Surveillance tape from a Memphis police station shows police officers hitting a transsexual who they had taken into custody.

One of the officers involved has been fired and another has been placed on leave, Memphis police said Wednesday. The tape was made in February.

Duanna Johnson was in the booking area at the Memphis Police Department after an arrest on prostitution charges. The videotape showed an officer walk over and hit her in the face several times.

Johnson said the altercation took place when the officer was trying to take Johnson's fingerprints.

"Actually, he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that that wasn't my name. My mother didn't name me a faggot or a he/she, so he got upset and approached me. That's when it started," Johnson told Nashville TV station WSMV.

"He said, 'I'm telling you. I'm giving you one more chance to get up.' So, I'm looking at him, and he started putting his gloves on, and I saw him take out a pair of handcuffs," said Johnson.

Video showed the officer hitting Johnson several times with the handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles.

The video showed that while the beating occurred, another officer restrained Johnson by the shoulders. After taking several blows, Johnson stood up and swung back.

"I was afraid. I had had enough. Like I said, I thought the other officers that were witnessing this would at least try to stop him. He hit me so hard. Like the third time he hit me, it split my skull and I had blood coming out, so I jumped up," said Johnson.

After Johnson sat back down, video showed the officer hitting Johnson in the face again and then spraying Johnson with pepper spray.

"These are the people we depend on to protect us, and I think the majority of officers in Memphis are good officers. When you see what you see on that video, it's a scary sight to see that that could happen to any one of us," said Johnson's attorney, Arthur Horne.

One of the officers seen on the tape, James Swain, was fired from his job on Wednesday, while another officer, Bridges McRae, was placed on desk duty, police said.

The FBI and the district attorney's office are checking into possible civil rights violations.

The police department said it is conducting an internal investigation.