A police officer beat a 17-year-old boy and kneed him in the neck during an arrest in Oklahoma over the weekend … and it was all caught on video.
Footage of Sunday’s “attack” shows a deputy and other officers attempting to restrain a teenager on the ground at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds.
In one video, police officers struggle to handcuff a teenager. At one point, the deputy punches the teenager in the head. Then he kicks the boy hard with his knee in the neck, and the audience shouts, “He’s a damn royal kid!”
But the matter did not stop there. The deputy drags the teenager, who appears to be limp, across the asphalt face down. The police then handcuffed the boy.
Another video shows an angry crowd begging the officers standing by to do something. Several witnesses set up one officer and tongue-lashed him.
They shouted, “What’s wrong with you? Do something about it? You can’t just let him do that to this kid. He beats this guy. You better hope this kid survives, man. You guys are ridiculous. He is barely conscious.”
According to police, the teenager was drunk and acting belligerent while waiting in line for a ride. Several people complained and the police responded. The teenager, who is white, began speaking out and, according to police, used racist language toward the black deputy. That’s when all the trouble started.
Tulsa County Sheriff’s Capt Mike Moore supported his officers’ actions, reportedly saying “deputies should have used necessary force” when the teenager “continued to resist and continued to struggle with the deputies.”
The sheriff is now handling the case.