A TikTok video shows a Black man in Tennessee being restrained and appearing to be hit with a stun gun by two white men in plain clothes.
First posted on TikTok by rapper NBL Baby Berkowitz (@bignibble), the video shows his friend writhing on the ground after being allegedly hit with a stun gun by the two men.
“They just tased him and claimed he had a gun,” Berkowitz says. “He does not have a gun. They are tasing this unarmed Black man. He has no weapon. Why are you hurting him?”
The video was deleted by TikTok but reposted on Twitter. On Instagram, Berkowitz said the two men were “bondsmen” or bail recovery agents, whose jobs are to seek and take into custody defendants who have failed to appear in court.
In Tennessee, bail recovery agents are required to carry a certification of training, identify themselves as agents, and produce documents related to the defendant before apprehending an alleged fugitive.
In a follow-up video, Berkowitz said the men “mobbed up” and “did not identify themselves” as bondsmen. Berkowitz said despite his friend’s insistence that the alleged bondmen call the police, they “brutalized” and dragged him “through the gravel.” Berkowitz also said the men intended to get the Black man into their truck.
But, Berkowitz said, the men couldn’t verify the identity of the Black man they detained and later found they had caught up to the wrong person. “He said, ‘I ain’t going with you weirdos, get the police,’” Berkowitz said.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Clarksville Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
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