A Washington, D.C. man had a similar encounter with Ocean City police this week for the same reason, two years after the police in Ocean City, Maryland, beat, tased, and jailed four black youths for vaping on the well-known boardwalk.
Smoking and vaping are not permitted on the beach or boardwalk in Ocean City. City Manager David Recor gave people the assurance that there will not be any violent altercations with police following the passage of the legislation outlawing vaping in public in 2015.
Police approached 34-year-old golf coach Denzel Elam Ruff on the boardwalk on July 5 and ordered him to quit vaping. According to the police, he "intentionally smoked his vape" and disobeyed the instruction. Then, the police said, he fought being taken into custody.
Three police officers can be seen straining to handcuff Ruff on cell phone video of the altercation. After that, they throw him to the ground and pin him. While he is being detained, one officer is seen striking him in the head. TV station WUSA9 reports that Ruff was taken into custody and charged with disorderly behavior, resisting/interfering with an arrest, second-degree assault, and failing to produce identity.
The Ocean City Police Department then released a statement in which it stated, "Our officers are permitted to use force, per their training, to overcome exhibited resistance." "Every use of force is subject to a thorough review process."
After reviewing the 2021 incident, in which a juvenile vaper was tackled and repeatedly kneed in the ribs, and another was blasted with a taser while raising his hands above his head, the department concluded that no misconduct had occurred on the side of the cops. Along with other charges, both faced resistance to arrest charges.
There have been numerous violent events against vapers, many involving police and school authorities, since the moral panic about vaping escalated in 2018 and raised public anxiety of the activity. The FDA's plans to outlaw menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, along with the growing number of states that have banned flavored vapes, present further potential for Drug War-style enforcement to escalate into violent altercations between police and nicotine users.
