Tensions Rise Across the United States As Cops Enforce Social Distancing

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders are an attempt to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Police have been confronting people across the United States about honoring stay-at-home orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and some of these tense encounters have been caught on camera.

A confrontation between Wisconsin police and a mother got a little heated after the mom allegedly allowed her 7-year-old daughter to go on a play date while stay-at-home orders remain in place. 

The confrontation, which was captured on video by the mom, began when police came to her door and told her to “stop having your kid go by other people’s homes.” 

The video has since gone viral and many have come to the mom’s defense, claiming cops are on a “power trip.” The woman, who only wanted to identify herself as Amy, was not pleased with the encounter.

The Calumet County Sheriff’s office released a statement, saying there is more to the case than what the public saw on video. 

“What the video does now show is that this is the fifth contact we’ve had with this female in recent weeks,” the statement read. “Most people are adhering to the safer at home order and we have received very few complaints.” 

In New York, another encounter left people outraged after police arrested a 33-year-old man in Manhattan. Police said the man was allegedly heckling police as they arrested another couple for an apparent social distance violation. 

In video of the encounter, an officer can be seen punching the man before handcuffing him on the ground as a bystander screams “He didn’t do nothing!”

The officer in the video has been placed on modified duty pending a probe by the department’s Internal Affairs bureau, according to police.

“It started out as a social distancing enforcement,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference Sunday. “I am aware of the video that’s out there.”

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