WARNING: The video contains graphic language and content.
A Cubs fan who claims he was body-slammed by a Pittsburgh officer at the team’s Oct. 7 post-season baseball game against the Pirates at PNC Park has retained an attorney.
Turcy Chute LLC said in a press release that they would be representing Cubs fan Dimitri Mitalas over the incident which they say was captured in a YouTube video which was spread widely online.
The law office added that "they have been in contact with the Pittsburgh City Law Department and we are going to refrain from any further comment right now until we have additional discussions with the city."
The video, uploaded to YouTube Sunday, appears to show an officer telling a Cubs fan in a goat costume to leave. The Cubs fan asks "Can I talk to you," and the officer puts an arm around him and begins to walk him away. The fan yells "Stop it," and attempts to push the officer's arm away.
Someone appears to grab at the device recording the incident, and someone yells "Put the phone down." Then, the video shifts to another angle and an officer is seen picking up the Cubs fan and body-slamming him to the ground.
Pittsburgh Police Spokesperson Sonya Toler told NBC Chicago by email that the mayor of Pittsburgh has ordered an internal investigation over the video, though Mayor Bill Peduto told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it is unclear what circumstances led to the confrontation.
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“It’s hard to tell in the video because part of the video’s missing, when it goes down, what occurs that the officer then decided to use physical force to take the person to the ground,” Petudo told the publication. “Videos never look good. But that does not warrant judgment. What warrants judgment is the investigation itself.”
