A police officer in Taoyuan being investigated for assault after allegedly striking a man 12 times with a baton has led to mixed reactions, with some expressing support for the officer, while others condemned the use of force.
A man surnamed Chu (朱), who was later identified as a 28-year-old personal trainer, on Saturday entered a convenience store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) shirtless and began acting erratically, talking to himself and knocking over product displays, prompting the store’s clerk to call the police.
When police arrived at the store and asked Chu to leave, he allegedly became enraged and struck both officers in the face with his fist, police said, adding that the officers used pepper spray to subdue him.
Photo copied by CNA
Chu’s attack left one officer, surnamed Yu (余), with a mild concussion, while the other officer, surnamed Wang (王), had a bruised face.
Videos of the altercation were widely shared on social media on Saturday, particularly a clip in which Chu squats, flexes his muscles and roars, prompting some Chinese-language media to call him a “Taiwanese Hulk.”
However, a second clip showed he was sitting on the steps outside the store and Wang hit him with a baton 12 times, causing him to curl up on the ground without striking back.
Photo copied by CNA
The clip sparked discussion over whether police brutality was involved.
The Taoyuan Police Department’s Jhongli Precinct chief Tang Chia-jen (唐嘉仁) said that although Chu had stopped his assault on the officers after being pepper sprayed, he continued to verbally provoke the officers by shouting and threatening to kill them.
Wang first used his baton to stop Chu from standing up, but as he continued to verbally provoke them, Wang hit him until he became quiet, Tang said.
Photo copied by Chen En-hui, Taipei Times
Regarding the use of force, the precinct gave two demerits to Wang, one demerit to the head of his station and two warnings to Tang.
Chu was handed to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning, and he was released on bail of NT$50,000.
The National Police Agency’s official Facebook page was flooded with comments after the incident, with some expressing support for the police officers’ actions, while others condemned them for their use of force.
“I don’t see why it is considered use of excessive force. Are police officers not allowed to fight back and hold down a shirtless, hulky man who was rampaging through the store and attacking the officers, and could have harmed innocent bystanders?” one comment said.
“The demerits are pathetic! Do we want to wait until the police officers are beaten to death?” another asked.
“The police officers should also control their emotions, only beating people when it is needed, instead of repeatedly hitting a man who is wailing on the ground. Police officers should be there to control the situation, not to vent their anger when they have the chance,” another comment said.
“Why didn’t they use their baton at first? They only used it to beat the man when he was sitting on the ground,” another said.
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