Brutal bodycam footage released shows US police bragging about attacking Black Lives Matter protesters, using excessive force, permissive use of pepper spray, and discussing arrest quotas.
The 66 hours of footage caught by police body cams during the Boston Black Lives Matter demonstrations on the night of May 31 and early morning of June 1 was supplied to attorney Carl Williams who is representing a number of protestors arrested during the demonstrations.
Williams told US news organisation The Appeal the 44 clips show the "mob mentality" US police officers have, revealing disturbing language, actions, violence, and even participation in looting.
The demonstrations that occurred in Boston on the night of May 31 were sparked by the police killing of George Floyd on May 25.
According to The Appeal, organisers didn't work with police or city officials due to the nature of the protest, resulting in a violent response from law enforcement.
In one clip officers are seen dumping excessive amounts of pepper spray upon non-violent protesters.
"Start spraying the f*****s," an officer says seemingly enthused about hitting protesters with the toxic spray.
"We gotta start spraying more," responds another before singling out specific people to spray at.
"I want to hit this asshole," he says.
"I've used two of these already, I've got a little left, I want to hit this kid."
Another clip shows officers, using batons to plough through stationary protestors, one officer thrusting a person off their moped who was trying to help law enforcement by clearing the area.
An officer was also seen to whack a man violently in the stomach who was also complying with police orders, walking backwards with his hands up in the air.
Attacking people without warning or provocation is a common theme throughout the clips.
According to The Appeal, protestors have a constitutional right to be out and have no requirement to be quiet or agreeable, meaning police force was not required.
In a third clip, police seem to be discussing an arrest quota.
"How many ya got?" asks an officer with another replying they had "just one female."
A sergeant then says "we're done, that's 10" before the team realises they only have nine.
"I mean theoretically, we could take one more," he says, appearing to show a need to hit a specific number.
In another shocking clip, officers appear to have looted a tie from a nearby store, one officer approaching the other showing him the tie.
"It's pretty nice," responds the officer wearing the bodycam before exclaiming it was a "$50 tie," and appearing to pocket the item.
Other footage shows there is confusion and a lack of organisation between officers as to which way they are meant to be pushing the protesters as well as officers realising body cams are recording, walking out of view, and popping back in to change their story.
One officer is shown to be bragging about hitting protesters with his car before realising his fellow officer's camera was on, forcing him to quickly change his story.
The footage comes as a report conducted by New York's Department of Investigation found the New York Police Department used excessive force upon Black Lives Matter demonstrators and deployed officers who had no protest handling training.
According to the Daily Mail, the report found the lack of protest training is what led to high levels of violence used against protesters, in turn causing heightened tensions between the two parties.
"[Police] often failed to discriminate between lawful, peaceful protesters and unlawful actors, and contributed to the perception that officers were exercising force in some cases beyond what was necessary under the circumstances," the report read.
