Justice demanded for
teens assaulted by police
PHILIPSBURG--The opening of Carnival was marred for two youngsters who were assaulted by police officers without justifiable reasons during the jump up two weeks ago, leaving their family demanding justice and the removal of one officer from the Zero Tolerance Team.
The York family is nursing two of its teenage boys, who were part of the jump up, who were assaulted by police so severely that they required medical treatment. The doctor’s reports on their condition and statements about the incident have been filed with the Prosecutor’s Office, the Detective Department, and the Police internal affairs department. The family is awaiting the outcome of these investigations.
According to relatives, one of the youngsters was walking with his cousins when he was grabbed by officers and told to put his hands in the air and at the same time remove his backpack. Attempting to explain to the officer that it was not possible to keep his hand up in the air and also remove the bag, to the amazement the youngster and others, he was clubbed with a hand radio and kicked repeatedly by a police officer (name provided) who is known for rampant use of excessive force.
Thrown to the ground, he was severely beaten over and over again, as bystanders reported hearing him scream, “What did I do, what did I do?” When his bag was searched, the police only found three bottles of water.
An outraged relative said, “It seemed as if the officers got so mad that they did not find any excuse for beating him, that they took the bag with the bottles and hit him across his head and face with it, threw it on the ground, and told him to pick it up and go to f… home.”
His younger cousin, wanting to calm down the situation, tried to get to his wounded cousin, but ended up also being beaten and having the police dog set on him for interfering. Although, bystanders were screaming at the police that the youngsters had done nothing wrong, the beating did not stop.
The youngsters’ relatives, who include police officers, are of the opinion that a few particular officers have a licence to beat up on defenceless persons. “The police are supposed to be there to protect and serve the public and to use force only when force is due. If they need to search persons for weapons, that is understandable, but to beat up on persons just to get a look in their bags is totally unacceptable.”
