Nine California police officer showed up to arrest a black teenager for jaywalking, and during the arrest, they lifted the teenager up and slammed him into the sidewalk.
“For safety reasons, the officer told the young man to get on the sidewalk,” Officer Joseph Silva said. “After the teenager refused to comply and used obscene language, the officer went over and a there was a scuffle.”
But bystanders say it was more than just a scuffle.
Witness Edgar Avendaño, who shot the video of the confrontation, said that the teenager continued to walk away after the officer told him to stop, and the officer pulled out a baton when the teen “took off the cop’s hand off his arm.”
In the video, the teen is seated on a brick wall as the officer then tries to pin his ankles with the baton. Meanwhile, bystanders can be heard shouting.
“It’s a f***ing kid!” a bystander yells. “Get off him, he’s been jaywalking. Leave him alone, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
When the teen tries to push the baton away from his ankles, the officer swings at his face and orders the teen to get on the ground. At this point, eight more officers arrive to lift the teen up and away from the wall before slamming him into the concrete, pinning him, and then handcuffing him.
According to police, the officer initially involved had been wearing a body camera, but it was lost in the scuffle.
Check out the video above.