Video Shows Austin Cops Firing Bean Bag Rounds at Man With Hands Up

by Ben Keller
PINAC
Feb. 09, 2015

The Austin Police Department, a department with a history of using excessive force, shot bean bag rounds at 20-year-old Devon Smith after he surrendered to a SWAT team with his hands up Friday night.

Police claim Smith had a knife and posed a danger to officers. But the video tells a different story.

In the video, Smith is seen walking out of the house with his hands up. The video clearly shows his hands empty as he holds them in the air. A few seconds pass, Smith continues holding his hands in the air and bean bag shots are fired. Smith can then be seen rolling around in pain as the officers then come over and stomp on him.

The crowd responds by saying, “that’s bullshit.”

Police say he attempted to stab an officer in the head with a knife and that a second knife was later found in Smith’s pocket.

But no knife can be seen in the video and it’s likely Smith never actually stabbed an officer being that no officer’s head was near Smith while he squirmed in agony from the bean bag shots. It’s also likely he didn’t know he had been shot by bean bags, and instead thought he was shot by bullets.

Police told KEYE the following:

“You have to take into consideration they didn’t see what the officer saw, when the guy went to the ground they didn’t see the knife, they didn’t see from their perspective, all they are seeing is us impacting him,” Lt. Pruitt said.

Police said Smith allegedly tried to stab an officer in the head three times as they attempted to take him into custody. The officer was not injured because the blows hit his metal helmet.

They also claim that Smith had a warrant and just didn’t want to be arrested. Smith is now charged with attempted capitol murder for attacking an officer with a knife despite the video showing he did no such thing.

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