‘Jarring’ video shows KC officer kneeing restrained man during Westport arrest
Bystander video of a Kansas City police officer who was indicted on an assault charge last week shows the officer kneeing a restrained man in the neck during an arrest in Westport in July 2024.
“What?” a bystander can be heard exclaiming in the video, which was provided to The Star by Erin Royals, a Kansas City woman who recorded the moment. “What the (expletive) was that for?”
The officer, Chris Showalter, was indicted by a grand jury last week on a fourth-degree assault charge, a misdemeanor, in connection with the 2024 incident. Showalter is also named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed last month by the man who was struck, William Michael Hardy.
Officers arrested Hardy as he biked into Westport’s entertainment district, and it was after Hardy was handcuffed that Showalter kneed the other man. Showalter’s report said officers had yelled for Hardy to stop as he cycled into an area where screenings were required, while Hardy’s lawsuit said barricades weren’t blocking the street.
Royals said a group of 10-15 people looked on as the incident she recorded unfolded.
“I think collectively we were all just pretty stunned,” she said.
A video clip of the incident starts as Hardy is lying on the ground, already in handcuffs, and surrounded by Showalter, who was doing off-duty security work in Westport, and two other uniformed officers, one of whom is straddling Hardy. Showalter can be seen trying to rip a backpack off Hardy.
Showalter drops from a standing position and rams his knee into Hardy’s neck, smashing the other man’s face into the street and then pulls the bag free.
The grand jury indictment alleges Showalter attempted to cause physical pain to Hardy “by slamming his face/chin against the concrete sidewalk and kneeing him in the face/chin” while Hardy was handcuffed and lying on his stomach.
Molly Hastings, Showalter’s attorney, didn’t provide a comment to The Star ahead of publication of this story. Showalter is scheduled to be arraigned on the assault charge in Jackson County Circuit Court on Tuesday.
“The feeling is definitely that we’re very proud of the prosecutor’s office for taking this and running with it,” said Sarah Duggan, an attorney representing Hardy in the civil lawsuit. “It does feel like there’s some justice being served. It’s not just being thrown under the rug.”
Asked about the incident, Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said Showalter is assigned to the department’s patrol bureau and has been with the department since 2018. He said the department was prohibited from providing personnel records, including disciplinary records, by state law and referred a Star reporter to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Cycling in Westport
Westport’s entertainment district implemented security checkpoints and pedestrian-only streets on weekend evenings starting in 2018 in an attempt to deter late-night violent crime in the area.
Hardy and his girlfriend were cycling in the area, near the intersection of West 40th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, late in the evening of July 6, 2024, when he came into contact with law enforcement.
In a police report, Showalter wrote that he and other officers attempted to stop Hardy from riding into the district. Showalter’s report contends officers yelled for Hardy to stop and that the man rode through barricades and into the district. Hardy’s lawsuit said the barricades were off to the side of the street and weren’t blocking the road.
Hardy’s lawsuit said Showalter jumped in front of him and swung him off his bicycle and to the ground, while Showalter’s report said he grabbed the other man’s arm and that Hardy fell off his bicycle as he attempted to get away.
Royals’ video documents the moments after their initial contact, with Hardy in handcuffs.
Hardy went to a hospital to get stitches for a large cut he suffered on his chin and also had injuries to his legs, the lawsuit said. An abscess developed on the chin wound, and he had to go back to a hospital a few days later for treatment. He is currently seeking medical care for neurological issues, according to court documents.
Hardy received a pair of citations for his presence in Westport, for trespass and resisting arrest, and those charges in Kansas City Municipal Court were resolved in a diversion agreement.
Royals said she is regularly in the Westport area and is writing about security in the district as part of her doctoral fieldwork through Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Royals described the incident as “jarring” and said she’s thought about it many times in the year since she filmed it.
“I’ve seen arrests before,” she said. “They’re pretty commonplace down there, I would say. I even would say that I’ve seen some that would probably be described by a lot of people, including myself, as being rough. This was something beyond that. When you see these things happen, of course, they stick with you.”
Duggan, a former police officer who now represents Hardy, said she was shocked by the video. She believes others in the community may have also filmed the incident and hopes they will come forward with their footage too.
“The police department has the opportunity to do the right thing now, and it’s to discipline (Showalter),” she said. “What that discipline is, I can’t speak to that, but something should be done.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
