A St. Louis police officer working off-duty at a gas station is under investigation after this video of him macing and batoning one of the station's patrons on New Year's Eve surfaced. The officer has a history of excessive force.
I hate to make this police brutality day, but after seeing the video it's hard not to post it. We can't see what happened before the altercation occurred, but the gas station owner says the off-duty officer is Dustin Ries, who has permission to work security for the gas station.
According to the owner, the individual who was on the end of the beating was clearly drunk and acting up and the man's friends and Ries escorted him out of the gas station. Why Ries decided to pull the young man out of the car, mace him, and then hit him with his baton seven times is also unclear. All we know is the person shooting the video hears the guy in the car tell Officer Ries to "shut up."
The witnesses who shot the video say there was unnecessary force, the gas station owner says the beating was justified because the man was holding on to the officer's ankles. The police are investigating Ries, who has to prior excessive force incidents in his record, both involving use of a baton and mace.
Police officers using the St. Louis Coptalk website have chosen not to talk about it.
(Hat tip to jodark)