MILWAUKEE — Community outrage is growing over a traffic stop caught on video that ended with a 24-year-old man being punched by a Milwaukee Police Department officer.
Nicholas Beamon was a passenger in the car that was stopped for a license plate violation on Oct. 8 near N. Palmer Street and E. Keefe Avenue. The driver, Kennedy Gray, allegedly refused officers’ commands to exit the car and kicked an officer in the head.
According to Milwaukee Police, Beamon had a gun his front sweatshirt pocket and ignored commands from officers. Police say he was then handcuffed and continued to resist officers while trying to reach for the gun, at which point a video circulating online shows Beamon pulled to the ground and punched by one of the officers.
Attorney B’Ivory Lamarr and Beamon’s family criticized how the Milwaukee Police Association has characterized the interaction as a dangerous moment for officers in which use of controlled strikes was justified.
“You can use strikes to gain compliance. The question is, is it proportional to any resistance that you perceive and was it justified,” Lamarr said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Beamon is no longer in police custody. His family says he has been to the emergency room twice for injuries sustained during his arrest.
“My son has been experiencing knee pain, back pain, neck pain, ringing in the ear,” his mother Sirseal Wright said. “I want those officers fired.”
Lamarr is calling for MPD to immediately release officer body camera footage from the arrest.
“Releasing a body camera footage can’t compromise an investigation,” he said. ”And it takes 30 seconds to watch the video. It shouldn’t take 30 days or longer, three months, to tell us the result of a 30-second video.”
Court records show Beamon has been charged with one misdemeanor of carrying a concealed weapon and has no previous criminal record. According to a criminal complaint, Beamon does not have a concealed carry permit. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 3.
