Actor and activist Kendrick Sampson posted a video to his Instagram page earlier today (Dec. 18) showing a police officer in Cartegena, Colombia punching him directly in the face. The video was captured by an onlooker and was first posted onto Terminator: Dark Fate Colombian actress, Natalia Reyes’ Instagram.
The video, re-posted by Sampson, shows him being punched, followed by the officer pulling out and cocking his gun and appearing to harass Sampson some more. Moments later, you can see Sampson being escorted in handcuffs by the very cop who assaulted him. “I’m told stopping is policy but what is NOT is they reached down my underwear aggressively, slap my arms 5 times hard, punch me in my jaw and pull his gun on me,” Sampson wrote in the Instagram caption. “He then cuffed me and dragged me through the streets.”
The actor, who is best known for his role as Nathan on HBO’s Insecure, shared that this was not the first time he was stopped by the cops while in Colombia. “Cartagena is AMAZING but this is the 6th time I was stopped in 5 days. It happens to Black Colombians often,” he shared. “Thank u for posting @nataliareyesg & for helping me through this.”
Reyes, who is from Colombia, wrote, “POLICE BRUTALITY, this is my friend Kendrick Sampson @kendrick38, an actor and dedicated activist of the @blklivesmatter movement in the United States, today this happened to him here in Cartagena and everything hurts, not only because he is a friend but because that is the day to day of many, because we got used to this and that is NOT okay, it’s not normal.”
In a statement given to Bogotá’s national newspaper, El Tiempo, General Henry Sanabria Cely said that the officers engaged in a “legitimate” use of force during a search because according to the officers, he had resisted arrest.