By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

VIDEO footage has captured the moment a police officer slapped a man in a club downtown –– but according to the club’s supervisor, the clip tells only a small part of the story.

The 14 second clip, recorded at Tropicana over the weekend, shows police officers conversing with several men in a densely packed room.

One of the officers is seen slapping a man while saying: “Who you talking to bey, ‘bout don’t touch me? You stupid hey, ‘bout don’t touch you (sic).”

The officer is then restrained by his fellow officers.

“Muddoes (sic),” says a man near the camera.

The clip spread across social media yesterday. It comes several months after another video went viral showing an officer slapping a man near Prince George Wharf, prompting outrage. Police have yet to disclose the results of their investigation into that incident.

As for the recent incident, a supervisor at Tropicana bar told The Tribune yesterday the officer’s slap was justified in her view. She said police had been called to the bar about an alleged assault. When they arrived, she said, the man in the video and his friends got heated with police. She claimed the officer slapped the man after he had been pushed.

“It was a forceful push,” the supervisor, who asked not to be named, said. “The slap was justified because it was three of them against that one officer and the officer was small compared to the three men. The (other officers) were standing off.”

The men, Bahamians who often frequent the bar, were arrested, according to the supervisor. “I was satisfied by how the incident was addressed,” she said. “I would’ve liked for the person who did the recording to get the full scoop of what happened instead of just posting the part where the officer hit the gentlemen.”

She said: “We have a public charge to get into the club starting at 9pm. I told the men it was a charge, $20 for locals. They started to argue and said they’re not paying to go upstairs so that’s what started the altercation.”