In Clarksburg, West Virginia, a woman called police for a welfare check after seeing a man in apparent distress on the sidewalk. Shortly afterwards numerous police officers surrounded the man, and decided to detain him. When the man didn’t want to be handcuffed, officers “assisted him to the ground.” Then Officer Elijah Helsley of the Clarksburg Police Department repeatedly punched the man in the face, among other things. The woman who had previously called police was shocked at what she was witnessing, and began filming with her phone. She shared the video on Facebook, after which it ended up on the local news, as well as the subject of a song.

The criminal complaint / police report: