On Friday (Oct. 21), Blake Anderson held a press conference to address an incident that happened earlier in the week. Anderson, a Black security guard, was joined by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to discuss a video showing him being violently arrested by two LA County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

“As I was doing my job, the police just brutally just attacked me for no reason. So I asked them, ‘What did I do? What did I do?’ And as I yell out, ‘What did I do?’ They just slam my head and throw punches,” Anderson said while speaking to the media. According to local news station KTLA, the victim was working as a security guard at a lounge on Century Boulevard in Inglewood when the two deputies abruptly pulled up and began forcefully arresting Anderson. The troubling incident was caught on surveillance footage and has since made its way to social media.

The LASD’s use of force was so severe that the security guard could lose his eye due to injuries sustained during the incident. He wore an eye patch during the press conference. “Not just excessive force, but brutality. When you look at that video, I’m sure everybody will agree that they are slamming his head into the ground repeatedly. What kind of training is that?” Crump said at the podium.

Last week, LA-based journalist Cerise Castle tweeted a video of the extreme arrest. In the post, she wrote, “This is Blake Anderson. He’s a security guard at the Good Batch Lounge. Early Sunday morning, Deputy Rodriguez and his partner pulled up and began beating Blake. He’s since lost vision in his eye. He’s [currently] being charged with assault on a police [officer] for this.” LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva seemingly sent a direct response to the reporter, dismissing her claims.

“Attention activists in reporters’ clothing! Here are the actual facts in the arrest of suspect Blake Anderson by @SouthLALASD, in which you claim deputies severely injured him. What other ‘reports’ have you embellished and misled in order to gain notoriety?” Villanueva tweeted. In his post, he included a retweet that referred to Anderson as a “felon.” The tweet also said that the suspect was in possession of a “firearm” and that Anderson was not a security guard.

Villanueva later tweeted that “Anderson was on active parole at the time of his arrest” and “prohibited from owning/possessing firearms.” The sheriff added, “The contact/force used is concerning [and] being reviewed. Proper admin action will result depending on the outcome.”

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