Wyomissing Police are defending two Pennsylvania police officers’ actions after they were recorded using a stun gun against a Black man inside of Walmart. A video circulating social media caught the entire confrontation between the Black man, Stanley Gracious, and the two white officers.
In the clip, Gracius is heard asking the officers, “why are you doing this to me” while they attempt to arrest him.
As they wrestled him on the ground, Gracius stated, “I’ve paid for my stuff… I have a receipt” while continuing to inquire why he was being detained.
Twitter user @labousaab44, who posted the video of the incident, tweeted that Gracius had simply test rode the bike in the store and posed a threat to no one.
“The kind man was test riding a bike through the store while playing some music and telling random strangers he hopes they have a great day and complimenting them,” she tweeted. “He was absolutely no bother to anyone.”
According to Newsweek, one of the police officers reportedly tried to arrest Gracius while he was purchasing his bike at the register.
The twitter user continued:
“There was no use for the tazing as he was calmly trying to reason with the officers,” the Twitter user wrote. “After a few minutes, he was taken outside and was forced into a cop car where he started to resist because he still had no idea what was going on.”
“He kept calmly repeating that he did not understand why he was being arrested and harassed the way he was.”
After conducting an independent review of the confrontation, the Berks County District Attorney Officer found that the two officers acted well within their job description.
“The defendant was detained by the Wyomissing Police, and at all times during the encounter, the Wyomissing Police showed restraint, acted professionally, and did a good job de-escalating the situation with the defendant, Stanley Gracius,” the Berks County District Attorney Office said.
In a statement, the officer revealed that the officers were called to Walmart after reports that a man was “playing loud music and yelling profanities” at other customers in the store.
The store manager informed police that she had asked Gracius to leave the store because he was “weaving back and forth in the aisles, hitting some shopping carts, and almost hitting shoppers” while testing the bike before purchasing it.
After refusing to exit Walmart, it is alleged that Gracius told the store manager: “You’re not going to tell me what to do.”
“Mr. Gracius did not in any manner abide by the requests of not only the store manager of Walmart but also the requests of the officers themselves,” the DA’s office said.
They continued:
“Based on our review of this incident, the officers of the Wyomissing Police Department acted appropriately when they arrested this individual who was causing a disturbance in the Walmart store.”
Gracius has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, disarming law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, defiant trespass, and disorderly conduct.
Walmart has not yet responded to Newsweek’s request for comment.
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