The man at the center of an arrest video that has drawn the ire of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other elected officials spoke out on Wednesday afternoon.

The violent altercation happened inside a Brooklyn liquor store earlier this week.

"I just thank God that I'm alive. That's all I can say," Timothy L. Brown told CBS News New York exclusively. "I know there's a reason for everything and I know God's watching and I want justice."

Here's what we know

The nearly eight-minute video circulating online shows Brown, a home health aide and security guard, being repeatedly punched by two NYPD detectives inside the business on the corner of Hoyt and Baltic streets in Boerum Hill on Tuesday, just before 4 p.m.

The Police Department confirmed the authenticity of the video and said the detectives were looking for a drug dealer's associate who wore green shorts. They spotted someone nearby matching the description -- in this case Brown, who was wearing green shorts -- and tried to arrest him.

Police later determined Brown was not involved in the drug deal.

He was not charged with a drug offense, but was charged with resisting arrest, police sources said. He was initially given a desk appearance ticket and was released, police said. However, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told CBS News New York the charge would be dropped sometime Wednesday.

The detectives' use of force is under internal review, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday.

"These videos are deeply disturbing, and the matter is under active investigation by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau. The officers in question are modified. Their guns and shields have been removed," Tisch later wrote on social media.

"They slammed me up against the glass"

Brown and his mother, Donna Brown, gave detailed descriptions of the son's confrontation with police.

Timothy Brown said he had just gotten off work and was in the shop to buy some wine when he was approached by police. 

"He said, 'You're under arrest,'" Timothy L. Brown said. "I remember being grabbed and shoved and he said, 'Don't resist.' And I say, 'I'm not resisting.'

"They slammed me up against the glass, you know, repeatedly hitting me in the temple, in my head, you know? You see my eye's black," he added. "Several bottles were broken in the liquor store because they swung me and they actually dragged me on the floor in glass, and that can be seen on camera."

Donna Brown got emotional as she spoke about seeing the video.

"I was like, you know what? I'm going back to the precinct to make sure he's gonna be OK, because I felt like the police was going to beat him up some more," she said. "Could you look at a video of your child being dragged like that? It's disgusting. It really is. It's disgusting. And they do it all the time, to our Black and Brown people, all the time."

"Disturbing and unacceptable"

Mayor Mamdani and City Councilman Lincoln Restler .

"The violence used by NYPD officers in this video is extremely disturbing and unacceptable. Officers should never treat a person this way. The NYPD is conducting a full investigation into this incident," Mamdani wrote on social media.

"These officers should be suspended immediately and ultimately fired. Our NYPD must have a zero tolerance policy for police brutality," .

Abelee Moran, the witness who filmed the incident, had a message for police.

"The way that you guys handled that situation was disgusting," she said. "It was disgusting and uncalled for. It was racist. It was unjust."

Police unions call for more facts

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry took offense to the mayor's response to the video, stating it's inappropriate to comment without additional context.

"We don't know why the mayor is bothering to call for an investigation when he has already rushed to condemn the NYPD members involved without knowing all the facts. As we have said before, the mayor's words matters. He should not publicly prejudge any incident involving police officers," Hendry said.

"NYPD detectives put their lives on the line daily, doing the dangerous work politicians would never have the courage to do. Narcotics detectives arrest you and tell you to put your hands behind your back and [you] don't comply, what do you think happens? We deserve all the facts before anyone rushes to judgment," added Scott Munro, president of the Detectives Endowment Association.