VIDEO: Cop Chokes Black Man In Prom Attire At Waffle House

Anthony Wall took his little sister to the prom on Saturday, no doubt expecting the outing to be a pleasant memory for them both. Wall’s night ended with a police officer’s hand around his neck, as the above screenshot of the viral video shows.

Wall, 22, took his 16-year-old sister to a Warsaw, North Carolina Waffle House after the dance that night, where he got into an argument with the wait staff, ABC 11 reports. Employees called the police to remove Wall from the premises, and once the authorities arrived, a physical altercation occurred between Wall and a police officer, as seen in the screenshot above. In video that quickly spread online after Wall posted it on his Facebook page, an officer can be seen choking Wall, who was dressed in prom attire at the time.

“I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that’s when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me,” Wall said.

Police charged Wall with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct due to his argument with the Waffle House staff, ABC 11 reports. It is unclear what happened directly before the physical altercation between Wall and the cop, but Wall told the News & Observer that his back was injured and he got a cut on his arm during the altercation. While Wall told ABC 11 that he takes full responsibility for his interaction with the Waffle House staff, he does not believe the cop’s actions were justified.

“Your hands should have never been around my neck like that if my hands were in the air,” he said.

The officer in the video has not been identified. When asked by the News & Observer if the officer’s actions reflected the training Warsaw officers receive, Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland said that it did not.

“It’s not what you're trained to do in incidents like this but when you're dealing with someone fighting and resisting against an officer, you try to use proper tactics and go for one move, but that might not work because that person is moving or the officer is moving,” Southerland said. “In real versus training situations, moves don’t always work out like you want them to.”

In the videos embedded below, the officer can be seen with his hand around Wall's neck as he presses Wall against the store window before bringing him to the ground. In the second clip, two officers lead Wall away in handcuffs.

Southerland told the News & Observer that the department and District Attorney Ernie Lee are investigating the incident. Any additional information regarding what happened, including any pending charges, Southerland explained, will be released following an investigation into the incident.

On the subject of Wall’s Facebook video, which has been viewed half a million times, Southerland said that the comments “get ugly.”

“I wish people would not blow things out of proportion and not let one situation create any additional situations,” Southerland remarked.

(Photo: Screenshot via Facebook/Anthony Wall)