Video Shows Austin Police Officer Repeatedly Punching Man in Head

A video of an Austin Police Department officer repeatedly punching a man in the head as he is held down outside a nightclub sparked outrage when it was posted to Facebook, racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

But Austin Police Chief Brian Manley has defended his officers at a news conference, saying those watching the footage were not necessarily aware of what happened in the moments leading up to the confrontation with a man he said was in possession of a deadly weapon.

Detailing the context of the incident, Manley said officers were called to a disturbance at the Rain nightclub on 4th Street. Police were alerted to a man armed with a knife making threats against club staff at around 1.25 a.m.

One witness told officers the man was "possibly intoxicated or on drugs," had been "very aggressive" and had a knife tucked into the waistband of his pants.

The suspect had been refused entry to the club. He threatened a member of staff working the door.

He grabbed them by the face to pull them close and said "let him in the bar or something bad was going to happen as he motioned towards the knife that he had secured on his waist," Manley said.

When officers on the scene moved toward the suspect—later identified as Justin Grant—they saw him arguing with a woman, Alexandria Green.

Based on what officers knew at the time, Manley said, they decided to detain and handcuff Grant for their safety and to question him. But Grant had other ideas and began resisting officers' attempts to arrest him. So they took him to the ground.

Manley said as Grant continued to resist arrest, he began pulling his arms downwards towards his waist—where officers had been warned by witnesses he had a fixed-blade knife.

"This is where the video seems to pick up," Manley said.

One officer pulled a stun gun out but the suspect tried to grab hold of it, Manley said, which is why he started striking him in the head. The suspect was hit with a stun gun and eventually cuffed.

Green can be seen in the video screaming for officers to stop and is warned to back off. At one point the officer punching Grant yells at Green: "Back the f**k up or you're going to go to jail."

She was subsequently arrested for interfering with attempts to detain the suspect.

Manley said witnesses later reported that as officers first approached Grant, he reached for the knife. Officers were able to grab his arms before he pulled out the weapon.

Grant was charged with terroristic threat based on what happened at nightclub, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance. Police say they found methamphetamine in his wallet.

Green was charged with interfering with the duties of a police officer.

Manley said there would be an inquiry into the incident and asked witnesses to come forward, particularly those who filmed what happened. He said one bodycam was knocked off an officer during the incident, while the other's failed to start recording.

When asked by a reporter if policy allows for police to punch suspects in the head, Manley said: "Policy allows for that. Keeping in mind that this was a suspect who was armed with a deadly weapon and officers were trying to take him into custody, so policy would allow for that based on the circumstances."

The police chief also said "it's always important that we focus on the whole story."

"There was a lot that happened prior to the part that's been displayed in public right now," Manley said. "I understand the community's concern over the video as it was posted, I'm not sure that it was readily known that the suspect at that time was in possession of a deadly weapon [and] had in fact threatened someone earlier, moments earlier. That's why he was charged with terroristic threat with that weapon."

He acknowledged concern over police tactics and said that is why the department is continuing with a review of the incident.

Patrick King is the man who posted the video to his Facebook page after filming what happened.

"So last night I was out with some friends in Austin and witnessed police brutality first hand for the first time," King wrote as he uploaded the video. "It's a different feeling when you see it on TV or all over the internet than when you actually witness it happening no less than 10 feet in front of you."

However, in a follow-up post after his video went viral, King wrote: "My intent on posting the video was NOT to go viral and shame the police. There are good cops and bad cops. After hearing two different stories from people who were actually there and about what exactly happened before recording I'm not saying the other person is lying or that they're wrong.

"If the man really had a knife and was going to try and hurt people then I'm glad they stopped the problem before it happened. Thank you for handling the situation before it escalated.

"REGARDLESS of what he had done before my point in posting the video was for awareness and basically asking WHY continue to beat on a man who physically cannot move because he had three people on him already... WHY continue to punch him in the face and say 'turn over and put your hands behind your back' when you have your other officer holding his hands and he physically cannot move himself to the position you want him to be in.

"Drugged up or not I felt as though the way they handled it could've been a little better."