The Warsaw, North Carolina police department is investigating after an unarmed black man was choked and thrown to the ground by a police officer following a verbal dispute with employees at a Waffle House late Saturday evening, BuzzFeed News reports.
22-year-old Anthony Wall ended his evening at Waffle House on Saturday, May 5 after taking his 16-year-old sister to her high school prom. In a video posted to Facebook of the incident, a white police officer can be seen choking Wall, still wearing his tuxedo, outside the restaurant before slamming him to the ground. Wall is heard screaming, telling the officer, “Get your supervisor out here and get your hands off of me,” repeatedly.
Another viral Waffle House incident. Officer seen choking out Anthony Wall, a kid reportedly coming back from high school Prom. pic.twitter.com/V4iD3MXjyF
— Brandon Pope TV (@BpopeTV) May 10, 2018
“I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that’s when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me,” Wall told ABC11 North Carolina.
\Waffle House employees called police after Wall argued with them, though it’s still unclear over what. Wall, who was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, told BuzzFeed that he takes full responsibility for his actions at Waffle House, but that the use of force by the police officer (who remains unidentified) was excessive.
As of Thursday evening, Warsaw police had told ABC11 that it was looking into the incident. “We are currently investigating the whole incident, interviewing witnesses and gathering additional video,” he said. “We have also reached out to the District Attorney’s Office to make him aware of the investigation. Once the investigation is complete and the District Attorney has had a chance to review the case we will provide the public with an update on the findings.”
Among other recent incidents of excessive force by police directed towards people of color, this is the second time in the last month that Waffle House specifically has come under fire for its treatment of people of color. In April, a black woman in Saraland, Alabama was violently arrested at a Waffle House after she demanded to know why she was being charged for plastic utensils.