Probe launched after double amputee filmed in agony on ground after clash with police during US protests

Warning: Distressing content in footage that follows

An investigation has been launched following widespread reports that a double amputee was struck and pepper-sprayed by US police.

The alleged incident took place during weekend protests against racism and police brutality in Columbus, Ohio.

The victim was said to have been demonstrating when officers “hit and maced him”. It was also claimed that officers “took his prosthetic legs".

However, Columbus Police have refuted the claims which they said "blew up with no context".

On Monday they provided their own version of events, using bodycam footage as evidence.

A bystander video of the scene went viral after it appeared to show the amputee lying on the floor in pain, as a fellow protester cried out for a medic.

In the clip, his prosthetic legs can be seen a short distance away, detached, on the pavement.

Witness accounts suggested police officers removed the disabled protester’s legs, and refused to give them back, leaving him helpless on the street.

But police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said body camera video painted a very different picture.

It showed the man throwing liquid at officers and, at one point, hurling a plywood sign, which hit and grazed a member of the force.

That’s when an officer rushed to try and arrest the man, Sgt. Fuqua said.

“We did not take his legs and the demonstrators were the ones that physically took him away from us before we could even take him into custody,” he added.

However, at least one image shared on Twitter shows a man who appears to have a prosthetic leg falling backwards as an officer pepper-sprays him and others.

Sgt. Fuqua said several protesters pulled the man away and forced police back with planks of plywood.

Officers did not pursue the man after he was pulled away, according to the video, which was shared with local media.

Sgt. Fuqua said none of the official footage was altered except "for brevity", The Columbus Dispatch reports.

No videos have emerged of the man’s prosthetic legs being removed.

Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther tweeted that he had seen the video and the matter was being taken "very seriously".

He wrote: "I have seen the video and photo of the disabled man downtown last night.

"We are taking the matter very seriously and working diligently to find video, photos and additional information.

"Anyone with first-hand accounts, video or photos should send them to reportCPD@columbus.gov. We will fully investigate."

Social media erupted in anger after the initial video first emerged, fuelled by alleged witness reports.

Laurenn McCubbin, a professor at the town’s College of Art & Design, tweeted at the time: “Today in Columbus my husband was downtown at the protests & saw the cops hit & mace an unarmed kid and then STEAL HIS PROSTHETIC LEGS."

She continued: ”This kid, who was doing nothing but exercising his 1st amendment rights, was knocked over, maced, and had to flee from the cops ON HIS HANDS, to find medical help.

“For everyone asking: the protesters begged the cops for the legs back, cops refused. Then a group rushed the cops (getting maced) and were able to grab the legs back & get them back to the kid.”

She said of her husband: “(He) came home furious and in tears. I’ve never seen him that upset.”

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