|
Listen to this article here
|
Sign-Up for a free subscription to The Black Wall Street Times‘ daily newsletter, Black Editors’ Edition (BEE) – our curated news selections & opinions by us for you.
Published 11/18/2019 | Reading Time 1 min 12 sec
TUCSON, Ariz. — A disturbing video of a Pima County police officer violently attacking 15-year-old Immanuel Oloya, who has no arms and legs, has recently surfaced online and sparked outrage. Oloya and his friend who recorded the incident were arrested and charged.
The incident allegedly occurred in September at a group home where the teen was living after being abandoned by his parents. Police were called after he reportedly knocked over a garbage can when he got upset with a staff member.
A police officer arrived at the scene and eventually screamed and cursed at the teen while wrestling him to the floor, the video showed.
Oloya, who is a quadruple amputee, and the 16-year-old teen who recorded the video, were both arrested on disorderly conduct charges.
Joel Feinman, the Pima County Public Defender, condemned the officers involved.
“Men with badges should not be acting this way,” Feinman said. “Men and women who do act this way should not have badges and guns.”
After the video was finally reviewed by authorities, the charges against Oloya have been dismissed, while the charges against the one who recorded the video have yet been dropped. The sheriff’s department said they are conducting an “internal investigation” into the incident.
Moreover, several people have expressed their disgust about the incident.
“Is no one off-limits?” one wrote. “This deputy would have got jumped for this. Now, we just accept it. Cops are literally murdering black citizens in cold blood; they are beating toddlers up, wheelchair-bound citizens, Auschwitz survivors, punching pregnant women, and we are just taking it. Why?”
“Give the details of the worker,” another one wrote. “They need to be fired. No more working with teens. Or anyone in need of help. Go work at McDonald’s.”
