Video Shows Chicago Cop Body Slamming Man To The Ground

CHICAGO – A Chicago police officer has come under fire after a viral video appears to show him body slamming a man to the ground before arresting him.

On Nov. 28, a bystander, identified as Jovanna Jamison, posted a 41-second video to Facebook showing a Chicago police officer picking the man up off his feet and throwing him to the ground. The man then appears to lie motionless as the officer hovers over him and places him in handcuffs.

In the last 24 hours, the video on Jamison's Facebook page has been viewed more than 318,000 times and shared by more than 21,000 people. The man in the video has since been identified by his mother as 29-year-old Bernard Kersh, according to ABC 7.

"I was nervous. I was scared. My heart dropped. I know I automatically thought the worst. He wasn't moving," Keshia Johnson, Kersh’s mother, told the TV station.

Prior to Kersh’s arrest, Chicago police said officers responded to the 700 block of E. 79th Street where they found him drinking alcohol around 4 p.m. at a bus station. Police said he became irate at one of the officers, verbally threatened him, licked the officer’s face and made threats before then spitting on him. According to the Chicago Police Department, the incident is now under investigation.

“The actions in the video are disturbing. The specifics of what transpired prior to officers executing an emergency takedown will be scrutinized closely by us and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA),” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “If wrongdoing is discovered, officers will be held accountable.”

According to Guglielmi, the Chicago Police Department is cooperating fully with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, and they have requested that the officer involved in the incident be relieved of his police powers pending COPA’s review.

"The Chicago Police Department concurred," Guglielmi said.

Kersh was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center by police where he was stabilized, according to a report by NBC 5. The officer who was spit on was taken by ambulance to the same hospital for evaluation.

Charges against Kersh are said to be pending, the Chicago NBC affiliate reports.

Meanwhile, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot has confirmed that she is aware of the viral video and took to Twitter on Friday to express her concerns.

“While a single video does not depict the entirety of the interactions between the police and the individual, this particular video is very disturbing,” Lightfoot said in a tweet. “It is my expectation that the investigation will be comprehensive and expedited so that the public may gain a complete picture of what happened."

According to COPA, the agency is actively seeking witnesses, canvassing for third party video and currently obtaining evidence related to this incident. If anyone has additional information or video pertaining to the incident, you're asked to please call 312-746-3609.