The 10-second video clip was posted to social media Sunday by the bystander who recorded the beating on their cell phone. It had been shared more than 100 times and viewed more than 16,000 times on Facebook by Tuesday morning.
A man identified as 28-year-old David S. Mitchell can be seen in the video lying prone on the pavement, handcuffed, outside of what is said to be Augie's Bourbon Street Cabaret, a strip club in Minneapolis. As he lies restrained on the ground, a large bouncer punches him in the face.
Two police officers shown in the video did not intervene, and one officer could be seen talking into his police radio during the incident. One bystander can be heard saying, "You can't do that, man!"
Mitchell was cited for fifth degree assault, "after officers witnessed him assault a security [sic] at that location," the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
Fox 9 News cited a Minneapolis police statement that reads, "An adult male was cited and released for misdemeanor fifth degree assault. While in custody, this suspect was assaulted by another adult male … It appears that an officer was near the second incident and was in the process of activating his body camera and speaking into his shoulder microphone at the time it occurred."
The report added that Mitchell had to be released "for the treatment of injuries received during the altercation."
The two officers were named as Joseph Klimmek and Tobias Anderson, and the security guard was identified as Lonnie Davis.
According to a police report, alcohol was a factor in the incident, and Davis and Mitchell do not know each other.
"We are looking into it right now … to make sure everything was handled correctly," Minneapolis Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Michal told the Star Tribune, adding that the entire incident did not take place outside the club. She advised people not to draw conclusions too quickly based on the footage.
Michal claimed in another statement that Anderson and Klimmek arrived after Mitchell was first assaulted, and one of the officers was trying to activate his police body camera to capture some of the incident.
