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Jose Velasco: His sister Antoinette Ramirez has spoken out about the attack and said that her brother is mentally ill

A California police department is investigating the brutal beating of a suspect with batons after video footage of the incident emerged online.

The YouTube video shows two Salinas cops beat Jose Velasco, 28, as three other officers pin him down.

On viewing the footage, Police Chief Kelly McMillin described it as 'horrific and inflammatory.'

'Anybody who looks at that video without context would have concerns, because it looks terrible,' he told KSBW.

Police were called to the scene last Friday following reports that Velasco was screaming, running into traffic and jumping onto cars.

When the first two officers arrived, Velasco was throwing his mother into traffic and slamming her against the pavement, they said.

'As officers tried to get Velasco off his mother by pulling him away, he began to violently resist and attacked the officers,' said police.

Velasco's sister Antoinette Ramirez has spoken out about the attack and said that her brother is mentally ill.

'My poor brother. He is mentally ill and the cops had no right to keep hitting him he was already on the floor,' she posted in the comments section beneath the YouTube clip.

In a second posting she also challenged the police's account of events. 

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Cell phone footage has emerged of Jose Velasco, 28, being beaten by members of the Salinas Police Department in California on Friday

'He didn't try to kill my mom,' Ramirez said. 'She walked away just fine.' 

The police claim that during the struggle Velasco grabbed one of the officers' tasers, making them fear he could reach for their firearms. 

They did not know whether he had his own gun, said McMillin.

The video opens with Velasco on the ground after he has been Tasered.

Velasco was not affected by the shocks because he was under the influence of methamphetamine and alcohol, McMillin said.

He appears to grab at an officer's leg and the cop starts to began hitting Velasco with a baton as the other another holds the suspect down.

A little later three more officers arrived on scene, with one jumping in to hit Velasco and two pinning him down.

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The police claim that during the struggle Velasco grabbed one of the officers' tasers, making them fear he could reach for their firearms

Velasco continued to resist arrest even while he was pinned to the ground and three more officers arrived, McMillin said.

'This was a very violent man beating a woman in a public street, tearing weapons from police officers' belts, trying to bite them, trying to headbutt them,' McMillin said. 

Velasco was transported in an ambulance, where he tried to bite and headbutt a paramedic and an officer, police said.

With a doctor's authorization, the paramedics sedated Velasco, 'which finally brought him under control,' McMillin said.

The beating left Velasco with bruises and a possible fractured leg but he was not severely injured, McMillin said.

He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault on an officer causing injury, resisting arrest and violating parole and is being held without bail.

Velasco continued to resist arrest even while he was pinned to the ground and three more officers arrived

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