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Arkansas police officer fired after video shows him beating handcuffed man in patrol car

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Arkansas police officer fired after video shows him beating handcuffed man in patrol car


An Arkansas police officer has been fired after video shows him allegedly beating a man handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.

In a statement posted to social media Aug. 9, the Jonesboro Police Department said it had received a complaint of an incident involving the officer of a “serious nature” from the previous evening.

“Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately,” Jonesboro police said in the statement.

Jonesboro is located in northeast Arkansas, and is about 70 miles from Memphis, Tennessee.

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Jonesboro police posted video of the incident online, which shows Harris allegedly beating a man who was handcuffed and sitting detained in the back of his patrol car wearing what looks like a hospital gown.

Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott told local station KAIT he had been communicating with the FBI, and that the Little Rock office had opened a case regarding the incident.

USA TODAY has reached out to Jonesboro police for more information.

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Video shows handcuffed man physically assaulted by police officer

In the video posted by the Jonesboro Police Department, the man can be heard telling officers he had swallowed a bag of fentanyl the day before, and thinks he will die unless he’s taken back to a hospital.

At one point, the video shows the man unbuckling his seatbelt and laying down in the back seat, before an officer opens the door and begins punching and elbowing the man’s head repeatedly.

Another officer, who police have not identified, checks on the man and asks if he is alright, but the man is unresponsive after the assault. The officer then closes the car door by his feet.

The first officer returns and seemingly rubs him roughly in the chest with a tool, which causes the man to twist and groan, and then closes the door on his head.

The car then begins to drive as the man, still laying down, continues to yell and groan in the back seat.

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Harris previously cited for use of force

This is not the first time Harris has faced consequences for using force.

About two years ago, CNN reported that he received a 20-hour suspension without pay and further training from the police department for excessive force, Sally Smith, a public information officer with the Jonesboro Police Department, said.

He was additionally named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in June, Smith told CNN.



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Wally Hall

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Wally Hall is assistant managing sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock after an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he is a member and past president of the Football Writers Association of America, member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, past president and current executive committee and board member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has been awarded Arkansas Sportswriter of the Year 10 times and has been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and Arkansas Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame.

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Welcome to THV11’s YouTube page! Here you’ll find stories from Arkansas that inspire and offer insight to everything happening in the Natural State. We’ll bring you engaging stories as well as full interviews and hilarious moments from our television broadcasts!



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Arkansas Library Board approves funding for public libraries after initially declining to do so | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Arkansas Library Board approves funding for public libraries after initially declining to do so | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


Ella McCarthy

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Ella McCarthy covers state politics and the state Supreme Court. Before joining the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, she covered Austin City Hall for the Austin American-Statesman, and before that, held a fellowship with ABC News in Washington, D.C., where she covered national politics. A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, her work has been recognized by the Hearst Foundation, the Missouri Press Association and LION Publishers in the LION local journalism awards. She contributed to the Statesman’s coverage of a two-city shooting rampage that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for breaking news coverage.

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