Video of Henrico man’s arrest goes viral, sparks internal investigation

UPDATE: All charges have now been dropped.

July 16, 2015; 8:48 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Update #1 — July 20, 2015; 2:59 PM

This morning, July 20th, all charges were dropped against Hammond.

Read more here.

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Original — July 16, 2015

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

An arrest video of a Henrico County police officer taking a man into custody is raising questions about police conduct as well as the defendant’s right to film a federal building and remain silent.

More than 26,000 views have been recorded of the video posted on YouTube that apparently was taken by Kyle David Hammond, 27, who was arrested earlier this month outside of Federal Bureau of Investigation offices in the 1900 block of East Parham Road.

Hammond, of the 11600 block of Timberly Waye in Henrico, was arrested July 5, according to court documents, and was released on a summons pending his Aug. 27 trial.

I have mixed feelings about the video of this incident, which can be seen in its entirety below. While Hammond technically does have a right to remain silent and shouldn’t have to show his ID without cause, it seems to me as though he set out on a mission to provoke officers for no good reason. He once posted online that his mission was “to show the lawlessness that is prevalent in Henrico County.”

What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcizZEqIErE