ASHEVILLE,NC (WLOS/CNN) - Tensions flared at a community meeting in North Carolina on Wednesday, following the release of police dash-cam video from last August.
The video, released in a story by the Citizen-Times last week, shows a police officer punching a man in the head and Tasering the man on the ground.
A total of 11 officers are cited as being in the videos and recordings, including the police sergeant.
Outrage sparked because the man wasn't a bank robber or a murderer, or even a drunk driver.
Police said he had been jaywalking and that he ran from them when they warned him about it.
In a standing room only auditorium, interjections started to fly from the tense crowd.
"The issue is a human rights issue," said one attendee. "The issue is because we have been beaten down, we have all been obliterated, we have all been talked to like dogs, like trash, we're not valued and we have no voice in this city.”
Also, in attendance was Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper who spoke on moving past the incident.
"When it's all said and done, just like every time, I have been ready and willing to come to the table with whoever wants to do the work that's needed to get us past this," Hooper said.
Buncombe County Commissioner Al Whitesides asked members of the black community to be more proactive in their communities.
"Since I’ve been on the county commission, I’m one of the loneliest men in the county because I’m there fighting for us and when I look out in the audience, where are you?" Whitesides said.
Others rallied for a bigger change.
"This is not about police brutality it's about a system that is brutalizing us all the way forward,” said another attendee.
Rondell Lance, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, asked the public to have an open mind.
“All I ask of the community, is don't judge the rest of those out there because of Chris Hickman,” said Lance. “Chris Hickman is the one that needs to be held at fault."
Next, the city will ask a judge to release additional footage from the scene that night showing the other officers who were present.
That hearing is set for March 26, and is expected to be open to the public.
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