up, b*****’
Another adds: ‘They’re having a blast out here.’
Yuen screams ‘let’s get this motherf***er’ as the cops start edging towards the crowd of demonstrators.
Another clip shows Yuen screaming ‘shut up, b****’ at a protester after she asked: ‘Why are you on that side?’
The viral video of Yuen taunting protesters ignited widespread calls for his dismissal.
As of Monday, Yuen, a six-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department, was still on the job, though in an administrative capacity.
An internal investigation into his conduct is ongoing.
San Jose police on Friday released about an hour’s worth of video footage from the Yuen incident as well as two others, including a collision between a police motorcycle and a suspect fleeing arrest.
The release of the footage came after the mayor, Sam Liccardo, reportedly threatened to use his authority to speed up publication in the face of foot-dragging by police, according to The Mercury News.
San Jose police also released footage showing a bank robbery suspect fleeing arrest just moments before he collides with a police motorcycle
The image above shows the moment just before the suspect collides with the motorcycle on the night of May 31
The collision was also filmed by witnesses nearby who captured the incident on their cell phones
‘We hope releasing these videos will provide the public more clarity into each of these incidents,’ San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said in a statement.
‘Each video is only one piece of information used to fully understand a complex event. Some opinions and conclusions may be affected after watching certain videos; others will not.’
Police also released footage of a bank robbery suspect being run over by a police motorcycle as he was fleeing arrest.
In the video, which was captured by cell phone from several witnesses nearby, several officers are chasing a man down a sidewalk.
Police claim he tried to rob a bank and was getting away. As officers gave chase, the suspect ran into the street, where he was hit by an oncoming police motorcycle.
The suspect is then knocked to the ground.
Footage also shows police tackling and beating a man who tried to grab an officer’s baton after cops used projectiles to clear protesters from a San Jose intersection.
David Baca, one of the protesters, approached a skirmish line where police issued an order for demonstrators to disperse.
He reportedly called one of the officers a racist before he was shot with severl rubber bullets and hit with a baton. Baca suffered a shattered knee and was later rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Footage taken from a news helicopter overhead shows the incident unfold.
‘David noticed one of the officers shooting rubber bullets much faster than the others and aiming at the groups with people of color, those of whom were not doing anything violent but rather just using their freedom of speech,’ his wife wrote in a GoFundMe page.
Footage also shows police tackling and beating a man who tried to grab an officer’s baton after cops used projectiles to clear protesters from a San Jose intersection on May 29
David Baca, one of the protesters, approached a skirmish line where police issued an order for demonstrators to disperse
He reportedly called one of the officers a racist before he was shot with severl rubber bullets and hit with a baton
Footage of the incident was captured by television news helicopters overhead. Police are seen beating Baca with batons
Baca suffered a shattered knee and was later rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery
‘That’s when David stepped out from the sidewalk and approached the line of officers and called him a racist.
‘He stepped away from the sidewalk and was then shot two times (once in the leg and once in the torso) with a rubber bullet.
‘As he stood at the front of the protest recording the officer he called racist, at about 6 feet away, he was suddenly hit in the neck with a baton by another officer.
‘He defended himself automatically and was then grabbed and thrown from one cop to another as they beat him, kicked, punched, hit with batons, and stomped on when he was already on the floor.’
‘As I was falling to the ground, someone was already choking me,’ Baca is quoted as saying by his wife.
‘I just stopped fighting. I knew that I could break my arms.
‘I laid there on the floor, in a chokehold, about to pass out. I said I can’t breathe.
‘After that I couldn’t even speak because I was being choked. I laid there looking at the crowd of people in front of me, watching me, helpless.
‘No one came to help.’
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