The South Seattle Police Department is currently still in the process of its investigation of the punching incident that took place earlier this week between a white police officer and a jaywalking teenage girl who happens to be African-American.
While police investigators say they are concerned about the incident, they are withholding any judgment, however what is known investigators say, is that the girl who was punched by the officer was interfering with an arrest.
According to James Kelly, CEO of the Seattle Urban League, punching a teenage girl is going too far.
“I don’t excuse her behavior, she was clearly in the wrong, but again a force of a punch to the face is not justifiable,” said Kelly.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, spoke with the Today Show’s Matt Lauer to discuss whether investigators should also consider the police officer’s racial motivations towards African-Americans and other people of color.
Sharpton said he believes it is irresponsible for the Seattle Police Officers Guild to defend the officer’s actions as not racist.
WATCH THE TODAY SHOW COVERAGE ON SEATTLE POLICE OFFICER PUNCH
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