Minneapolis police reviewing arrest in which officer tossed 64-year-old Black man to ground
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An Instagram video is bringing attention to a Minneapolis police officer’s arrest of a 64-year-old Black man at a grocery store Wednesday evening in the Ventura Village neighborhood.
In the almost five-minute video, officer Christopher Lange is seen aggressively grabbing Troy Lee Billups and pushing him onto the ground in an attempt to arrest him around 6:05 p.m. near the wall along entrances/exits inside of Aldi at 1311 Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.
The person recording the video is heard telling officer Lange that it was "two people having a conversation together, and you decided to escalate the situation by shoving him."
The video, which has over 60,000 views as of Thursday night, appears to show at least four people near the scene. Bystanders are heard expressing disbelief and yelling at the officer out of concern for Billups.
"You’re supposed to deescalate. How is this deescalating?" the person recording exclaimed. "What are you doing? Why is he under arrest?"
One person in the video is seen kneeling down near the arrest scene, recording and questioning the officer as he struggled to arrest Billups. Officer Lange eventually stands upright while restraining Billups, who appeared to be pulling away from the officer and yelling "let me go."
During the ruckus, a young man is heard telling the person recording the video that Billups was "harassing my girl so I told him ‘yo, chill out’… and the cop came over here, and he started touching me like (inaudible)."
After some struggle, Lange let go of Billups and asked what was going on between the young man and Billups. The young man said, "nothing happened."
"You keep your hands off of me… You pushed me," Billups said after the officer let go. "You don’t put your hands on a young kid. You don’t do that."
Lange then asked, "Did he pay for his stuff?" while pointing at Billups. Billups, and others, are heard responding "yes" in the video.
About two and a half minutes into the video, the conversation moved outside the grocery store. Lange and another Minneapolis police officer were questioning Billups, who explained to the officers that him and the young man were talking, not fighting.
The video ends after Lange arrested Billups and started walking him to the squad car. Billups was booked for obstructing legal process with force, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. He has since been released without bail, with an order to stay away from the Franklin Avenue Aldi.
Minneapolis police said the matter is being evaluated by the Office of Police Conduct Review.
"Department policy and training continues to emphasize the importance of de-escalation efforts to stabilize and resolve situations when safe and feasible," MPD spokesperson Garrett Parten wrote.