A sheriff's deputy in Pima, AZ was video-recorded wrestling with and screaming at a 15 year old Black teenager with no arms or legs; the cop, who was not named, was called to a group home where the teen lived, because the teen had been upset and yelling and shouting, and had knocked over a trash can.
Immanuel, the child whom the policeman abused, has been in state custody since he was abandoned by his parents, and lives in the group home.
A 16 year old teen who also lived in the group home, made a covert video-recording of the police violence from another room. He was also arrested by the sheriff's deputy.
The video shows the officer repeatedly tackling and pinning the shirtless Immanuel, who is visibly upset and in pain. The officer screams abuse at the child, and at other children present during his assault on Immanuel.
The video ends with the cop arresting the child who made the video recording (another child takes his phone and continues shooting); without warning, the cop takes the handcuffed child and smashes his head into a wall.
Both children were jailed for "disorderly conduct." The officer was not wearing a bodycam.
When the video surfaced, it reduced a room full of hardened public defenders to tears. After the video was aired, charges against the children were dropped.
As Immanuel's public defender noted, the children in the group home have already been traumatized and have been taken from their families to protect them from further trauma.
The Pima Sheriff's Department said it had not been aware of the misconduct and has promised to investigate.
At the video's start, a white deputy in wraparound sunglasses can be seen kneeling on the ground and holding the black teenager in a headlock. Immanuel grows increasingly upset, his voice rising to a frantic shriek as he tells the officer not to hold him down.When the deputy loosens his grip, Immanuel tries to shake him off and break free, but he doesn't get far. The officer tackles him, wrapping his arms around the teenager and practically lying on top of him as he wrestles him to the floor. An uncomfortable minute passes as the quadruple amputee swears and screams at the deputy, who uses one forearm to hold him pressed to the ground.
WATCH: Teenage quadruple amputee wrestled to ground by deputy [Bud Foster/KOLD]
Video showing teen with no arms or legs being tackled and pinned by deputy prompts Arizona investigation [Antonia Noori Farzan/The Washington Post]
(Thanks, No Name!)
