AUSTIN — A case of jaywalking turns nasty as Austin PD tackles a San Antonio man, punching and kicking him to the ground.

Cameras roll as he and his friends yell for officers to let up.

The video, which was posted to Facebook and YouTube, shows seven bicycle police officers arresting three people on the sidewalk along 6th street in Austin.

One of those arrested, 22-year-old Jeremy King, had come up from San Antonio to enjoy a music festival.

His mother, Nevetta King, says she learned of the incident shortly after it happened, around 3:00am. She says when she saw the video, her heart dropped.

“One of the most difficult things I’ve had to watch,” said King. “I kept watching trying to look for fault on his part, I didn’t see any.”

The video doesn’t show what happened before the officers began apprehending Jeremy and his friends.

Jeremy says they had crossed the street before being given a walk signal. When the cops approached, he says he and his friends made the mistake of uttering something rude under their breath.

Video shows cops punching accused jaywalkers

Austin police declined to discuss the details of the arrest, but released a statement saying they are currently investigating.

“As is standard protocol, the Chain of Command will review the Response to Resistance and the incident to determine what led up to the events captured in the video and whether the officer’s actions were in compliance with APD policy.”

Nevetta says wants to see what happens with the investigation, but at this point can’t see any justification for the manner of the arrest.

She says she’s proud of Jeremy for containing his temper during the scuffle, and hopes the video raises awareness as accusations of police brutality ring out around the country.

“Just comply, quickly, so you do not become a statistic,” said King.

More than anything, though, she says she just wants to be there for her son.

“I want to hug my son and support him through this,” said King.

Austin, Texas: Only a few days after the anniversary of 9/11, Austin police nearly kill an animal activist at a peaceful protest. On September 19, at a Black Lives Matter / Anti-Police Brutality march, six people were arrested and many others harmed, beaten and maced.

According to The Daily Texan, “The rally against police brutality was held at the Capitol in opposition to a concurrently held Police Lives Matter rally, which garnered a crowd of 2,000 people, according to Austin police.”

“The Police Lives Matter rally started in front of the Austin Police Department headquarters, and members marched up Congress Avenue toward the north and eastern lawns of the Capitol building. The rally was held in honor of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth, who was shot and killed Aug. 28 while
pumping gas.”

Julian Reyes, a well-known animal rights activist was among those beaten and arrested in front of the state capital. Julian’s dog, Shiner Bock, was killed by Austin police in 2013 in the midst of many other notorious dog murders by Austin police. A tribute Facebook page for Shiner Bock has been established to raise awareness for the senseless murders of innocent animals by Austin police.

Reyes was filming the peaceful protest last Saturday with his certified companion service animal, Lizlee, who was also reportedly manhandled by the enraged police force. In the words of Reyes, “I’m a hardcore activist and that I defend our Family dogs from police violence. Well now the Austin Police and DPS grabbed, beat, tazed, and tried to kill me and my trauma support lizard, Lizlee.”

“I’m recovering and in pretty bad shape now. They falsely arrested me while I was filiming them. There is lots of video around of the police abuses. I may have broken ribs, concussion, and cervical neck damage. It’s too early to tell. I can barely walk or breathe. It happened on Saturday and I was charged twice. The National Lawyers Guild was there and they assisted me and 5 others in jail release. But not all the charges have been made clear. Victim-less crimes are no crimes at all. They are Civil issues.”

The city of Austin has become out of control, a police state. Recently, ex-cop Chris Noble running Austin Animal Center threatened me with jail when I arrived to retrieve our rescue dog, LuLu. During the aftermath,American Pit Bull Examiner and Reunion Rescue became involved with Julian Reyes and his struggle to seek justice for the murder of his dog, Shiner Bock. Reyes and companion pet, Lizlee, are regular visitors at Reunion Rescue public events.

The videos and photos of last Saturday’s attack by Austin police against innocent citizens and animal activists like Reyes has become too commonplace and must stop. Please share this story and watch for updates and a petition to demand these atrocities come to an end. Beating people up is not considered ‘weird’….it’s considered abuse of power.

Former Austin Police Officer VonTrey Clark

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin police officer who had a relationship with homicide victim Samantha Dean has been fired, according to the Austin Police Department.

VonTrey Clark, 32, was suspended indefinitely on Thursday. In a memo from Chief Art Acevedo, Clark refused to attend an in-person interview scheduled for July 18. When he didn’t respond, the Internal Affairs office scheduled a Dismissal Review Hearing for July 23, which he also failed to appear. According to the Department, Clark was required to report and get permission from his supervisors before leaving his home.

According to the memo, Clark flew to Indonesia—a country with which the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty—on July 17, without approval from his supervisors. The Department is now considering Clark absent without leave (AWOL) since they can’t get in contact with him.

“I am only imposing disciplinary action for administrative policy violations that do not involved possible criminal conduct by Officer Clark in order to maintain the integrity of and not jeopardize the criminal investigation,” continued Acevedo in the disciplinary memo.

During a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Acevedo sent a message directly for Clark: “If you have any dignity, any semblance of humanity, Mr. Clark, get back on that plane and come back to Austin.”

Acevedo says he’s also in contact with the Dean family. “At some point, I have told Mr. and Mrs. Dean, again my number one priority as a police chief is to bring those responsible for the death of that young woman with that beautiful smile and that unborn child to justice. We will continue to do everything we can as an organization to assist the Department of Public Safety. And now that he is overseas, I can assure at some point, our federal partners will be involved in this ongoing investigation as it relates to the criminal case.”

Clark’s attorney Bristol Myers issued the following statement in regards to his client and his whereabouts:

Today’s firing was inevitable as soon as Chief Acevedo pulled Officer Clark off the street and subjected him to constant surveillance back in February. The Chief’s slanderous remarks today confirm that. Over these last few months, his administration has alleged one trifling policy violation after another against Officer Clark, none of which merited a firing. These latest allegations are a stretch of both the facts and policy, and should be easy to overturn at arbitration, if we choose to proceed with it. Internal affairs already had the phone records they claim Officer Clark didn’t produce. The bank records at issue in the suspension memo were not records that he had legal authority to obtain. This firing would be much harder to reverse if the Chief had the political luxury to wait for Officer Clark to be charged with a crime. But based on everything in the internal affairs investigation, and everything made public thus far, there still doesn’t appear to be enough evidence to do so.

The confusion over his FMLA leave stems from Human Resources providing Officer Clark with an incomplete form for his doctor to fill out. That paperwork was amended and resubmitted as required to obtain FMLA leave, and Officer Clark is not AWOL. If Officer Clark truly intended to slip out of the United States undetected, there are more clandestine methods than booking an international flight in his own name and using his own passport.

Earlier this month, court documents revealed more details regarding the relationship between Dean, 29, and Clark. Clark told homicide investigators he had “a sexual relationship” with Dean that was “off-and-on over the last six or seven years, and that he believes he is the father of Dean’s unborn child, Baby Dean.”

The warrants indicate Clark “insisted Dean have an abortion.” After interviews and statements with Dean’s co-workers at the Kyle Police Department, investigators learned “Dean had communicated to these employees if she turned up dead, Clark would be responsible.”

Dean was found shot to death on Feb. 4. No one has been charged with murder in connection to her death.

Written by Calily Bien, appeared on KXAN.com

AUSTIN, Texas — A tourist visiting Austin from Los Angeles captured video of an incident where several police officers tackled and arrested a man in the middle of a busy street, then pepper sprayed someone who was recording the arrest.

Jericho Tucker, a gamer and online entertainment personality, came to Austin for the X Games sporting event. Tucker was with friends when he encountered several police officers forcing a man to the ground and placing him handcuffs. Tucker recorded the encounter on his phone and captured footage of the police dragging a man away, as well as taking a camera from another person who was recording the arrest and spraying them with pepper spray.

The video shows several police on horseback using their horses to push the crowd of people in the street onto the sidewalk. At one point, a person in the crowd can be hear saying “Hey, watch the fuck where you going with your fucking horses!”

The Austin-American Statesman reported that the police are “aware of this incident and [are] conducting a review to determine if the officers’ conduct is compliant with our policy.”

An Austin Fox affiliate has also reported that the Austin Police Department is conducting an investigation into the matter as well.

A video of the incident is available below: