Video of white police officer choking black man in prom tux goes viral

Police have launched an investigation after an officer in Warsaw, North Carolina, put a 22-year-old in a chokehold before wrestling him to the ground in an alarming confrontation captured on video.

Anthony Wall got into an argument with the employees at a local Waffle House on Saturday after he took his 16-year-old sister to prom, ABC 11 reported.

When the police arrived, one officer held Wall by his neck as he repeatedly yelled, "Get your hands off of me!"

The officer can be seen wrestling Wall to the ground before the 22-year-old was taken into custody for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

"I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that's when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me," he told ABC 11.

While Wall took responsibility with the argument with the employees, he addressed the officer and said, "Your hands should have never been around my neck like that if my hands were in the air."

Police Chief Eric Southerland said the department has launched an investigation, which will be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office.

The video, which Wall shared on Facebook, has been viewed nearly 900,000 times.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund called the officer's actions "grossly inappropriate" and demanded the release of any relevant body-cam or surveillance footage.

The ACLU of North Carolina issued a statement that read, "There's no excuse for a police officer to choke someone, no matter what. Yet once again, a North Carolina officer is recorded brutalizing a black man. [The State Bureau of Investigation] must investigate the Warsaw PD and the officer should not remain on duty during that investigation."

Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter called for a Waffle House boycott.

"Family, let's stay out of @WaffleHouse until the corporate office legitimately and seriously commits to 1) discussion on racism, 2) employee training, and 3) other plans to change; and until they start to implement changes."