Is all this really necessary over an alleged jaywalking infraction?
Stockton, California police are facing scrutiny after a rather heavy-handed arrest of a young black teen who was trying to catch a bus.
The Guardian:
Nine police officers arrest an unarmed black teenager in California for allegedly trespassing in a bus-only lane and scuffling with an officer in Stockton, California. YouTube user Edward Avendaño posted the video and said in a Facebook post that the officer tried to stop the teenager, who kept walking to his bus. The teen was held in custody and released to his mother pending a charge in juvenile court of resisting arrest and trespassing
Once again, this appears to be a needless escalation to violence for a very minor offense. WATCH:
More information from Edward Avendaño, the man who took the video and shared it:
The kid got stopped for "jaywalking" when he barely stepped out of the bus he was 2 feet away from the sidewalk when the cop stopped him for "jaywalking". The cop was telling him to take a sit but the teen kept walking to his bus but the cop kept grabbing his arm & the kid took off the cop's hand off his arm so the cop took out his baton & that's when I started recording because everything happened too quick. He didn't have to hit the kid with the baton & no need to call about 20 cops. And as you can see his body cam is on the floor. Smh — at San Joaquin RTD Downtown Transit Center (DTC).