A video circulating on social media shows a troop of Philadelphia Police Department officers rounding up around a car, smashing its windows, and dragging out someone from inside before they push them to the sidewalk and beat them.
A few seconds later, another person is seen emerging from the car carrying a baby.
The video was recorded and uploaded by Instagram user @breezy_thegent’s on Monday, with the location tagged as West Philadelphia.
The video shows people fleeing a scene where dozens of cops are seen running toward a stationary car. Once the cops get close to the car, at least two of them are seen kicking the car and smashing the window of the front seats.
One officer is seen smashing the car with a baton at least eight times, while the other cops drag out the person on the front seat. That officer is then seen hitting the person a few times with the baton before the person is dragged to the curb by other officers.
The Daily Dot counted at least 15 officers in one still of the video.
A few seconds later, another person is seen coming out of the car; this person is holding a baby.
Throughout the video, the person recording is heard expressing their shock at the situation.
“Somebody just held out a baby, c’mon!” says the person after spotting the passenger emerge from the car with a baby.
The Daily Dot was not able to independently verify the location or the timing of the event; the Instagram user did not respond to our request for further information.
Philadelphia PD has confirmed with the Daily Dot that officials are “aware of the incident” and they are looking into the matter. They did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for information on why the officers smashed a stationary car, and if they were aware there was a baby inside.
The video was shared on Twitter by user @chadloder on Tuesday evening too, garnering more than 1 million views since it was posted.
According to the description of the video, the car was a “passing vehicle that was trying to turn around.” At the beginning of the video that was posted, the car is seen stationary.
The video was shared as Philadelphia plunged into a second night of riots and protests following the police killing of a Black man, Walter Wallace Jr.
Philadelphia police killed Wallace Jr. after his parents called authorities to respond to a mental illness emergency he was facing.
However, when police got there, they fatally shot him instead of de-escalating the situation, renewing a conversation on how Black men with mental illness are much more likely to be killed through police violence than white men with mental illnesses.
“police beating people not even involved in the protest. They continue to show they must be abolished,” wrote one person in response to the viral clip.
The sheer number of cops at the scene in the video—which appears to be in dozens—was a cause for concern for many online.
One person called it a “ frenetic, frenzied attack” by the cops.
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