Video shows unlawful arrest of pregnant black woman by California police

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A rights group on Thursday posted a video online that showed two California officers wrestling Charlena Michelle Cooks, a black woman, who is eight months pregnant, to the ground, following a dispute between her and another woman.

Published on YouTube by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the video claims to have been recorded on 26 January, 2015 in the city of Barstow.

In an interview with CNN, ACLU attorney Jessica Price said, “It’s pretty horrifying. A lot of people are going to look at this and going to say there is some level of racial profiling and bias going on here.”

The video shows the police officers approaching Cooks based on a complaint by the other woman. Cooks can be seen denying the accusation, saying she and her daughter were the ones who felt threatened by the woman. The video then shows Cooks denying personal information to the officer.

Soon after, the two male officers wrestle the woman to the ground, as she screams that she is pregnant and pleads with them to let her go.

Police violence against minorities, particularly African-Americans, has increased as can be seen through several high-profile police killings of unarmed men in cities like Ferguson, Missouri and New York over the past year, as reported by Reuters.

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