The Los Angeles Police Department announced Saturday that it has been “temporarily” barred from YouTube after the department put up footage of a violent attack on the video web site.
“The YouTube channel for LAPD HQ has been temporarily suspended after we posted a video of a brutal attack in Pacific Division asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects,” the LAPD said on social media site X. “We have appealed the suspension and have been denied.”
YouTube, which is owned by Google, didn’t immediately provide comment.
The LAPD has an extensive YouTube channel, with 69,000 subscribers. The department regularly posts videos, including graphic footage from officers’ body cameras. Some videos come with warnings about the violent imagery.
The department also uses its YouTube channel to post interviews with Chief Michel Moore, public service announcements and department news.
LAPD Officer Drake Madison told The Times on Saturday that the video that prompted the suspension was of a violent incident in the Venice area. He declined to comment further on the YouTube suspension.
A news release this week from the department described the attack and how two suspects punched a man and hit him in the head with bolt cutters. The LAPD said the man sustained “significant injuries to his head” and was knocked unconscious in the Sept. 28 incident near the intersection of Speedway and Market Street. The two suspects fled on bicycles.
A video of the incident that accompanied the news release was removed “for violating YouTube’s Terms of Service,” according to a note on YouTube.
Video of the incident also is posted on the X account run by the LAPD, where it remains.
A note from the LAPD about the suspension states that until the “issue can be resolved,” critical news briefings will be posted on the LAPD’s website.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
