‘Get Your Hands Off Me!’: North Carolina Cops Slam Black Man, 63, to Ground, Threaten to Tase Him After He’s Tries to Help Them Find Driver for An Alleged Stolen Vehicle, Video Shows

Body-cam footage released last week by the Asheville Police Department shows two officers violently arresting a 63-year-old Black janitor at the Grove Arcade after he tried to help them locate the suspect of a car that had just been reported stolen from a nearby dealership.The controversial police video, released on Jan. 15, more than a month after the incident, sparked a firestorm of outrage online over what appeared to be racial profiling by the authorities.Louis Searles, a longtime sanitation worker at the vibrant downtown shopping mall, was taken to the ground on Dec. 9 just outside the gentrified storefronts and boutique shops, where police spotted a car they believed was stolen and jumped on Searles after he walked by and offered to help. Louis Searless was tackled and detained by Asheville Police officers while at work. (Photos: YouTube Screenshot/Asheville PD)Moments earlier, officers descended on the suspect car after receiving a mistaken report from the local Subaru dealership that one of its vehicles had been driven off the lot without authorization.Staff at Fred Anderson’s Prestige Subaru informed officers the vehicle’s tracking system was pinging at a West Asheville apartment complex, but they were not able to immediately locate the car. Later,...