COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A Newnan man says his freedom of speech was violated when police shot him with a Taser and punched him outside of a Newnan bar earlier this month.
"I don't think that being Tased that many times, and hit that many times, is the way they are supposed to handle the situation – especially when I was outnumbered by that many officers," said Chris Bryan, who was recently released from jail.
According to a police report, Bryan yelled at cops making a traffic stop across the square, "Five ****** cops for a traffic stop?"
The YouTube video shows the officers using a Taser on Bryan at least twice, Bryan kicks an officer, and then the officer throws punches back. The incident happened at the Alamo early Saturday morning.
"My eye was filled with blood, so I couldn't see out of my left eye. I had headaches for a good week or two and of course my eye was blackened for few weeks from my face hitting the ground," Bryan said.
In a police report, officers said Bryan was yelling profanity at them. As he attempted to walk back into the bar, he "threw his shoulder" against one of the officers.
"When I first came out. He had blood on his face, coming down his face, his glasses were off," said Joe Petrosky, who witnessed the incident.
"There was no use for it. He wasn't hurting anybody, he wasn't doing anything," he said.
"Did he have a weapon?" Channel 2's Rachel Stockman asked.
"No. Like I said, he's a nice guy," Petrosky said.
Newnan Police Chief Douglas Meadows is urging the public not to jump to conclusions, and said the officers were using approved techniques.
"Don't judge what you've seen here because these officers are using techniques that they are taught on how to apply pressure points and how to subdue a combative subject," Meadows said.
The chief says the Taser wasn't working to subdue Bryan, and he wasn't listening to verbal commands.
"It was actually two, five-second bursts that didn't faze him, as you can tell from (the video)," Meadows said. "There is a point where his foot goes off and he kicks the officer right in the stomach."
The chief said the police officers are still on duty, but the video has been turned over to the Coweta County district attorney to look over whether there was any excessive force. As of Monday night, the YouTube video received nearly 30,000 hits.
"I think they (police) went too far, absolutely," said resident Kathy Hudson, after viewing the video.
"I felt they should have just talked to me and said, 'Go home'," Bryan said.
A judge dismissed the battery charge, but Bryan is still facing an obstruction charge.
WSBTV
