Police in Cambridge are conducting an internal review into the use of force in a "violent" arrest near Harvard University.
Harvard University student Selorm Ohene, was struck by an officer during an arrest after police responded to reports of a naked man on Massachusetts Avenue.
“The first thing that happens is officers show up and engage this erratic male who’s naked on the median,” Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville Bard said.
Police say they made numerous attempts to calm the man down, but he was allegedly high on narcotics, hostile and resisting arrest.
Video of the incident shows Ohene standing on a median before being surrounded by police, and then moving toward one of the officers.
“He was flailing, he was kicking and the officers were doing everything within their power,” Bard said. “I stress it was for his safety and safety of everyone else around.”
Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern said in a statement Sunday that the police department has assured him the altercation on the video is being investigated. McGovern says "Cambridge affirms that Black Lives Matter, but it must be true in practice as well."
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