Amid the crowd, 62-year-old Jorge Soria stood holding a flag and a sign while he spoke with Arizona Mirror reporter Laura Gómez Rodriguez. As video of the incident shows, the two spoke for more than a minute when, out of nowhere, a Phoenix police officer ran up, grabbed him by the neck, and dragged him into an irrigation puddle.
As first reported by the Arizona Mirror, Soria was standing near Gómez Rodriguez, who was wearing a press badge and clearly interviewing Soria when the officer approached.
Phoenix police were unable as of Wednesday to provide a reason for the amount of force used in Soria's arrest, which took place during a protest against ICE's impending roundups of undocumented immigrants. He was one of 14 people that police said they arrested that night, allegedly for failing to comply with commands to move out of the middle of the street and away from the light rail.
Protest is over. It was peaceful, police gave plenty of warnings/time for ppl to leave. At the end, in the middle of my interview, @phoenixpolice took down & arrested this man. He was among the last here, holding a USSR flag symbolizing the repression he thinks US is experiencing pic.twitter.com/LumnIrK68m
— Laura GomezRodriguez (@bylauragomezr) July 13, 2019
The unidentified officer tackled Soria at 1:10 in the video, more than a minute after Gómez Rodriguez begins asking him questions.
"I'm here to protest the way police have [been] militarized. ... When people are too intimidated to come out on the street and protest, there’s something wrong," Soria said before being slammed to the ground.
Soria can be seen and heard hitting the ground with force in the video. Another man then yells, "They got him, they got him!" Police then arrested another man, Phil Martinez, who was standing near the man who shouted and was walking away at the time of his arrest.
Asked whether she had seen Soria do anything prior to being tackled that would justify that level of force, Gómez Rodriguez told Phoenix New Times, "Not that I saw, but you know how rallies are, there's a lot going on at the same time. I wouldn't say that I had a full view of what happened. But at that moment he was talking to me, I had a press badge that was fully visible."
Soria did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message seeking comment.
"We are in the process of gathering information related to this incident," said Sergeant Mercedes Fortune, a spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department on Tuesday when asked about the force used on Soria during his arrest and whether it was in accordance with department policy.
The Phoenix Police Department's use of force policy states that force is only warranted when "all other alternatives have been reasonably considered and cannot be employed in a safe manner based on the totality of circumstances."Protesters shut down Central Avenue. #LightsForLiberty #Phoenix pic.twitter.com/2HJOOaBpNW
— Michael Edgecomb (@TheEdgePHX) July 13, 2019
The department's own policy does not appear to justify the officer's actions in this case, given that Soria was not a threat at the time of his arrest and the officer did not speak with Soria or make any reasonable attempt to detain him prior to tackling him to the ground.
The Phoenix Police Department already has been under scrutiny in recent months after video of a Phoenix police officer threatening to shoot a black family for shoplifting went viral.
The 14 people who were arrested for misdemeanor offenses against public order already have had their cases dismissed, including Soria. But Fortune said the charges will be refiled.
"There are charges being re-submitted for the arrests," Fortune said via email when asked for any paperwork generated by Soria's arrest.
When the vigil turns to into a road block ??? #phoenix #AbolishICE #LightsforLiberty pic.twitter.com/Wd3Z1j3Lea
— jes ur pusha gurl (@pushy18tomboy) July 13, 2019
Representatives at the Phoenix Police Department, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, city prosecutor's office, and Maricopa County Superior Court all told New Times they did not have a booking sheet or incident report on Soria's arrest.
When New Times again asked Fortune for the police officer's account detailing Soria's arrest, she said to submit a public records request for the form. The Phoenix Police Department's public records bureau is notoriously slow and can take months to years to fulfill records requests. Spokespeople for the Phoenix Police Department can and have shared police reports in the past, as was the case for Dravon Ames' viral encounter with PPD, when Phoenix police shared police reports with reporters just two days after the incident went viral.
New Times has submitted a public records request for the report on Soria's arrest, which would include the arresting officer's first-person retelling of the incident. Per department policy, the officer is required to document the fact that he tackled Soria; the department has also come under fire as of late for omitting facts from police reports.
Besides Soria and the other 13 misdemeanor arrests, two men, 21-year-old Jakob Beskind and 34-year-old Jamaar Williams, were arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, a felony. Police claim Williams attempted prevent officers from arresting protesters.
As the Arizona Mirror reported, Beskind's father said cops charged Jakob with assault after he shot silly string at a camera a police officer was holding. The silly string also got on two of the officers in riot gear.#LightsforLiberty pic.twitter.com/UKiK3NyIC5
— Peaceful????Journey???? (@wensco40) July 13, 2019
According to court records on Beskind's arrest, police say the 21-year-old "pulled out what appeared to be a small aerosol canister containing an unknown chemical agent," then "sprayed the two officers in the face area, striking their face shields on there [sic] riot helmets."
Correction: This article previously stated that the man who shouted, "They got him!" was arrested. He was not arrested, a man walking away who was nearby, Phil Martinez, was.
