Video showing police punch, knee man during arrest sparks calls for answers from community

Witness video showing police in Texas punching and kneeing a man during an arrest last weekend has sparked calls for answers from the local community.

Amid the uproar, body camera footage and 911 audio of Saturday's arrest of Forrest Curry were released by the Fort Worth Police Department on Tuesday.

The footage shows police holding down Curry with his face pinned next to the curb. As he asks why he's being detained, one officer is seen punching him twice while another is shown in the video with his knee in Curry's stomach.

“Why? I didn’t do nothing to ya’ll,” Curry is heard yelling on the body camera footage.

“We’re trying to get you help,” an officer replies. Curry had reportedly had a seizure prior to police arriving, according to The Associated Press.

In the video, one officer is heard telling Curry he is not under arrest, but another then says “he’s under arrest now.”

Police said the video shows how difficult it was to arrest Curry.

“The body camera video provides insight into the erratic behavior and active resistance presented by Mr. Curry,” Fort Worth Assistant Police Chief Charles Ramirez said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Officers were initially on a call to meet an ambulance but that was changed to a disturbance call when Curry allegedly became combative with Fort Worth Fire Department officials.

When the police arrived, fire personnel identified Curry and told the officers that he appeared to be drunk and that he had tried to assault them.

It took five officers to safely arrest Curry, officials said.

The bystander's video was originally posted by the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), a community organization in the Dallas area.

NGAN led a rally on Tuesday, speaking out against this incident as well as other instances in which the use of force by Fort Worth police officers have drawn backlash.

Emergency medical officials told police that Curry was on K2, or synthetic marijuana, the AP reported.

According to the AP, Curry suffered a seizure and collapsed on Saturday before the incident. He woke up disoriented before medical personnel arrived at the scene.

Curry was arrested for resisting officers and evading arrest. He was released on bond Monday.

Curry’s attorney, Jasmine Crockett, told the AP that Curry’s head was left swollen by the punches. He also underwent brain scans to see if he had a concussion, but those results are not available yet, Crockett said.

“Unfortunately, it seems the Fort Worth Police Department has a culture of violating the rights of people of color,” Crockett said in a statement. “We will work tirelessly to determine exactly how this incident occurred and to address it in the most efficient manner possible."

The names of the officers involved have not been released, pending an internal review by the Fort Worth Police Department.