Police violence continues to make headlines: This time, the story involves a black teenager in Stockton, California who was stopped by a police officer, allegedly for walking in a bus lane, according to The Washington Post. The story grabbed national attention this week when passerby Edgar Avendaño filmed the incident and posted it on YouTube.
Avendaño writes in the video's caption that the teenager was stopped for jaywalking almost immediately after exiting a bus. By his account, the officer told him to sit down, but the teenager kept walking towards the bus. When the officer grabbed him, the boy allegedly resisted. According to Avendaño, that's when the officer took out his baton and the video begins.
At the start of the video, you can hear the officer saying "stop resisting" while the kid is telling him to get off of him. While gripping the officer's baton, the teenager says "Get the fuck off me" — the officer hits him at least once in the face during the struggle. The video also shows the officer repeatedly telling him to turn around and get on the ground, but he does not comply — he's covering his face with his hands and appears to be crying. When more officers arrive to the scene, they forcefully push him to the ground. The video ends with the sobbing teenager being put into a police car by nine officers.
The Stockton Police Department has said that it is investigating the incident. In the meantime, watch the video below to see for yourself how it played out.
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