Video shows Memphis police officer beating suspect

A Memphis police officer is suspended and another is under investigation after a video showed an officer beating a suspect in the precinct of a police office.

Officer Bridges McRae has been placed on non-enforcement status pending an administrative hearing and Officer James Swain has been separated from the Memphis Police Department since the beating incident took place.

Duanna Johnson, who was arrested for prostitution, told local TV news reporters in Memphis this week that she was hit so hard that she split her skull and saw blood coming out of her forehead. The beating took place after Johnson refused to respond to derogatory names she said the officer was calling her.

"Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that wasn't my name - that my mother didn't name me a 'faggot' or a 'he-she,' so he got upset and approached me. And that's when it started," Johnson told WMC TV in Memphis.

"He said, 'I'm telling you, I'm giving you one more chance to get up.' So I'm looking at him, and he started putting his gloves on, and seen him take out a pair of handcuffs," Johnson said.

The incident, which took place in February, might never have come to light were it not for the video which surfaced publicly this week. The officer is shown on the video hitting Johnson several times with handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles, according to WMC. Another officer enters the scene after the beating began and is shown holding Johnson down as she tries to protect herself.