A video of two Florida cops punching, using a Taser to shock a Black 16-year-old boy and pulling his hair has gone viral, sparking outrage and demands for police accountability.
The video that was reportedly first shared on Facebook shows Lakeland police officers beating the teenager WWE-style as he backed up into a corner at an apartment complex.
According to reports, the officers were called to the scene on Memorial Day because too many people who didn’t live in the complex were in the pool. The property manager asked the officers to trespass nonresidents, and the boy did not provide authorities with his apartment number or identify himself, according to a police report obtained by WFLA.
As the teen tried to gather his belongings, the officers insisted that he leave. Things escalated, however, when he tried to fend them off, the Ledger reports.
According to Officer Christopher McKee’s sworn affidavit, the teen stuck his hand in the officer’s face and said, “I don’t have to talk to you.”
McKee pulled the boy’s arm and attempted to arrest him, but the teen waved his hands in the air. That’s when McKee and the other officer backed the teen into a corner before administering several blows to his head and face and shocking him in the 29-second video.
Bystanders could be heard screaming and yelling for officers to stop as the teen also tried to push away and block their fists.
“Stop touching him!” a female voice off-camera screams, but instead of stopping, the lawmen pull the teen by his short afro, and one of them pummels the boy in his face.
Then, his partner takes down the boy with a Taser. With his knee on the boy’s neck, the officer, who had made contact with the Taser, starts to handcuff the boy before the video cuts off.
“You need to chill out,” a female voice is heard saying.
The boy was reportedly taken to a hospital for a medical check before being detained in a juvenile facility for trespassing, failure to leave the property, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting an officer with violence, according to reports.
The video made the rounds on social media Tuesday, with many calling out of the excessive use of force by police, including civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who called the cellphone footage “disturbing.”
The boy’s mother, Jatae Lewis, has also spoken out, telling WFLA she “couldn’t stomach” that the officers “battered her son.”
Lewis is demanding accountability for what happened.
“Y’all are out here to protect and serve, not to be beating on peoples’ children,” she told the NBC affiliate.
Local reports show that the police department has requested an administrative review of the officers’ behavior.
Meanwhile, the Black community in Lakeland, a city east of Tampa and west of Orlando, is still recovering from the violent arrest of an unarmed Black man, also captured on video in December 2022.
Antwan Glover lay on the ground with hands to the side of his head as officers pummeled him repeatedly in front of his family over a seatbelt violation in the cellphone footage. The state attorney later declined to charge the officers, finding that their behavior was not unlawful. Yet, Glover is still fighting criminal charges related to the incident.
