Attorneys For Men In Viral Video Involving Baltimore Police Sergeant Say The Department 'Cannot Police Themselves'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A viral video of an alleged attack on a Baltimore Police sergeant in January is coming into question.
Attorneys for the two men charged with assaulting the officer say new video tells a different story about what happened that night.
In a press conference held Tuesday, the attorneys said the new video proves their clients are innocent.
In January, video of what appears to be people kicking a Baltimore Police sergeant along Pennsylvania Avenue in west Baltimore surfaced, drawing swift criticism from Gov. Larry Hogan and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison.
Related Coverage:
- Attorneys For Two Men Accused Of Assaulting Baltimore Police Sergeant Say New Video Shows Different Side To The Story
- Assault Of Baltimore Sergeant Started After He 'Inadvertently' Brushed Shoulder Of Suspect Zayne Abdullah, Court Docs Show
- Donnell Burgess, Charged In BPD Sergeant's Assault Caught On Camera, Previously Arrested In Violent Home Invasion As Teen
- Man, Teen Arrested In Connection With Video Showing Group Kicking BPD Sergeant
- Group Kicks Baltimore Police Officer Trying To Arrest Person Who Spat In His Face, Police Say
"It talks about the lawlessness, and it talks about the brazenness of the criminal offender who have no respect for the law, and no respect for authority," Harrison said in January.
Days later, 23-year-old Zayne Abdullah and 20-year-old Donnell Burgess were arrested, along with a 17-year-old boy.
But attorneys for the men accused say new police body camera footage and cell phone video they've obtained shows a very different side to this story.
Attorneys say that Sergeant Simpson "instigated," "provoked" and "escalated the situation."
"Spit in my face and pushed me, and I pushed him back, and the fight was on." That's how Simpson described the altercation.
But in the new video, you can hear the sergeant say "Go ahead, I've got enough for everybody." Then, it appears to show Simpson pushing Abdullah.
A bystander video then captures what happened moments later.
Simpson and Abdullah are struggling on the ground, while Abdullah cries out, "I can't breathe."
"Mr. Abdullah was not resisting arrest," his attorney, Natalie Finegar, said. "Mr. Abdullah was trying to be able to breathe."
During this time, Burgess' attorney said her client was trying to pull his friend away from the sergeant.
WJZ has also reached out to the Baltimore Police Department, which said it has received this new video and that it's been handed over to its Public Integrity Bureau for further review.
"The police department cannot police themselves," Finegar said.
