Cop on video to black teen: ‘If you f*** with me, I’m going to break your legs’
theGrio REPORT - Many are upset after the ACLU released video footage of an officer arresting an African-American teen "because I feel like arresting you."
Many are upset after the ACLU released video footage of an officer arresting an African-American teen “because I feel like arresting you.”
In the video, the officer can be seen threatening an African-American teen, even though the teen does not seem to be resisting at all. “Plain and simple,” he says “if you f*** with me I’m going to break your legs before you even get a chance to run.”
Later, Hamza Jeylani asks, “Can you tell me why I’m being arrested?”
Officer Rod Webber responds, “Because I feel like arresting you.”
The ACLU has since gone on to say of the incident that Jeylani and his friends, all African-American teenagers, were pulled over after they made a U-turn in the parking lot. Although police have since said that they were suspected of stealing the car they were in, despite Webber’s statement to the contrary in the video, the ACLU says that explanation does not hold up.
“Police said the stolen car they were after was a blue Honda Civic. The teenagers, however, were driving a blue Toyota Camry,” said the ACLU.
The footage was released at the same time as a report on the arrest patterns of Minneapolis showing that African-Americans “are 8.7 times more likely than white people to be arrested for low-level offenses, like trespassing, disorderly conduct, consuming in public, and lurking.”
