Police Officer Charged With Assault For Kicking A Suspect In The Face

Minneapolis, MN - The video shows former Minneapolis police officer Christopher Michael Reiter kicking Mohamed Osman in the face while responding to a May 30, 2016 call.

Osman's nose was broken and he suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Christopher Reiter faces assault charges after man left with traumatic brain injury.

The video appears to contradict official reports filed by two Minneapolis police officers when they justified kicking a man in the face in May 2016.

One of the officers, Christopher Reiter, was charged on Wednesday with felony third degree assault in the incident, which left Mohamed Osman with a traumatic brain injury that he said still prevents him from working and caring for his children.

Reiter, who is no longer on the force, and Josh Domek were in a group of about four officers who responded to a domestic assault report at 2929 Chicago Avenue south during the early morning hours of May 30.

The video shows Domek and two other officers running out of the building with their guns drawn and toward a silver SUV where Osman was sitting.

Osman got out of the car with his hands up and knelt on the ground. Domek then kicked Osman in his midsection.

Immediately after, Reiter, dressed in a darker uniform, kicked Osman in the head.

According to the criminal charge, Reiter's kick caused Osman to collapse to the ground "unconscious and bleeding."

A squad car arrives and blocks the camera's view, but when that car pulls away, the video shows Osman at times sitting up unassisted.

In reports they filed after the incident, Domek wrote that as he approached Osman, he ordered him to get on the ground.

Domek then wrote that he moved toward Osman "in an effort to push him to the ground to get him in handcuff position.

While doing so, I felt resistance from the male, causing me to believe that he was going to attempt to fight as he had just been involved in a violent assault."

In his report, Reiter said when the other officers ordered Osman out of the vehicle, "I could see [Osman] pushing off the ground.

"I made a split second decision and kicked [Osman] in the face one time with the top flat part of my boot."

The video does not appear to show Osman either resisting or pushing off the ground.

In charging Reiter last week with a felony, County Attorney Mike Freeman said, "in this case, a kick to the face is a use of deadly force, and simply not justified," Freeman said.

Domek was not charged.