A video that went viral on Reddit on Thursday appears to show a man pretending to fall after being hit with a stun gun by a police officer before getting up and swinging a knife.
The video, which was uploaded to the Instagram account @policeposts, garnered speculation as to whether the individual was actually tased and whether either of the individuals sustained injuries.
In the beginning of the video, an unidentified individual points to what appears to be a knife and yells something at the officer. The officer appears to hit the individual with a stun gun, and the individual falls on a chair. He sits there and makes a few noises while the officer approaches.
When the officer is directly next to the individual, he gets back on his feet and swings the knife, hitting the officer over the head multiple times.
As the individual hits the officer, a group of bystanders record and have audible reactions to the encounter.
The individual eventually stops hitting the officer and runs away. The officer chases after him.
The postâs caption compared âintermediate weaponsâ to knives and said, âdistance is key.â Police have been criticized in recent months for using weapons like stun guns and rubber bullets against Black Lives Matter protesters.
âTasers are a great option however they arenât always effective,â the post said. âRemember that de-escalation is always the goal but not always the answer to the situation.â
Instagram commenter Tony Patrick wrote that the incident took place in DeKalb County Georgia.
The Dekalb County Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Dotâs request for comment.
Some tweeted that they didnât like how people just stood by and recorded.
One Twitter user wrote, âWeâre going down the drains at an alarming pace.â