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Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been suspended and state police have launched an investigation after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a suspect in the town of Mulberry while the third held him down. Governor Asa Hutchinson, who called the beating "reprehensible conduct," said the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division also plans to conduct a separate probe. Two Crawford County sheriff deputies, Zack King and Levi White, and Mulberry police officer Thell Riddle responded to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday (August 21st). The video recorded by a bystander shows one officer punching the suspect and another hitting the man with his knee, while a third officer holds him against the ground. The suspect, 27-year-old Randal Worcester, was booked on charges including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats. He was released Monday on $15,000 bond. Worcester is white, as are the three officers. Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said, "I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter," and Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said Sunday night that the department takes the matter "very seriously."
Here is the Governor's response to that video: