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He Walks up to an Officer and Asks for the Cop's Name. Seconds Later, Video Shows He's on the Ground and Being Cuffed: 'What Are You Doing to Me?!
Youmans on the ground at the airport. (Image source: YouTube)

He Walks up to an Officer and Asks for the Cop's Name. Seconds Later, Video Shows He's on the Ground and Being Cuffed: 'What Are You Doing to Me?!

"You just threw me to the ground for no reason."

A short cellphone video has surfaced that captured the moment a man said he was tackled from behind for no reason in the San Francisco International Airport earlier this month by a city police officer — but police told TheBlaze a little different story.

The poorly shot clip shows no faces or much of anything physically identifiable as Derek Youmans, who recorded the video clip, said he walked toward a police officer and asked for his name as part of a complaint over being denied access on a flight. The clip also didn't include what Youmans said was a 40-mile drive to jail and release 12 hours later with no charges or citations or explanations, Photography Is Not a Crime reported.

There was speculation that Youmans may have patted or lightly slapped an officer as their brief chat in the airport terminal ended, but Youmans told Photography Is Not a Crime that he never touched him.

More from PINAC:

All he did was offer a handshake before attempting to walk away, already having obtained the cop’s name, Keith Parker, over not having been allowed on a plane earlier after he was falsely accused of drinking (more on that later).

When Youmans turned to walk away, the cop slapped him from behind, knocking him to the floor, drilling his knees into the back of Youman’s head while using his hands to further press his face into the floor, yelling “stop resisting!”

Several other cops came running up and piled on him, grabbing his limbs as Parker twisted his arms behind his back and handcuffed him.

“He tackled me so hard that he broke my iPad and Macbook,” Youmans told PINAC in an interview Tuesday night.

A witness who reportedly handed his business card to one of Youmans' coworkers in the airport terminal also spoke to PINAC and confirmed that Youmans didn't touch the officer.

"I saw him extend his hand and the cop was asking, 'Why are you recording me?'" Ramsamy recounted to PINAC. “He then slaps him hard and takes him down to the ground and puts his knee to his head. He is yelling ‘stop resisting.’"

But San Francisco police told TheBlaze on Thursday that a man was arrested at the airport for public intoxication after being identified as "a problem" and are reasonably sure it's the person in the video. But Officer Albie Esparza said the report won't be available until after the investigation is complete and couldn't confirm the name of the tackled man or the officer in the video.

Esparza added that police are reviewing multiple surveillance videos in the airport to get a better idea of what happened, but Esparza couldn't confirm what happened to the tackled man after the video ended. Esparza said that in California one can be arrested for public intoxication and not be charged and instead be detained in a "drunk tank" and released after the alcohol wears off.

Youmans on the ground at the airport. (Image source: YouTube) Youmans on the ground at the airport. (Image source: YouTube)

Here's the verbal exchange as heard on the video:

“How you doin' brother? What’s your name again?” Youmans asked the alleged officer.

“No...you want to make a complaint or something?" the alleged officer replied. "Is that why you’re recording?”

“No, I just want to get your name. What’s your name? Parker?"

“Yeah.”

“447?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, Derek Youmans. Keith Parker. Nice to meet you," Youmans said as he was about to walk away. "You won’t even shake my hand?”

“No.”

“You’re a standup individual,” Youmans said as he turned and walked away.

"What? What?" the alleged officer replied before the sounds of a physical altercation are heard.

"Bro! I didn't do anything! Bro! Dude, I did not do anything! I didn't do anything!" Youmans can be heard yelling from the floor. "What are you doing to me?"

The clip concludes with what sounds like handcuffs clicking shut and Youmans saying, "You just threw me to the ground for no reason." The alleged police officer began to say something, but the video cuts off mid-sentence.

Youmans (left) speaks to alleged officer (right). (Image source: YouTube) Youmans (left) speaks to alleged officer (right). (Image source: YouTube)

While a slap can be heard as Youmans called the alleged officer a "standup individual," Youmans told PINAC that the sound is his hand hitting his leg after bringing it back down from the attempted handshake.

Youmans, a San Diego resident, told PINAC that the incident took place around 9 a.m. December 3 after he attempted to board a flight home on Southwest Airlines.

More from PINAC:

A woman in line told a flight attendant that he and the man standing in front of him had been drinking. That led to Southwest officials to tell the men they would not be allowed to board the flight, informing them they were welcome to catch a flight the following morning at 5 a.m.

Youmans, who said he had not been drinking, said he did not know the other guy, who admitted to drinking, which apparently is some type of violation in San Francisco.

When Youmans told them he had not been drinking, six San Francisco cops marched up and ordered both men to leave the airport. Youmans walked away and was about to walk outside when he decided to return and make a complaint at the Southwest ticket booth.

That task completed, Youmans told PINAC he saw the officer leaning against a wall and decided to ask for his name as part of his complaint.

“I turned on the camera because I had a feeling he wasn’t going to like me asking for his name,” Youmans told the website.

Youmans was released before noon the next day, returned to the airport, and flew home, PINAC noted, adding that it would ask for surveillance video of the incident via public records requests.

(H/T: Photography Is Not a Crime)

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