Nationwide — A video showing an Henryetta, Oklahoma officer punching a Black man on the ground went viral, sparking outrage. Police say the clip shows only part of the arrest and does not include the full context of the situation or the man involved, later identified as Ramone Hester.
The incident happened outside a Casey’s General Store, and bodycam footage later released by the police shows the events leading up to the struggle. Hester had an outstanding warrant for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, and authorities had been searching for him for weeks.
In the cellphone video posted on X, the officer sits on top of Hester and strikes him several times as Hester cries out for help. Bystanders gather around the scene, some recording on their phones, while Hester shouts, “What are you doing, bro?! No! Somebody help me!” The short clip quickly circulated online, raising questions about the officer’s actions.
According to News On 6, Henryetta Police Chief Steve Norman said the viral clip only captures a fraction of the encounter. Officers had approached Hester to confirm the warrant, but he resisted and refused to comply. During the struggle, the officer’s body camera fell off, leaving viewers without the full context.
Norman explained that officers are trained to use force when restraining uncooperative suspects, both for compliance and safety. He noted Hester had shown hostility in previous encounters and that the officer feared he might be armed. Hester also has prior convictions in Oklahoma and Kansas for drug offenses, stolen property, and stalking.
The chief emphasized that forming opinions based on a short clip can be misleading and “shallow.” He added, “All these folks that watched this video, they are all theorists. We are the practitioners of this. And if you’ve never been there, never been in that situation, you don’t know what he’s going through.”