Official: Trooper Who Slammed Suspect Acted Appropriately

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The head of the Louisiana State Police says a trooper who slammed an intoxicated man to the ground at a New Orleans club acted appropriately.

Responding to a cellphone video that captured the incident, Col. Mike Edmonson told The Advocate Tuesday that the unidentified trooper acted appropriately given the circumstances.

Trooper Melissa Matey told WWL-AM that Saturday's incident began after the trooper responded to a complaint about an intoxicated man who refused to leave a club. Matey says the trooper asked the man to leave the premises, but he refused.

Cellphone video shows the trooper slamming 39-year-old Michael Hoffman to the ground as he attempting to arrest him. Hoffman was not jailed, but was issued a summons.

Edmonson says state police have not opened an internal investigation.

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