Police Violence Caught on Camera: The Story of Kristian Teigen’s Experience in Kongsberg.

DRAMMEN (Dagbladet): The surveillance video from the fateful night outside Esso/Deli de Luca in Kongsberg shows Kristian Teigen walking towards some police officers who are out of the picture. He then quickly pulls back while holding his hands in the air.

Then he is hit in the thigh with a telescopic baton.

– I’m just glad that he didn’t hit further down, at the knee or something. It could have been far worse.

Dagbladet meets him in Drammen, where he also works. Half a year has passed since the incident on the night of 30 October last year, and two weeks since the whole of Norway got to see the surveillance video – where his friend is beaten by the police.

Kristian himself received two blows with a baton in the thigh.

In questioning with the Bureau, the police officer who beat Kristian has explained himself. He believes that Kristian appeared to be a threat to the police’s work, and saw it as expedient to gain control over him by awarding baton blows. Read more from his explanation further down in the case.

– Had to do something

After a birthday celebration, the group of friends ended up at Privat bar in Kongsberg, where they had been several times before. Kristian found out that his friend, Kevin Simensen, was not allowed to re-enter the nightclub. Why, he doesn’t know. They decide to go home anyway, and head down towards Esso.

He estimates that there were eight people who went down. Kristian was one of those who formed the rear, and right after he had rounded the corner at the petrol station he was shaken by what he saw:

His friend got into a real basketball fight with the police. From there, the situation escalated further.

– I tried to film, but of course I ran out of power on my mobile phone. Then I hear Kevin screaming that he can’t breathe, and then I thought I had to do something.

He runs towards Simensen, contacts the police, but is told to pull away. He himself claims that he was never aggressive or threatening.

Got two baton strokes

Shortly afterwards, he is seen to be in dialogue with two police officers. At one point he runs towards the police, and they disappear from the surveillance image. Then you see that Kristian comes back into the picture with his back.

– He says that I should withdraw, so I do that, says Kristian and shows how he put his hands in the air.

The 26-year-old then receives two blows with the baton over his left thigh.

– He repeats that I should withdraw, and I point out that that is what I am doing – and ask him what he does for a living.

He then sits down on his knees.

He therefore had to sit there, on the lawn by the petrol station, and watch as his friend was beaten by the police while he screamed that he couldn’t breathe.

– I was quite powerless.

– The police do what they want

Since Dagbladet first published the surveillance video two weeks ago, there have been many reactions. The police officers involved have received a lot of criticism – and the reported police officer has been hanged.

Kristian calls for more attention to be paid to the other police officers who were there – without apparently intervening in what the gang of friends was exposed to.

– At the beginning, we seemed like a group of friends who had screwed up. But now it is as if it concerns the police. They are a separate group who do what they want, and support each other in that, he says.

A structural change in how the police work, to avoid similar cases, is what he is calling for. And use of a bodycam, so that you always have video evidence in such cases.

– That this is at least taken seriously, and that the police officers get a reaction. I’m not going to drag all police officers over the same comb, but it’s hard not to. Because there were many of them.

Dagbladet has been in contact with the Sør-East police district, which does not want to comment on the allegations made. The accused police officer’s defender, John Christian Elden, has not responded to Dagbladet’s inquiry.

The police officer explains this

The police officer, who is now charged with violence, has explained in questioning with the Bureau about what happened between him and Kristian, who reported him for bodily harm.

The surveillance video forms the basis for the interrogation. The police officer claims that Kristian came running towards them, which felt threatening – and according to him, explains why Kristian was beaten.

“Even if Teigen had his hands in the air, pb (the police officer, journ.am.) perceived that he was still threatening them, and the action they had against Simensen. Therefore, pb chose to beat. It was because Teigen didn’t pull away far enough (…),’ he explained in the interview.

“Pb believes that Teigen said no, then hit pb or gave orders to withdraw”, it says further.

Only when another police officer threatens Teigen with pepper spray, the now-accused police officer claims that Teigen calms down enough that he doesn’t need to hit her anymore.

His pepper spray was empty at this time, he claims in questioning, and explains it by saying that it had been used up at Simensen.

“Pb is asked if the blows against Teigen were proportionate to what he had done. Pb says he feels it was proportionate. Teigen came and was verbal and threatening towards them. Pb does not remember what he said, but remembers that he was verbal in what he came at them.”, it appears in the interrogation.

The police officer does not plead guilty to assaulting Kristian.