An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department has been temporarily relieved field duties after video captured him punching a 30-year-old man, who appears to be handcuffed and not resisting, in face as he was being detained.  

The July 28 incident occurred during what’s described as a traffic stop at East 113th Street near Graham Avenue in Watts.  

Cellphone of the incident shows the man, identified by community activists as Alexander Donta Mitchell, yelling, “What did I do?” as he was being detained when one of the officers punches him hard on the right side of his face.  

“This young man had his hands behind his back, handcuffed,” Civil Rights Activist Najee Ali told KTLA. “He was not a threat, but we saw an officer punch him in the face for no reason.” 

Ali, with Project Islamic Hope, said the incident is just the latest example of excessive force by police in the Black community.  

“That officer not only deserves to be on leave, he deserves to have his badge taken from him, handcuffs taken from him,” he added.  

It’s unclear what happened prior to the recording of the punch or Mitchell’s hands were both fully restrained, though in the video, he does not appear to be resisting the officers at all.  

A witness to the violence, who describes herself as a family friend of Mitchell’s and did not want to be identified on camera, said she’d never seen anything like that before.  

“They just opened the door and snatched him out,” she explained. “There wasn’t no reason. He was just sitting in the car.”  

Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department told KTLA that they’re looking into the matter, saying in a statement: 

“The incident is under investigation and the officer involved has been removed from field duties.”  

As for Ali, he says that nothing can justify the police officer’s actions.  

“The video speaks for itself,” he said.  

A press conference outside of LAPD headquarters with Mitchell’s family members and Civil Rights leaders is scheduled for Tuesday morning.  

A fast moving, wind-driven wildfire in Riverside County that has charred thousands of acres and reportedly burned at least one structure prompted evacuation orders Monday afternoon.  

The “Nixon Fire” was first reported in the area of Tule Valley Road and Richard Nixon Boulevard in Aguanga just before 12:30 p.m. 

The five-acre brush fire, according to officials with the Riverside County Fire Department, was burning at a “moderate to rapid rate of spread,” prompting requests for additional resources.  

By 2:45 p.m., the blaze had grown to nearly 300 acres and was moving east, officials reported.  

A little more than four hours later, at 7 p.m., fire officials said the wildfire had grown to 2,700 acres with 0% containment.  

Mandatory evacuation orders were in place for residents: 

• North of Cooper Cienega Trail 

• South of Bailey Road 

• East of Holly Ann 

• West of Terwilliger Road 

Evacuation warnings were in place for residents: 

• North of San Diego/Riverside County line 

• South of Heller Springs Road 

• East of Terwilliger Road 

• West of Table Mountain Truck Trail 

A temporary evacuation center was set up at Temecula Valley High School, located at 31555 Rancho Vista Road, Temecula. Officials said that animal services would be at the location to assist residents with animals.  

A searchable map of the evacuation orders and warnings can be found by following this link.  

As of the last update, some 255 firefighting personnel were assigned to the blaze, with two water-dropping helicopters, 44 engines, four bulldozers, three water tenders and eight hand crews.  

This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA for additional updates. 

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Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ directive to integrate the Bible into the public school curriculum isn’t meshing well with some districts.

At least eight large districts across the Sooner State are pushing back against the requirement, as it continues to receive criticism from some and support from others, reports say.

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Walters, speaking to “Fox & Friends Weekend,” offered a message for those districts.

OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS NOW REQUIRED TO TEACH BIBLE, TEN COMMANDMENTS: SUPERINTENDENT

Oklahoma’s directive that schools integrate the Bible into public curriculum has garnered controversy from some. (iStock)

“I’m going to tell these woke administrators, if they’re going to break the law and not teach it, they can go to California because… here in Oklahoma schools, we’re going to make sure that history is taught,” he told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday.

“What we’re doing is making sure teachers have resources in order to teach these concepts that the left has pushed out of our schools. We’re making sure that the guidelines were given out last week to make sure every individual teacher understands exactly what we’re talking about here, the historical references, where these are located in our standards. Because we need our kids to understand our history. We want our kids here in Oklahoma to understand American history better than any in the country, and we’re laying out a roadmap for every state to follow.” 

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Oklahoma educators are expected to incorporate the Bible into lessons about its influence on U.S. history and the Founding Fathers, per the directive.

OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS CHIEF SPARS WITH CNN HOST OVER TEACHING BIBLE IN CLASSROOMS IN HEATED INTERVIEW

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters speaks during a special state Board of Education meeting, April 12, 2023, in Oklahoma City.  (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

It will also see that each classroom has a Bible from which to teach.

Walters insisted the requirement has support from parents across the state.

“When I ran three years ago, they were crystal clear. Why in the world are we not teaching our kids that our rights came from God? Why in the world are we not referencing all these unbelievable moments in American history where the Bible was cited? It is absolutely part of our history,” he said.

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OPINION: WITHOUT THE BIBLE, SCHOOLS DON’T HAVE A PRAYER. OKLAHOMA HAS A SOLUTION

He added, “Our kids have to understand the history of this country and what made it great in the first place, and we won’t allow the ACLU and the teachers unions to attack our schools and say, ‘No reference to God, no reference to the Bible, even when it was one of the most cited books in American history.’”

Louisiana garnered similar controversy earlier this year after passing a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

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