A video is going viral on social media showing a Pinellas County deputy taking down two men on St. Pete Beach Sunday afternoon.
The crowd of about 50 spring breakers are heard cheering in the video, which now has more than 7 million views. The video, posted on Darrell Lynn Tate II’s Facebook, shows the entire incident, including the deputy putting both men into a choke hold.
Both men, Justin D. Lewis, 24, and Joshua McMahan, 25, were charged with disorderly conduct and battery on a law enforcement officer, according to ABC Action News. They both have bonded out.
Lewis told ABC Action News he was just trying to help his friend and wasn’t resisting arrest.
“When I got there, my friend’s face was blue. He was already passed out before he hit the ground and the cop was just not letting up,” Lewis told ABC Action News. “I got marks, banged up. There’s times in that video I have my hands at my side. I’m tapping, tapping out. I’m not even resisting.”
ABC Action News reached out to Cooley Law professor and legal expert Jeff Swartz, who said “there’s no question” the men appeared to be resisting arrest. He said the deputy had the right to meet violence with violence but questioned the deputy’s use of a choke hold on both men.
“If the hold was illegal and could have been considered to be deadly force, then the officer might have a problem, but not much of one,” he told ABC Action News.
WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
