A police officer recorded pushing an Indigenous man to the ground has been stood aside whilst an investigation takes place, WA police have said.
The now deleted video showed an elderly Indigenous man being tripped and thrown to the ground by a WA Police officer in Broome.
It sparked anger from the local community and beyond.
The video showed the officer speaking to the man, who raises his arm slowly and appears to gesture towards the inside of the police vehicle without making contact with the officer.
The officer appears to hook his foot around the elderly man's ankle and forcefully shove him, causing him to fall to the ground.
Whilst the man gets to his feet and appears to lunge forward before stumbling and falling again, the officer gets into his vehicle and drives away.
The video appeared on Facebook and had been viewed more than 159,000 times in the first two hours after it was published before it was taken down.
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WA Police said an investigation was ongoing.
"The officer has been stood aside until investigation outcomes are known," WA Police said.
After the initial altercation was made public, WA Police said in a statement: "About 2:00pm Tuesday 18 February 2025, Broome Police were patrolling an oval on Hammersley Street in Broome. Police spoke with a member of the public."
"An altercation occurred, and the man was knocked to the ground. The circumstances of this incident will be thoroughly investigated."
The person who filmed the incident shared it on social media, wrote: "Smart ass go and harass people who are just chilling and having a rest under the tree."
"Aren't they meant to have a partner to search or pick up people who is supposedly breaking the rules? I recorded everything. He took off, search his bag then drove back to throw his bag on the ground like he was a dog. How professional, lucky my memory couldn't record the rest of the part."
On Wednesday, WA Premier Roger Cook described the footage as "very confronting" and said the police will have to "investigate and take the appropriate course of action".
"The police have confirmed that they'll be undertaking an investigation and I'll allow that investigation to take place," Mr Cook said.
"What I saw, it wasn't appropriate behaviour, but obviously the police will investigate that and look for a speedy investigation and the outcomes of that."
