The arrest of two teenagers running in Oklahoma has sparked an investigation after the video was released show the police aggressively arrested one of the teenagers before holding him to the ground as he begged, “I can’t breathe.”
Police on Tuesday released footage of the bodycam from the Tulsa neighborhood on June 4 when police jumped out of their patrol car to face jaywalking suspects in a rapidly escalating situation.
While the first teenager was arrested, his friend could be heard saying “Why did you strangle him?”
“All he does is take a walk,” an officer responded to the teenager. “We just want to talk to him. Then he has to act stupid like that. “
Video almost 20 minutes show the remaining officer above the teenager who lay on his stomach even after he was handcuffed.
The teenager begged the officer to stop touching him, but the officer’s hand was still placed on the teenager and repeatedly pulled his pants and grabbed his legs and groin.
The officers repeated to the teens that they were breaking the law because they were crossing. A body camera video shows that the area has patchy or invisible sidewalks.
The teenager who was handcuffed was first forced into a police car when he shouted obscenities at the officers. He called the officers “evil” and racist and said they arrested him because he was black. He shouted, “Call my mother! Call my mother! “
“Because I’m black … I’m a villain,” the teenager shouted at an officer as they both physically struggled while placing the teen in the car. “Black is important!”
Body camera footage shows the other teenager was released.
Tulsa is the second largest city in Oklahoma, with a population of about 66 percent white and 16 percent black, according to US Census data.
It was not immediately known whether the teenagers issued a quote or were formally charged. Messages and emails sent to the Tulsa Police Department will not be returned Wednesday.
Greg Robinson, an activist and community organizer, told KJRH-TV that the police department might conclude that the officers followed the protocol.
“And maybe that’s the way it is,” Robinson said. “But that’s the problem. Why do we need further law enforcement when we feel the police aren’t protecting us? We feel they are after us.”
Mayor of Tulsa G.T. Bynum wrote in a Facebook post that he saw footage of the arrests of teenagers and that he worked with the police department in the investigation.
“I want every child in Tulsa to feel safe walking down the street in their neighborhood,” he wrote. “There shouldn’t be any Tulsa kids to be feared and handcuffed for walking on the road.”
Tulsa police said the department released a video camera body to be transparent but would not comment on the arrest because the Internal Affairs Unit was investigating.
