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Video: LAPD investigates after cop forcibly removes Metro rider
A video posted to Facebook shows a Los Angeles police officer pulling a young woman off the subway. She can be heard complaining that she was removed for having her feet on the seat.
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Screenshot from Facebook video
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The Los Angeles Police Department has launched an investigation into the arrest of a young woman forcibly removed from a Metro train.
The train was stopped at the Westlake/MacArthur Park station near downtown L.A. when the 18-year old unidentified woman refused to move her foot off a seat.
The incident came to light after a video showing the exchange with an officer was posted to Facebook Monday.
"This is not [expletive] fair that you kicked me off the train because I had my foot there and I was comfortable like that!" the woman can be heard saying. The video does not show what happened before the officer asked her to step off the train.
Warning: The video below contains language that may be offensive to some.
Deputy Chief Bob Green, who oversees Metro Operations for the LAPD, said the department recently began enforcing code of conduct rules on trains.
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"All that gal had to do was comply and this would be a non-event, because that same thing goes on hundreds of times every day throughout our system with our officers trying to restore order, and people who ride that train are begging for order on the system," Green said.
The woman was placed under arrest and a female by-stander was also handcuffed.
In a statement, Metro's CEO Phil Washington said he is extremely disappointed and that riders deserve better.
"Our riders deserve better. We want the Metro system to be a safe environment for everyone. I expect more from our law enforcement partners. This incident is still under investigation, but I want to be clear: this is not the kind of policing I want on our system."
The LAPD has opened a use-of-force investigation, according to Metro.
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