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Stockton, California police are being criticized after a large group of officers were captured tackling a teenager for jaywalking.

Bystander Evan Avendaño witnessed and recorded the Tuesday encounter between a Stockton police officer and an unknown 16-year-old, Vice News reports. Avendaño said the teen was walking off a bus when he was stopped by the officer for jaywalking.

When the teen ignored the officer’s request to speak with him, he allegedly used excessive force by hitting the civilian in the face with a baton.

“The kid got stopped for ‘jaywalking’ when he barely stepped out of the bus he was 2 feet away from the sidewalk,” Avendaño wrote in a Facebook post. “The cop was telling him to take a se[a]t but the teen kept walking to his bus but the cop kept grabbing his arm & the kid took off the cop’s hand off his arm so the cop took out his baton & that’s when I started recording.”

Eight additional officers arrived on the scene as backup. In total, four officers tackled the teen, while five monitored the sidewalk. Stockton Police Officer Joseph Silva told reporters proper protocol was followed, but an investigation will be launched to discover whether excessive force was used.

“For safety reasons, the officer told the young man to get on the sidewalk,” Silva said. “After the teenager refused to comply and used obscene language, the officer went over and a there was a scuffle. Anytime an officer uses force there’s an automatic administrative review.”

He also said the incident could have been avoided if the teen complied with the first officer.

“If everyone would just comply with lawful orders from the police,” he added, “we wouldn’t have to use force in the first place.”

The young man was given a citation and released to his mother.

SOURCE: Vice News | VIDEO CREDIT: YouTube 


Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now Panel discuss this shameful instance of over policing in the video clip below.

TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.


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Watch: Large Group Of Police Officers Tackle 16-Year-Old For Jaywalking  was originally published on newsone.com