The bizarre and belligerent behavior of a Philadelphia police officer is raising eyebrows after he was filmed harassing a local man, then shouting "Worldstar!" and violently arresting him.
The takedown takes place 6 minutes into the above video, capping his terrifying night-time encounter with a strangely euphoric, nervous, ranting officer identified as "Hoover" by his badge. Officer Hoover never stops directing insults and threatening questions at the man, identified as "Gabriel" in the YouTube upload, who was not a suspect in any crime.
Gabriel claims he began filming after he left a relative's house in the Poplar neighborhood and noticed he was being followed on foot.
As soon as the posted recording begins, the officer approaches and attempts to take a "selfie" with his "homie", who declines. The video shows the officer, identified as Hoover, become increasingly bullying and abusive as Gabriel fails to react negatively to this and further harassment. From the outset of the recording, Hoover directs racial language such as "homie" and "boy" at Gabriel.
Hoover accuses Gabriel of approaching him in obvious contradiction of what the video recording shows. More alarmingly, Hoover repeatedly moves to stand and stop in front of Gabriel, as if trying to trigger physical contact, forcing Gabriel to move toward and around him to continue his journey. He constantly flashes Gabriel in the face with his light, holding it within inches of his eyes and pushing it against his camera. When Gabriel asks Hoover to call a "white shirt"—a reference to the uniforms of higher-ranking officers—Hoover construes it as a racial reference and begins ranting about it, slurring his words and escalating his aggressive behavior.
Gabriel ultimately tires of Hoover's abuse, begins calling him "dummy", and attempts to return to his family member's house. Hoover turns to pursue him and ultimately rushes to place himself in Gabriel's path, shouts "Worldstar!" — a reference to a meme in which people yell that site's name to the camera before jumping into a filmed streetfight — then arrests him.
Gabriel was charged with disorderly conduct, according to LackLuster, the YouTube copwatcher who posted the video online.
