We all know that police have a very broad definition of what constitutes a resisting arrest charge but we should expect better from the media.
However, somebody at KEPR Action News took a look at the above video and decided the man in the video, Gordon Bailey, 51, was resisting arrest. But the video does not show the man resisting unless your definition of resisting is to be standing still while being tasered by a screaming cop.
The video posted to KEPR’s Facebook page also has its audio muted so we are unable to hear the cop screaming at the top of his lungs for the man to lie down about a second before tasering him. The cop then stomps on the man’s head as another cop comes running in to start punching him. That video is posted above.
The KEPR Facebook post also asks “Is this excessive force?”
In fairness, KEPR did include the video with the audio in its story which also lacked any mention of Bailey resisting arrest so we’ll blame the discrepancy between the headline and the video on whoever is running their Facebook page.
According to NBC Right Now, Kennewick police initially confronted Bailey because he was breaking into a pickup truck inside a fenced-off compound. Police say he then hid inside a bus in the compound but then ran from the bus as police moved in. He tried to hop over a fence but was tasered and arrested.
The video begins by showing Bailey standing in front of the fence before he is tasered and falls to the ground.
NBC Right Now also reports Bailey was arrested a few days after the incident for an unrelated incident in which he violated an order of protection by kicking a door and forcing his way inside an apartment.