Oklahoma police pepper-spray 84-year-old woman after kicking open her door

• Police in Muskogee release body camera footage of 7 August incident
• Officers were searching for woman’s son who had run a stop light

Tom Dart in Houston
Thursday 1 September 2016 14.05 BST

Police kicked open an 84-year-old Oklahoma woman’s front door and pepper-sprayed her during a search for her son, who was being chased after allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign.

Police in the city of Muskogee, near Tulsa, released body camera footage of the incident that took place at about 2.30am on 7 August.

The video shows an officer kicking the front door open, shouting commands and tasering Arthur Blackmon, who appears to be standing still with his hands up, holding a mobile phone. About 30 seconds after Blackmon is tased, officer Michelle Casady is heard telling Geneva Smith, who is backing away: “Turn around, face that way now, or I’ll spray you.” She directs a brief burst of spray at the elderly woman’s head, causing her to reel.

“Hey! My mother is 84 years old, motherfucker!” Blackmon yells, as she falls to the ground and cries, “Help me, Jesus.” A few seconds earlier, Smith had refused to get on the floor and told officers, “I ain’t turning round for shit.”

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