A Georgia police officer who was seen in a no-viral TikTok video with a stun gun on a Black woman during an arrest has been fired.
The Gwinnett County Police Department said in a press release that Officer Michael Oxford “violated our policies and did not meet our core values” during the August 18 arrest of Kyndesia Smith.
“For this reason, the employment of Officer Oxford has been terminated with effect from 21 August,” the police department wrote.
Oxford was sitting at a home in Loganville, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, on Aug. 18, responding to a 911 call about property damage. A woman told the officer that two people threw a bottle at her car, threatened to attack her and said they would hit her 9-year-old child, according to the press release.
“The incident of the bottle being smashed was captured on surveillance video,” the release said. “That video shows a woman coming and picking up the bottle from the garden before police arrived. The complainant directed the officer to the house, where she believed the suspects remained.”
When Oxford went to the suspects’ home, he recognized a person on the porch as one of those in the surveillance video, according to the release. Smith began shouting at Oxford, and the officer shouted back and told her she could be arrested if she did not let him do his job.
“After several warnings, the officer told Smith she was under arrest. Smith opposed a legal command and refused to sit in handcuffs. After refusing to be handcuffed, she was warned she would be handcuffed. After.” t they oppose the officer commands that she was tased and handcuffed, “the press release states. “After being handcuffed, she kicked the officer and remained uncooperative.”
The arrest was captured on phone video and shared on TikTok. In one video posted on the site, Smith is told to hear from Oxford that she would not be going anywhere.
The video content can be disruptive and includes profanities.
“You’ve on our property. We did not call you,” Smith said in the video. “I’m not going anywhere.”
When Officer Smith tries to arrest her, she tells him not to touch her. The officer seems to be grabbing her roughly by the arms as several people start screaming, the video shows.
‘Come on’ ef — ing terrain, ‘says the officer. “Go to the ground.” Oxford is then seen with his stun gun on Smith, causing her to fall into a forest.
Another video shows Oxford trying to put Smith in handcuffs if a fight ensues. A second officer arrives and helps Oxford arrest Smith. The videos have been viewed millions of times on TikTok.
The videos do not appear to show the incident that police said happened before Smith’s officer was arrested.
The police department also released Oxford’s body camera video showing the arrest.
Oxford wrote in an arrest report that as he walked to the house, several people started yelling at him. He said when he tried to talk to one of the women, Smith continued to cry.
“I told Smith that she should silence herself or remove herself from the scene and if she did not do so, she would further hinder my investigation and would be arrested,” the report states. “Smith kept screaming and screaming again and again, to which I then told her she was under arrest.”
Oxford wrote that when he tried to captivate Smith, she pulled away from him and he deployed his stun gun and she fell. He then tried to handcuff her.
“As I put the handcuffs on Smith, she kept pulling her arms away from me in an attempt not to handcuff me. pulling and refusing commands of ‘give me your hands.’ I then used an arm lock / leverage technique on Smith’s left arm to get the left arm behind her back to marry. “
Oxford said he was able to handcuff Smith into the hands with the help of a second officer and then she ran over to his patrol. He wrote in the report that Smith once in the car “hit her legs at me and hit me several times in the head, face and shoulder areas with her feet.”
After Smith’s “legs and feet were clear of the door, I was able to close the door of my patrol car,” secure it inside, “the arrest report states.
The police union representing Gwinnett County officers did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday.
Attempts to find contact information for Oxford and Smith were not immediately successful on Saturday.
Jail records show that Smith was charged with simple battery against an officer and intentionally obstructing law enforcement. She was released Wednesday.
It is not clear if she has a lawyer.
Oxford was initially placed in an administrative role as an internal investigation was launched into Smith’s arrest, the use of force by the officer and his conduct. The police department said in its press release that there was “probable cause to arrest Smith for obstruction of a law enforcement officer” and that Oxford’s use of force was within the department’s policy.
However, the agency said it took issue with the officer’s holding and carrying during the arrest.
“That investigation looked into whether appropriate escape techniques were used, and whether Officer Oxford violated our policy based on the way he handled the incident,” the police department said in the press release. “Our policy states that each member of this department considers it his or her duty to serve the general public and to provide that service in a manner, insight and patient manner.”
“One of our core values is courtesy,” the release said. “We strive to conduct ourselves in a way that promotes mutual respect with the community and our peers. The investigation in this case has shown that Officer Oxford violated our policies and did not meet our core values. For this reason, Officer’s employment was Oxford has ended. “
