The above video is cellphone footage of a Rhode Island teen, Tyler Deburgo, being slammed to the ground by a police officer on Wednesday. According to reports, the 15-year-old was an innocent bystander while his friend, Ivander, was being arrested at William Tolman High School in Pawtucket, RI. Friends and classmates of Deburgo were recording the incident when he was grabbed the neck, and slammed to the ground.
According to the police officers, the takedown wasn’t as senseless as its being made out to be by social media, and several media outlets. A spokesperson had this to say about the incident:
The officer managed to get the 17-year-old subject on the ground and was attempting to handcuff him, when the second juvenile started to approach the officer from behind. The officer saw the individual approaching him, grabbed the juvenile and used a takedown on the juvenile.
Yesterday, the day after the incident occurred, several members of the Tolman High student body walked out of class in protest, but some were pepper-sprayed by police officers according to the NY Daily News, only raising tension.
This is the second such incident to go viral in the last two weeks. Last week, a video depicting 14-year-old Gyasi Hughes being unnecessarily chokeslammed by two officers surfaced on YouTube.
- Ballah-moni Kollie (@Gottadream87)
- photo credit: NYDailyNews.com
