Raleigh police investigate officer seen in viral video kneeling on Black man’s neck
The Raleigh Police Department said it’s conducting an internal investigation into an incident Saturday in which a police officer knelt on the neck of a Black man while several officers forcefully arrested him at a Wingstop restaurant.
The scuffle between officers and Mekhi Alante Lucky, 24, in which an officer knelt on his neck for around 10 seconds, was captured on video and is gaining significant attention on social media.
Lucky, a signed model, shared the video of the arrest and the verbal dispute that led to it on his Instagram account with more than 156,000 followers. He added the caption “They hate,” with a single black fist emoji. The video has since been deleted.
Another Raleigh police officer in the viral video is shown grabbing Lucretia Tenell Godwin, 24, by her hair while knocking her down in trying to arrest her. Godwin, who is Black, is the manager of that restaurant’s location.
Lucky did not respond to an N&O interview request by email Thursday night, and employees at the Wingstop declined to comment when reached by phone.
The incident is being investigated by the police department’s Internal Affairs Unit. Raleigh police have not responded to The News & Observer’s question about whether officers were wearing active body cameras at the time.
“RPD personnel are held to a high standard of conduct, and any violation of policy and procedures will be fully investigated and subject to disciplinary action if substantiated based on the factual findings,” Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said in an emailed statement.
Confrontation with customers and employees
The incident stemmed from a confrontation involving a physical assault between customers and employees that police responded to around 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 12, after the restaurant’s midnight closing.
Police received a call about customers verbally assaulting employees, punching them and throwing chicken wings at them. The dispute was over an incomplete DoorDash order that the customers wanted a refund for, according to an audio recording of the 911 call provided to The News & Observer.
Lucky’s video was published by WRAL News, who first reported the news Wednesday. A brief clip of a different video published by CBS 17 shows a verbal and physical conflict at the restaurant between customers and employees.
A police incident report provided to The N&O lists Robert McIntyre, 34, his wife and a third person as victims in the incident. McIntyre, the customer seeking the refund, told CBS 17 in an interview that the conflict arose when Godwin refused to make a new order or refund him.
McIntyre alleges that a male employee threw chicken and a drink cup at his wife, and that Godwin punched one of his friends in the face.
Police said in a statement that while they were attempting to arrest a person in the store who matched a reported description, “a female in the store interfered and assaulted two officers.”
After police collected statements from the 911 caller and another person, police say they identified Lucky inside the restaurant matching the description of the person fighting employees.
In the video, Lucky denies being the suspect and is seen trying to convince police he was not present for the initial incident.
“I came in here after the situation happened, right?” Lucky is seen telling three officers.
A woman is heard saying “correct” in the video, though it is unclear if it is Godwin or the woman recording the video who says it.
Godwin is seen attempting to defend Lucky and asks an officer to “chill out” during a verbal dispute.
Lucky then physically struggles with two male officers and one female officer who wrestle with him until they knock him to the ground in an attempt to arrest him.
One officer is shown holding his knee to the back of Lucky’s neck as he lies face down until another gets up and moves toward Godwin, who is yelling at the officers, to detain her.
“Get off his neck!” Godwin yells.
That officer grabs and pulls her hair before knocking her down to arrest her, the video shows.
“They hate us!” Lucky is heard yelling toward the end of the video once he and Godwin are detained.
Lucky started his modeling career after mugshots for previous Wake County arrests went viral on social media with the title “prison bae.”
RPD chief says investigation underway
Lucky and Godwin, of Raleigh, and a 16-year-old juvenile were all charged in connection with the incident, police said in a statement. Police also charged Alexandra Marie Henley, 32, who left the scene but turned herself in later that same day after a warrant for her arrest was issued.
Lucky was charged with resisting arrest and Godwin was charged with two felony counts of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, injury to personal property and assault and battery, WRAL reported. In the police statement, they didn’t identify the specific charges for all the suspects in the incident.
EMS treated two officers for injuries. Police spokeswoman Stacy Smith did not specify what the injuries were in an email responding to an N&O request for further details.
Local activist Kerwin Pittman said civil rights group Emancipate NC is learning more about the incident and getting involved to advocate for Lucky and Godwin.
“(Police) created a hostile environment,” Pittman said in an interview Friday. “It’s concerning that Raleigh Police Department chose not to de-escalate the situation when they actually had the wrong person. They treated the victims — the employees of Wingstop — like they was the actual villains in the situation, when in all honesty, they was the victims.”
He said it’s “promising” that the police department is conducting an internal investigation.
“(Police chief Patterson) putting out a statement like this and being transparent and holding these police officers accountable... If accountability takes place, then it’s a great step in the right direction of restoring (police) trust inside the community,” Pittman said.
The video was recorded by a minor who works at Wingstop, said Pittman, who learned details of the situation through Godwin’s family members.
News & Observer staff writer Julian Shen-Berro contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
