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Video shows police officer grabbing black motorist by the neck during violent arrest

Video shows police officer grabbing black motorist by the neck during violent arrest

A video has gone viral depicting a black motorist being violently pushed to the ground by two police officers after being pulled over for allegedly speeding.

In the three-minute video taken by Robert Andre Morton’s fiancé, he can be seen pushed against the back of a car whilst a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper attempts to place him under arrest.

“Detained for what?” Morton asks the trooper. The man's fiance Porsha Shields records the incident on her phone.

He repeatedly asked the police officer: “Why am I being arrested?”

The officer told him that he is being arrested for driving 101 mph in a 65 mph zone, and Morton refuses orders to put his hands behind his back, asking once more “Why am I getting arrested?”

The back and forth continued, with Morton saying: “How, when you didn’t tell me that? You didn’t tell me that,” Morton said, and at one point removed himself from the police officer’s hold.

At this point the patrol officer drew his weapon and pointed it at Morton, which prompted his fiancé to shout to her him: “Please. Don’t do that. Just wait until somebody comes.”

Eventually a second police officer arrived in a patrol car, and he immediately grabbed Morton’s neck and said: “Get your f**king hands behind your back!”

The two officers got him to the ground and handcuffed him.

“Oh my goodness!” Shields could be heard shouting. “You ain’t gotta do all that! ... Y’all supposed to be out here protecting us!”

Clips of the incident made its way online via Shields’ friend Laquisha Cummings, and it has been viewed over three million times.

Morton was released on a $1,754 bail (£1,441).

He has been charged with spending more than 20 miles over the speed limit, failure to wear seat belts, failure to properly seat belt a child, failure to give a driver's license on command, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and malicious mischief, according to Clay County jail records via NBC News.

Indy100 has contacted Mississippi Highway Patrol for comment.

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