An Arizona police officer is under investigation after a video that went viral this week showed him tackle a 15-year-old black quadruple amputee.
In a video provided by the Pima County Public Defender’s Office and released by KOLD, a policeman is shown holding down and eventually tackling the Tucson, Ariz. teenager as his 16-year-old housemate records the Sept. 26 incident.
The police officer was called to the home after the teenager — who was abandoned by his family and resides in a group home — threatened a worker and displayed acts of aggression.
Pima County Public Defender Joel Feinman said, regardless of the teenager’s crime, the use of force was unnecessary.
“He’s a 15-year-old with no limbs,” Mr. Feinman told the Daily News. “Whatever he threatened or whatever he did was limited.”
He also noted that the home is for teens abandoned by their families.
“These are kids who have been traumatized,” Mr. Feinman added. “They’re the kinds of kids police should go out of their way to protect.”
In the video, the currently unnamed officer attempts to restrain the teenager — referred to as C.J. — as he screams “Don’t hold me down” several times.
The officer is seen telling him to “calm down” several times. As the teenager gets more agitated, the officer stands up and tells him, “I told you to stop moving and you still moved.”
When the teenager asks the officer to quiet his voice, he responds: “I will raise my voice to you whenever the f—k I want.”
Additionally, when the teenager filming — referred to as Emmanuel — tells the officer to allow C.J. to answer his question, the officer responds: “Am I talking to you? You shut the hell up. Am I your b—-h?”
Emmanuel responds: “Yeah, uh huh. Get the f—k out of my face.”
“Or what?” the officer responds. Both C.J. and Emmanuel would eventually be arrested.
Mr. Feinmann: “People who have badges and guns should not behave this way and people who do behave this way should not have badges and guns.”
KOLD reported that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said they would open an internal investigation, having just learned of the video’s existence when the TV station showed the footage to department officials.
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