Three officers in Mesa, Arizona have been placed on leave on Wednesday after video surfaced of them beating a man outside an apartment building. 

The police chief says he is investigating but some say nothing the victim could have said to police warrants the force they used on him.

Thirty-three-year-old Robert Johnson, who friends say go by Junior, was on his phone and then he suddenly got kneed and punched by the officers.

This happened back on May 23 on the third floor of an apartment complex.

The department is interviewing everyone involved and wants answers and is also making changes.

“There’s going to be a special directive that says that we will not strike someone in the face or head unless they are showing us active aggression,” Chief Ramon Batista said.

The victim’s lawyer wants Mesa police to accept responsibility.

And before the police who punched Johnson arrived, another officer had already patted him down for weapons.

He was at the building with a friend, who was allegedly trying to get into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment.

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