The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Friday it has begun looking into a use of force complaint after video surfaced on social media that appears to show an inmate being struck repeatedly by a Monroe County corrections officer in jail.
Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said in a statement Friday afternoon he was alerted about the 2017 video being posted on social media Thursday by a woman who came to visit an inmate.
The video shows the officer push the male inmate, whose hands appear to be inside his shirt, in the chest and then back toward a wall. The inmate goes down and the officer hits the inmate repeatedly.
Several other officers are present. They walk toward the inmate, and one then turns and covers up the camera that's been filming the incident.
TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said the agency had gotten a request from DA Steve Crump "to investigate a use of force complaint." Niland referred 10News to the office for specific questions.
In his Friday statement Jones said the woman mentioned the video appearing on social media when she came to the jail Thursday afternoon.
"Upon viewing the video, I saw four Correctional Officers in the former Monroe County jail. One of the Officers was in a verbal altercation with an inmate, which escalated into a physical altercation, and one of the officers covered the camera," Jones said in the written release.
He then contacted Crump's office.
Jones said he couldn't comment further.
More details will be released when the investigation is over, according to the Sheriff's Office.