Texas

Austin Police Chief ‘Sickened' by Woman's Violent Arrest

He pledged a series of administrative investigations and increased training

Austin, Texas, Police Chief Art Acevedo apologized to Breaion King, 26, during a news conference Thursday after video emerged showing the African-American woman being slammed to the ground by an officer during her arrest following a minor traffic stop last year.

He said his "heart was sickened and saddened" by the arrest and pledged a series of administrative investigations and increased training in implicit bias and fair policing, NBC News reported. The case against King was dismissed in January. 

In a second video King, is being driven to jail by officer Patrick Spradlin, who is white. The two have an exchange about race.

"Why are so many people afraid of black people?" Spradlin asks, responding to  a question posed by King. "I can give you a really good — a really good idea why it might be that way. Violent tendencies."

Acevedo said he didn't learn of the videos until Tuesday, when a prosecutor called him after receiving inquiries from the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, which published the videos Thursday.

Contact Us