In the video taken on June 22, police officers with bulletproof vests exit their vehicle and approach a group of young black men sitting outside a barber shop on the ironically named Sheriff Road. The officers ask people in the group to show their identification. "What's the cause?" one can be heard asking.
Officers then direct their question to a black man in a white t-shirt. Other members of the group tell him not to show ID, and the man consents to a search. In his waistband, officers find a gun (either a handgun or BB gun), but have him stand aside, instead of placing him in handcuffs. Then, the officers order a search of the other people in the area, telling them that the recovery of the gun gave them probable cause to conduct more searches.
The men refuse to be searched, but the officers proceed to nonetheless, by force. No arrests appear to have been made.
The people filming the video suspect the man who consented to a search to be an undercover police officer, who they claim they did not know.
A little more than three minutes into the video, during the ensuing ruckus, the man who consented to the search can be seen walking away from the scene.
However, in an emailed response to Green obtained by WUSA 9, Newsham vowed: "I will ensure that a full and complete investigation will be conducted."
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser also defended the officer's actions, saying, "The police are committed to constitutional policing and we are committed to getting guns off the street," according to Fox 5 DC.