TEMPE, AZ — A video of Tempe police officers went viral on TikTok over Super Bowl weekend, and now some are questioning whether the officers' tactics were too heavy-handed.
In a video with nearly 3,000,000 views, officers were seen detaining a man on the street. Then, an officer is seen rushing toward the sidewalk where he twice shoves a bystander.
The bystander who was hit was inside a patio area contained by a railing. The officer is then heard swearing and telling the man to get back.
The video was taken near the intersection of Mill Avenue and 5th Street. A bar on the same corner, Varsity Tavern, drew large crowds Friday night for a performance by Kodak Black.
Tempe police say their Professional Standards Bureau is reviewing the incident.
ABC15 reached out to Tempe police who say two other TikTok videos, which purportedly showed a Super Bowl weekend arrest near the same intersection, were actually recorded on October 30, 2022.
Tempe police tell ABC15 the man in the video was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor crimes. Since the videos appeared on TikTok Sunday, Tempe police reviewed officer body camera videos from that night. According to the department, an officer was not bearing weight on his knee, which was on the man's head, and overall the department did not see any issues to warrant policy violations.
